PSP Big Brain Blog

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...

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...