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Post 3: Revengeance

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WEEK 3: Research 2, now with new info! This week I’m going to build in last week’s work about chord structure . Now that we know how chords are built, we need to learn how to use them. This is called chord function , and it builds up chord progressions , which do a lot to set the tone for the music. There a 3 ways a chord can function: Tonic Dominant Subdominant This chart, from openmusictheory , shows the 3 functions. Quick side note, when I say the “I” chord, that means I’m referring to the 1st scale degree. So, the I in C is C, the II is D, and so on. The tonic chords are able to be thought about like home . The other chords lead to a tonic chord in one way or another. In the key of C , the tonics are C (I), Em (iii), and Am (vi). The dominants lead to the tonic strongly. When I play a dominant, it naturally wants to resolve to the tonic chord. The dominant chords in C are G (V) and B° (vii). Finally, the subdominant chords act somewhat like dominant chords. The
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Post 2: Electric Boogaloo

WEEK 2 - Research, Research, Research! I’ve decided to spend this week researching different chord types so as to aid my reharmonization efforts. I’ve learned there are 4 types of chords. Tertiary Quartal Secundal Clusters I will be discussing the first category today, as it's the most common type and the type I have the greatest understanding of. Tertiary harmony is the most common type. It is built on thirds , hence the name. A third is defined as a distance of 3 between notes. C to E is a third, there are 3 notes between them; C , D , and E Thirds come in two main types: major and minor . The major third is larger than the minor, having a distance of 4 semitones. Major third; C , Db , D , Eb , and E The minor third is a hair smaller, at 3 semitones. Minor third; C , Db , D , and Eb Intervals can be inverted , meaning the highest note is moved down an octave. Thirds invert to sixths . C to E inverts to E to C . Of course, chords are a
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Post the First

WEEK 1 - Reharmonization and Research So, the goal of this project is to create a 2-movement duet for french horn and bass trombone. It seems simple, but it's a lot more complex than you might think. First, I need to write the music itself. There are many different tools for this, like Finale , Sibelius , and Musescore . I chose Musescore because it's free and much more beginner-friendly than the others. Mr. Meredith advised Cole and I to begin this project by reharmonizing a simple melody we already knew. I chose In the Hall of the Mountain King , by Edvard Grieg. It's a simple 8-bar melody, and relatively diatonic as well. My reharmonization is relatively simple, with some Gm, Dm and F chords. I also threw in a Dbm and Cm because they fit the melody. I’ve done some research on chord functions, but I’m not totally sure yet. All I know is Gm is the I , Dm is the V , F is the VII , and Dbm and Cm are not part of the G minor scale. To recap: I'm using Muses
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