resolving chords (related to harmony analysis).....

[casparma]

Hi, I am trying to harmonize with a simple melody in C...

However, I am in this problem. I want the progression of chords, say first, e major chord, and then a minor chord. But, that g sharp is not in the key of C. How is this problem generally resolved??

I am trying to pick up some missing information I've learned from my harmony analysis classes... so please help!!!

thank you very much

[casparma]

Ok, no one is responding???

any way, am I getting this correct. In order to resolve that, the idea is to generally have the melody notes in the key of A minor (that is, the a minor key which has a g sharp, the socalled harmonic a minor?), when the e major (e7) chord (such chord exists in A minor key) is played, right??

Note that the melody is still in the key of C major.

Ok, maybe I am getting a bit too deep into harmonic theories, but I just hope to clarify myself with harmonization that I've learned months ago.

Sorry if what I say makes no sense to you ppl. But I wanna pick up my harmonic knowledge since recently I've heard a nice melody, but I can't the score, so I wanna harmonize with that with some broken chords variation to make it sound good.

[rimbaud]

It is possible to have a g# in the key of C-major.  It's called chromaticism.  In this case the E-major seventh would act as a secondary dominant to the a-minor chord, a V/vi in C-major.  Anyway, just make sure you resolve the 7th(D) and the leading tone (G#) of the E7 chord and you should be fine.  Also make sure the melodic notes you're harmonizing are chord tones. For E7... e,g,b or d.  For a-minor... a, c, e.

One thing though, depending on the melody, it might not be possible to use an E-major seventh at all.  That is if the melody implies a different harmony.  To be safe you could just stick to diatonic chords... C d e F G a bdim...

Good luck.

 

[casparma]

thanks for your reply, rimbaud.

Anyway, just make sure you resolve the 7th(D) and the leading tone (G#) of the E7 chord and you should be fine.

well, but, how do I really "resolve" that then, rimbaud?? I mean, from a theoretical point of view, it's only resolved when the notes in the melody are chord tones???

To be safe you could just stick to diatonic chords... C d e F G a bdim...

what are diatonic chords? aren't they just root, subdominant, and dominant chords??

Lastly, may you please tell me why E-major seventh chord might not be possible to use in a melody in C major key? Why does that create too much tension usually???

[slobone]

It's not impossible, in fact it was done quite often, especially in the Romantic period. Usually the E minor chord would be in an inversion, so the bass progression could be an easy step from C to B. Liszt's Liebestraum (which is in a different key) starts with this progression. Then he goes to A major 7th, then D major 9th, D minor, G seventh and back to the tonic. I probably have this all wrong.

"Diatonic" just means the notes of the major scale in any key. In the key of C they're the white keys on the keyboard. Diatonic harmony includes any chords that don't use black keys, so triads in C major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, A minor and B diminished and the corresponding diatonic sevenths.

The general rule in traditional harmony is to establish the tonic key before introducing any accidentals. So you can't start right off the bat with an E major chord if you're in C major -- is that what you wanted to do?

[casparma]

well, slobone, if I remember correctly, that e major chord is to harmonize my A minor chord, in theory, because that E major chord acts as the dominant chord in the key of A minor. Of course, it's just like a sort of "temporary key shift", in which the key looks as though it's in the key of A minor but in fact, still in C major key.

Of course, I am not starting the melody with that E major chord. It should pop up some where in the middle of the melody.

. Usually the E minor chord would be in an inversion, so the bass progression could be an easy step from C to B.

what does the above mean?

[slobone]

OK, well you haven't gotten to the lesson on inversions yet It just means the order that the notes of the chord appear.

In a C major chord, if the bass note is C that's called root position (I think). If the bass note is E it's first inversion, if it's G it's second inversion.

Try it on the piano: play

C-E-G in that order from the bottom up. That's root position.

Then E-G-C that's first inversion

G-C-E is second inversion.

Notice that the root position sounds more "settled", like it could be the last chord of the piece. The other two sound more restless, like you're going to go to another chord next.

A lot of times in harmony, the bass line has a life of its own. Sometimes in a theory class you'll just be given the bass line to harmonize, without being told what chords to use on top of it. So a C followed by a B could be harmonized as

C-E-G
B-D-G a V chord in first inversion.

or alternatively B-E-G, a III chord in 2nd inversion. If you then change that G to a G#, you've got a perfectly acceptable progression in Romantic and later music. It would usually be followed by an A minor.

[casparma]

slobone, hmm, interesting, I never know CEG can harmonize BEG (or BEG#), which then can move on to the A minor chord..... But why CEG can harmonize BEG? What's the relationship between these two chords? I mean, BEG is just not a dominant of subdominant in the key of C...

[slobone]

Because harmony isn't just limited to dominant and subdominant chords, although they're the most important. If you're taking a theory class, at some point they'll give you suggestions as to what sequences work well and which ones don't. But harmony would be pretty dull if it was all tonic-subdominant-dominant!