Teaching Tonal Harmony for teachers

[ajrdileva1]

Hi, our team has developed an app to teach and study tonal harmony (for iPad) which we think it will be a great tool when used as supplementary material.

I would like to get in touch with professors or advanced students to see if they will be willing to give us some feedback, and reviewing our app. We will provide redeem codes (we will only receive 50 from apple for this purpose) to download the app. for free at the itunes store in exchange for some feedback/review.

Mapping Tonal Harmony is available


Here's a link to the website, in case anyone interested would like to find more about the app before contacting us:
Mapping Tonal Harmony
https://mdecks.com/mapharmony.html
containing info and three tutorials that explain how the app works.

Here are three tutorials so you can see how the app works.
  Tutorial I

 

Tutorial II
 

 

Tutorial III
 

 


Thanks in advance for your help, and looking forward to hear from you soon,
mDecks Music
Ariel J Ramos

PS. I apologize if this is not the place to post this thread.

[j_menz]

[perfect_pitch]

Why yes... that doesn't look complicated at all...



Looks like someone failed Music school... Seriously - you want to try and dumb down harmony, do it elsewhere.

[pianoman53]

They just want some feedback, PP, so get the stick out of your behind and stop being such a .. well, stick in the behind.

Though, I agree on what Mr. Angry Pants here said: You can make it soooo much easier. No need for all those lines and arrows...

[clavile]

Gee, and I thought the book was somewhat confusing....

Thank you, but I think I'll just stick to my books....

[ajrdileva1]

I guess this wasn't the place to post this thread.
Thanks for your comments. Too bad nobody here seems to understand tonal harmony well enough to appreciate how useful this tool is.

I have been composing and teaching music for many years now, and I have worked really hard to create a layout that can easily teach all most-often-used harmonic progressions in most keys alike.

Many students have a pretty good understanding of how harmony works, only in certain keys.
A beginner student may know that in the key of C the V7 is G7, that C7 is also the V7 in the key of F and probably that the progression G7 – C produce a cadence where all tension in the G7 chord is released by the C triad, exactly as in the progression C7 – F, but they would have to think for a while before telling what that cadence in the key of Gb is.

A more advanced student may have a set of chords or cadences he/she fancies, such as Eb/G - A7, or Dm7 – Db7#11 – C69, or Bb – Ab – C, without understanding the origin of these chords or the functions they might be playing in a certain key. A student would hear and like the sound without knowing the possible functional interpretation (or context) and, consequently have a hard time exploiting/hearing these sounds in other keys or passages in a song.

It is remarkable though, how perception changes once a link is made between the chord and a chosen harmonic function. As soon as one learns that the Eb/G could be considered a Neapolitan Sixth chord in the key of Dm, that can precede the V7, which wants to resolve to the Im, many possible outcomes arise, since assigning a function to that Eb/G chord puts it in context, thus:
•   The Eb/G – A7 could now resolve to Dm as expected:
Eb/G – A7 – Dm.
•   or delayed by a cadential six-four Im64 (or Im/5, in this case Dm/A) :
Eb/G – Dm/A  -  A7 – Dm
•   or resolve deceptively to a Bb major chord the bVI in the key of Dm :
Eb/G – A7 – Bb
•   or resolve to a D major triad instead of the expected Dm.
Eb/G – A7 – D
•   or even to a D7 as a secondary dominant of the IV minor.
Eb/G – A7 – D7  (which would probably resolve to Gm)

Here are five of my compositions, if you still doubt whether I know tonal harmony or not:

Anyways, I thought my post was going to be taking seriously, but I guess that's not the case.

[perfect_pitch]

I guess this wasn't the place to post this thread.
Thanks for your comments. Too bad nobody here seems to understand tonal harmony well enough to appreciate how useful this tool is.

OH - THAT'S INSULTING!!! Yeah, you were damn right this wasn't the place to advertise it... considering the ONLY reason you posted here was to advertise your product.

And the reason no one took it seriously was because we know our harmonies better than you think. We don't need some idiotic app telling us how to harmonise and resolve chords to the tonic.

I understand tonal harmony far better than you ever will, and I didn't need a tool to help me develop that skill.

[keypeg]

Whether or not you know your harmony, or can play well, or can improvise, or can write wonderful compositions, isn't actually the issue.  You are proposing a system for teaching harmony theory (tonal harmony) and you are offering it to teachers.  How is it that these teachers are teaching it right now?  Do they have a need for the system that you are proposing?  Does that system actually teach harmony, and does it do so in a comprehensive manner?  Or does it give a map of how chords relate to each other in harmony?  If so, can a teacher use that map?  Does your system address an existing need?

I am not finished my studies, but am not a a complete beginner either.  I looked at some of the sections that correspond to what I know and have used.  It takes things that are familiar and straightforward, and makes them seem complicated, almost scary.    I can see at a glance what the beginner material is trying to teach because it is so familiar at this point.  I would not want to work like that.  I would also much rather be at the piano or even singing, doing explorations, rather than clicking on a virtual piano.

[ajspiano]

Too bad nobody here seems to understand tonal harmony well enough to appreciate how useful this tool is.

Really? post to a forum of piano teachers and argue that no one understands tonal harmony.. 

I guess this wasn't the place to post this thread.

No it wasnt, but its not because of yours or our understanding of harmony..  its because you're advertising a SALABLE product - and that is against the rules of the forum.

Further, you did so in your first ever post. Which means that it is likely the only reason you are here is to try and flog your product. It's not welcome.

I hope this gets deleted, I will be reporting it as spam.

[keypeg]

I was curious about "tonal harmony" since the term I'm familiar with is "harmony" or "harmony theory".  I googled the term and the only time it comes up is in conjunction with a text by that name, "Tonal Harmony".  I am wondering whether this application is a good companion / study aid for that particular book and course of studies.