Understanding Harmony

September 20, 2009 at 08:37 PM ·

This is going to sound crazy, but..... a voice teacher and learn solfege.  This will lead to sight reading with solfege and it will help a million.  IMHO.

Best wishes.

September 20, 2009 at 10:09 PM ·

Interesting...I was going to suggest some basic theory perhaps supplemented with a more obvious chordal instrument like piano or guitar.  Just fundamentals, nothing too "out there." 

September 20, 2009 at 11:02 PM ·

 Peggy,

If the music is notated (surely the choir has to be reading something) then you really don't have to understand anything--you just need to be able to play a line other than the melody. On violin, the easiest would be whatever the second-highest line is. While it often works to just simply play in intervals of a 3rd with the melody, this will depend on the chords, so you may play some wrong notes. I could recommend some great basic texts, such as Harder and Steinke's Harmonic Materials in Tonal Music, but I'm not sure you will be able to quickly apply it. Seems the easiest thing to do it to be able to read other clefs so you can play what's there.

Scott

September 21, 2009 at 12:13 PM ·

http://www.musictheory.net/index.html

I agree with those who urge you to get a teacher and maybe learn solfege to get an understanding of harmony.  However, here is web site from which you can learn the basics in series of lessons and see if you need more.

September 21, 2009 at 05:52 PM ·

I agree with Scott. Learning to read the alto part (which is in treble clef) and to interpret the bass clef parts is the easiest path to what you want. Easiest by far.

Perhaps setting a goal to play one piece in harmony at each performance. If you have rehearsals, you can practice your harmony there to see what works best.

I don't agree that playing a third off from the melody is a good goal. Thirds sound horrid if they are the slightest bit out of tune. Fourths are much more forgiving. But anything that consistent gets boring (to the listeners) very quickly. But any attempts you make to fit in a harmony will help your ear training and may find a hidden talent for this. I know I do not have this talent on my instruments.

Learning to improvise harmony, if it does not just come to you naturally is (I think) a really major endeavor. My youngest granddaughter, now 15, has been singing with the San Francisco Girls Chorus (this is her 8th and mandatory final year). The first level chorus sings in unison, the next level starts 2-part harmony, 3rd level and 4th level move on to 4-part harmony and much more complicated parts. Those who graduate from 4th level move to the Chorissima (their "professional-level" chorus) which, while mostly 4 part seems also to go so far as all 40 girls singing something different at times. When my granddaughter sings (she is section leader of the Chorissima  2nd alto section now) she seems to be able to create a harmony to whatever melody is being sung. In addition to passing 2 solid years of music theory, to graduate from level 4, she is able to sight sing, as can all the girls in Chorissima. I marvel at their ability, but I know the work that has gone into developing it. All the practice, private voice lessons, vocal coaching, and 2 to 3 weekly chorus practices each 2 hours long and at least one full-length concert a month during the concert year.

Guitar players seem to learn chords and thus harmony. Perhaps learning to play guitar and read guitar notation is a quick way to interpreting the harmony for the music you want to play. My son and my other harmonious grandchildren seem to have done it that way. But they have their thousands of hours in too. I remember when my son was 12 and got a book called "1,400 guitar chords you can play" - and he learned them. (Of course many are just other ways to play the same chords - but even so!)

Andy

September 21, 2009 at 06:15 PM ·

It never hurts to find a venue in which it's safe to just start experimenting!  Lessons in solfege or sightsinging will undoubtedly help you experiment with more understanding, but sometimes there's nothing better or more instructive than just trying it and seeing what it sounds like!

September 21, 2009 at 08:28 PM ·

I still say that voice lessons are under-rated and can contribute tremendously to all instrument players!

September 21, 2009 at 09:26 PM ·

 Andrew,

I must vociferously disagree that 4ths are easier to play in tune. They are absolutely the most unforgiving interval, and perfect intervals are always more difficult to play in tune than imperfect.

Playing in 4ths is also a bad idea for purely harmonic reasons, unless one wishes to make the music sound like something from the 12th century. In addition, 4ths are considered dissonant, and should ONLY be used in very specific circumstances and resolved properly.

The only (relatively) safe intervals to harmonize with are 3rds or 6ths.

Scott

September 21, 2009 at 10:06 PM ·

Thank you all for the excellent feedback. It looks as though I need to study intervals??? I am a work in progress. The musicians at church play with lead sheets. So they are basically the lyrics with the chords used written over the lyrics.

I am playing by ear....so I usually practice with the lead sheets at home...again typically picking out the melody. So for example if the song is in key of "G" and one of the chords the piano is playing is "C" and the notes in that paticular chord is "CEG" what would be the alto notes...or am I going to play from the bass clef ? I hope I was not rambling on to much, or confusing myself more. I am so excited to be able to be on this site....I appreciate everyone's feedback so much.

September 22, 2009 at 08:48 PM ·

Scott, can you give me an example of what you mean by the "second highest line"? Thanks.

September 25, 2009 at 06:42 PM ·

Peggy--

great mission!

We violinists too often are way overbalanced toward melody in how we HEAR and think and play, and we're so BUSY with so many notes.....   this comes from our hyperliterate background.  I say we, but mean especially me....   Many years trying to change...

Moving away from melody, maybe the most imortant thing is LESS--  do less, less is more.  Pay attention especially to bass and keyboards, your pitched rhythm section (I'm guessing at your church band instrumentation since you say lead sheets)--  listen and follow them--  they're so smart about doing so much with so little

Voice and solfege-- OK.  Piano, guitar-- maybe; maybe piano especially for the clarity of the keyboard in front of your eyes and grasping theory generally.  But trying to use guitar and even piano chords, or their pitches, can be frustrating on violin, because voicing matters (how high or low a certain pitch is sounded, or which string), and presence of the other pitches and blending matters:---  The ninths and 13ths and all the arcane numbered pitches added to chords that seem like just a lovely color from a chordal instrument can seem like an unbalanced dissonance glaring out from a violin.... 

Lots of people can read and play near anything, lots of people can hear and 'pick-up' near anything, and it seems like violinists need to find the more rare ones who can do most of both AND translate and explain consciously--  whatever instrument(s) such a person plays, and whether or not you learn the other instrument(s) or stick with violin, try to find this person (you'd be outrageously lucky to find more, but be lucky...) and play and play and learn with them.  Maybe bass players are most commonly thoughtful about the harmonic taste and function of sounding individual pitches in the context of certain harmony changes, and that's a good place to look....

Meanwhile, improvise and learn how to make any pitch "mistake" seem deliberate-- for example, bravely hang on to clashy notes you play and change up or usu. better down by step, making everyone hear a suspension and resolution as if you'd planned it--  move through more quickly, and convince everyone it was passing tone--  listen, listen, listen all around....  try to keep a larger listening perspective and move more slowly and confidently, anticipating, responding.  Imitation and echo of other players is fine.  Take a rest-- sit out a verse--  it adds variety to the overall sound, gives space to someone else, lets you re-group, and you can say you're enhancing orchestrational develpment of the the piece.  Find 'boring' barely harmonic pitches and sit on them, repeat the note, kicking out a simple rhythm to noodge the music along (use pitches, but not for melody!)-- e.g. play a clave beat, alternating just a couple pitches you change only if and when you hear that you need to.  Then you return to lovely melody lines and take people's breath away.  :-)

Good luck !