needing help for rcm harmony 3/basic harmony exam

[noodleboi123]

hey guys.. im new to the forum and this site, so first of all, ill like to say hello to everyone.

i am having my rcm basic harmony exam in about 2-3weeks.. however, because i have been ill a couple of weeks, i have missed out on some lessons. due to this, i was using grace vandendool's "the basics of harmony" book to catch up. however, when we were handed some practice tests, i found out i was at a complete loss when it came to 4-part harmonization, when we were either given only the soprano and/or bass line, and asked to fill in the inner voices. i know how to fill in the alto and tenor parts, but its just that i have trouble determining what type of chord it is.. 

my friend tells me that there are only about 7 chords we will use when asked this type of question (major [I IV V or V-7] minor  [ii ii-7 vi]) but i still have trouble determining if it is ii chord or IV chord i am supposed to use in some parts.. can anyone explain to me clearly some ways i can recognize correct chord placement?

here are some sample questions i am having trouble with.. there are many repeats in the soprano melodic line.. so i am at a complete lost, as it doesn't seem to be an accepted chord progression? (ex. I-I, or V-V, which i am getting at some parts)

[m19834]

Well, I am not sure I can answer your question exactly (partly because I am not exactly *positive* what your precise question is), but I will do the best I can with what I've got (which is pretty limited, apparently).  Firstly, I am not at all familiar with how RCM runs their harmony exams, nor how they teach theory.  I am currently relearning a bunch of first year theory stuff under a completely different system ("The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis" by Clendinning and Marvin) than when I learned it first, and I am barely slinking out of the context of the book that we are using.

But, okay, here we go.  I will tell you some things as I am learning them :

The basic phrase model consists of the following harmonic areas :

Tonic          Pre-Dominant          Dominant          Tonic

All of the chords found within the scale will more or less function in one of those areas :

Tonic          Pre-Dominant          Dominant          Tonic
I or vi          ii or IV                   V or vii dim.       I or vi

iii is a tricky character as it shares two common tones with both I and V, so it doesn't quite fit into either category and is sometimes used as a sort of replacement or expansion of either the Tonic or the Dominant area -- it rarely stands alone.

Next, there are 3 basic chord progression types which most pieces/passages employ :

Falling Fifths -- this is where the chords progress by the equivalent of descending 5ths.  The full falling fifths chain is as follows, starting at tonic, descending by 5ths all the way back to tonic :

I - IV - vii' - iii - vi - ii - V - I (Major)
i - iv - vii' (or VII) - III - VI - ii' - V - i (in minor)

You will not always find the full chain in a passage, but there are common harmonic progressions used to link the respective harmonic parts of a basic phrase.  Some of the most common ones are as follows :

I-IV (i - iv)
vi - ii (or VI - ii')
ii - V (or ii' - V)
IV - vii' (in minor, to set 6-7-1 in melody)
V-I (or V-i)

Do you see how these common falling fifth progressions serve to connect areas of harmonic functions in a basic phrase ?  For example, I-IV will connect tonic to pre-dominant.  See if you can figure out the rest of them.

Another common type of chord progression is based on Falling Thirds :

I - vi - IV - ii - vii' - V - iii - I (in Major keys)
i - VI - iv - ii' - vii' (or VII) - V - III - i (in minor keys)

The most common parts of this chain are I-vi, vi-IV-ii, and ii-vii' and the last parts of the chain around the mediant triad are rarely used because normally, once the chain gets around the dominant area, a cadence usually follows.

There are three typical ascending third motions : I-iii as a tonic expansion, vi-I as a type of tonic expansion, and V-vii' as a kind of dominant expansion.

The last common harmonic progression is that of motion by seconds, and other than I-vii', most of this motion is ascending.  The most common progressions by second also serve to connect functional areas (for example, dominant area to tonic) :

I-ii  or  i-ii'
IV-V or iv-V
I-vii' or i-vii'
vii'-I or vii'-i
V-vi or V-VI

See if you can figure out which functional areas these progressions serve to connect.  Most phrases will employ some combination of these types of progressions.

Now, in terms of your actual piece of music, I am assuming you are trying to analyze the whole thing ?  I hope what I have outlined will help.  Notice that ii and IV are both part of the same harmonic function in the phrase (pre-dominant), and they live a third away from each other.

[m19834]

Okay, I read your assignment a little more.  I wanted to add a couple more guidelines for when you go about filling in SATB.  I will look more closely at the pieces in a minute, but I'm assuming it's possible for the chords to be inverted, too, right ?  If so, please remember that as you go through and analyze because the bass notes may not be the root of the chord.

Okay.  So, in the Falling Fifths chain I listed above, make a mental note that chords which are a fifth apart will share one common tone.  Chords that are a 3rd apart will share two common tones, and chords that are a second apart will share no common tones. 

