First Year Harmony - Complete

Book excerpt: From the FOREWORD. In writing this book my aim has been not only to show the student how to manage and use the various possibilities, but also when to introduce them - a point which is obviously of prime importance. One so often encounters students who can talk glibly about the "" treatment "" of all kinds of chords, but who seem not to have the slightest idea of when to use them, or how to know when their use is implied in a given part. While the harmonisation of a melody or a bass is to a great extent dependent on the musical sensibility of the student, it has to be realised that certain melodic progressions imply, normally, certain definite harmonies, and these implications I have tried to make clear. Elementary work, at least, is largely compounded of commonplaces, and my object has been as far as possible to show how the underlying commonplace may be ""spotted."" The treatment of certain matters has been deliberately restricted and limited for the sake of clarity and simplicity.