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Music Theory:
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 HARMONIZING THE MAJOR SCALE:
The foundation of diatonic harmony is triad harmonization of the major scale. To begin researching this topic - take a moment to learn a few important definitions. - DIATONIC: The term diatonic is the opposite of chromatic. Since chromatic is non-selective movement between notes, diatonic is obviously selectively moveing in a specific way from one note to another. - HARMONY: When we combine notes in third intervals one on top of another we achieve harmony from a scale. For example; if we had a C Major scale, all notes being natural, and we moved up a 3rd from C - we would land on E. Another 3rd after that would give us G. Therefore the notes of C, E and G are all in harmony. - DIATONIC HARMONY: When we stay inside of a scale and play the chords found within that central tonality, we achieve Diatonic Harmony. Since; pop, rock, country, folk and other popular styles are generally created from a single harmonized scale, it is vital that we fully understand this process. |
This concept is also vital in understanding the relationship between melody and harmony. Since without an understanding of the chords which fit with specific scales, a musician would have great difficulty matching chords with melody lines. Let's take a look at harmonizing the key of C Major into a series of Triads: The Scale: Each step of the scale can be stacked in thirds and this would create a harmony.
The chords from the harmony found in the key of C Major would result in: C Major | D Minor | E Minor | F Major For practice, write a progression using the chords found in the key of C Major. These chords will all sound well with each other, since after all, they share all of the same notes. |