My point in mentioning that is that when you are filling in the voices for your SATB, the mantra at this stage in the game is to keep common tones in the same voices, from chord to chord, when possible.  And, if there are no common tones, move by step or by closest tone otherwise - avoiding forbidden parallels and other problematic treatment of perfect intervals.

[noodleboi123]

thanks for the quick reply..  what i was having trouble with was telling what kind of chord it was based on the soprano or bass line. i was also not very clear on chord progressions, so your outline really helped me alot. now the main question i have is, when there are two repeating notes in the soprano - for example, if a piece was in c major, and the soprano was c, c, what kind of chord progression would it be? it isnt as clear cut as I-IV-V.

in addition, im also confused about when to put dominant seventh chords instead of dominant chords. they share three common notes, so how am i supposed to know which one to put? btw, my teacher said something about looking at the rhythm of the piece to determine the chords? like if it was in 4/4 time, then it would be strong-weak-strong-weak. he said that it would be better for primary chords, such as I, IV, and V or V-7 to be placed there, rather than ii, ii-7, or vi.

p.s - reading back at some notes the teacher handed out, it seems that you can also tell by looking at degrees of the key in the soprano? like 7-1 in the soprano would be either (V-I) or (V7-I) and 4-3 would be (IV-I) or (V7-I).

[m19834]

what i was having trouble with was telling what kind of chord it was based on the soprano or bass line.

Well, perhaps you could be specific on a particular measure and beat ?  That would be helpful from where I am sitting because I can give you general answers, but it's better if we work from something very specific.

and the soprano was c, c, what kind of chord progression would it be?

Well, it could be several things, so again, if you could be specific as to where, exactly, you are talking about in the piece, we could go from there.  It's going to depend very much on what is in the bass underneath of it.

in addition, im also confused about when to put dominant seventh chords instead of dominant chords. they share three common notes, so how am i supposed to know which one to put?

Well, a V7 chord is most typical, I believe, at a cadence, vs. a passing chord somewhere in the phrase.  But, yes, metrical placing does have to do with what chords you might have.

But, I need to ask you a question.  At this point, are you assuming there can be inversions, too ?

[noodleboi123]

yes.. there can be inversions, but it seems the 2nd inversion occurs very rarely, as we were told not to use it if possible. BTW, we have not started on diminished 7ths yet.. we only use ii/ii6, ii7, vi, vii, for the secondary chords.

in the first pic, the first chord of the first measure seems to be tonic.. and the second measure is a tonic again... that's where I'm confused, i get the feeling that two tonic chords in a row is somehow wrong. but if i were told to do the first three measures of that page on a test, my chord choice would be this : I-I-ii, and then im stuck. the soprano is a B, and the base is a g.. isnt the ii chord supposed to resolve into a dominant? by looking at this, it seems to have resolved into a tonic chord(1st inversion)...

[m19834]

p.s - reading back at some notes the teacher handed out, it seems that you can also tell by looking at degrees of the key in the soprano? like 7-1 in the soprano would be either (V-I) or (V7-I) and 4-3 would be (IV-I) or (V7-I).

Well, yes !! Of course it will also depend on the soprano line.  This is an example of why I would like somewhere specific, because I had no idea you weren't thinking to consider the soprano line in there, too !  I can't tell what the full scope of your questions are unless we get specific.

[m19834]

vii

This is naturally diminished in Major scales.

[noodleboi123]

i modified my last post, so you probably didnt see it. so here's my question

in the first pic, the first chord of the first measure seems to be tonic.. and the second measure is a tonic again... that's where I'm confused, i get the feeling that two tonic chords in a row is somehow wrong. but if i were told to do the first three measures of that page on a test, my chord choice would be this : I-I-ii, and then im stuck. the soprano is a B, and the base is a g.. isnt the ii chord supposed to resolve into a dominant? by looking at this, it seems to have resolved into a tonic chord(1st inversion)...

[m19834]

It's okay for there to be two tonic chords in a row, especially in the beginning.  The main point of the beginning (and ending) of a piece/passage, at this point anyway, is to establish tonic, and considering the fact that the piece starts on an anacrusis, it is not unlikely to have another tonic chord on the downbeat of the first full measure.

As far as it going to a ii chord though, that is not your only choice, in my opinion, it could also be a vii'6 chord, going from I-vii'6-I -- which is not strange at all in my current world, that is considered to be a "tonic expansion" by way of a chord pulled from the dominant area.  So, okay, going to the first fermata (which is a V chord, meaning we end there on a half cadence), a potential chord progression that I come up with is I-I-vii'6-I-I-vii'-I-V.  You could replace vii' with ii in the first potential questionable one, but as far as it "needing" to "resolve" to V, I am not sure what you mean there.   

Voice leading and tendency tones may help to determine here.  7 is supposed to resolve up to 1, and 4 down to 3, no matter what chord they are in, I believe.  7 isn't in the ii chord, but the way this is written, if you use the vii' chord, scale degree 7 could be written in an inner voice and resolve as it needs.  The problem is that no matter what chord you have there, the soprano "A" is "supposed" to resolve downward to G#, and it doesn't in the first example (but it does in the second one).  If, for some reason, using a ii chord means you don't have to resolve the scale degree 4 down to 3, then I guess you have your answer there (I will have to check on that, I guess).

[db05]

I'll take a stab at the first bar.
Key: From the key sig, either it's E or C#m, since it starts and ends on E, I'm guessing it's in the key or E Major.

Chords: I   ii      iii     IV   V    vi     vii'
           E  F#m G#m  A    B   C#m  D#dim

upbeat: I - since the tonic E is doubled already

bar 1: I or vi?
         vii0 or ii?
         I or iii?
         I

Not sure which to choose, but since we already start with I, I'd go for:
I - vi - vii' - iii - I

Don't know if vii' - iii is okay, but ii - iii is very rare (never heard of it)

[quaver]

dbo5- try not to get bogged down by too much detail.  This is a BASIC harmony exam.  You need to see the Theory Syllabus on basic harmony 3 to understand what you need to know.  The secondary chords you need to know are V of V, V7 of V and vii dim of V.  (sorry the oblique on my keyboard isnt working).  The way I determine how to fill in the missing voices is this.  Lets assume we are in the key of C.

I        C E G
ii                   D F A

iii          E G B

IV F A C            F A C

V             G B D (F)

vi    A C E             A C E

vii               B D F

Now, I look at the notes that are supplied on the exam, then I look at the chart to visually see which notes will fit, and then simply fill in the missing notes.  Doubling anything except the leading note and try to stay away from doubling the third. Look up your page on doubling in your Vandendool Book. V7 can be used to avoid consecutive 5ths and octaves.  You have great help from K who has also helped me on my harmony questions.  Hope this helps.  Keep it simple.

[db05]

quaver: I don't have a book.  Yes, we learned our basic theory without a text, expect what teacher dictates. Your and Karli's approach seem much different from what we're taught. Very interesting. Except that it sounds like gibberish to me right now... 

This is the only way I know, sure takes a lot of time but it's not very difficult, imo. And it seems the OP was taught just as confusedly. 

What is RCM btw?

[quaver]

Not too conversant with computer short forms.  What does OP mean, Im guessing at Other Person.  Good luck on your exam in a couple of weeks.

[db05]

Not too conversant with computer short forms.  What does OP mean, Im guessing at Other Person.  Good luck on your exam in a couple of weeks.

Original Poster.

MY exams are done, I passed...  Don't know about the OP, though.

[quaver]

ok I  directed my replies to the wrong person.  Sorry, I thought dbo was a short form for noodleboi.  So, my replies really should have been directed to noodleboi 123. Thats why dbo5 doesn't have a Vandendool book (lol).   Confuscious reigns!

[noodleboi123]

hey guys.. thanks for the help, i am (slowly) getting this.
i have some questions however...
my teacher also told me that a fermata sign indicates that a cadence should be placed. is this always true? because sometimes i cant find ANY cadences. in addition, are there some tricks to recognize modulations? i sometimes get confused, and only find out at the end of the piece. finally, can chords can used two times in a row? for example, I-I, or V-V, or V-V7 if there are inversions..

on a last note, sometimes the answers i get are totally different from the teacher's, but i can still connect the chords well. are there multiple answers to some questions are is there something wrong i am constantly doing?

[quaver]

Re the cadence.  I believe that a cadence would appear at the fermata sign.  After all the fermata is a point of rest and would require a cadence.  The cadences you need to know are perfect, imperfect, plagal and deceptive. 


Modulations:  I always work backwards from the end of the phrase so that I know if and where a modulation has taken place by noting any accidentals that appear but do not belong to the initial key.

Yes, you can use the same chord twice.  Usually you only write it once and draw a line under the next one to indicate it is still the same chord or if it is a first inversion you would just write a 6 to indicate that it is a first inversion of the chord in question.

Your answers could be different from your teachers.   In harmony there are several options.  Placement of notes, chord progressions, inversions, etc. all will affect the final result.  Don't worry you probably aren't doing anything wrong.

[quaver]

I should have said the cadence is a point of rest and could have a fermata sign.  I don't think all fermatas would require a cadence but I have noticed in question 2 of the exam, and especially when there is a Bach excerpt and the phrases are two measures long, that this would require a cadence at the fermata.  Hope this clears things up.