HARMONY

• Major vs Minor
• Scales
• Chords
• Key/Tonality

     All music within the tradition of Western tonal music is cast either within a major or minor key.  The "Grand March is in a major key, A-flat major to be exact.  Listen to an excerpt from the March to hear the sonority of the major key:
   Excerpt #1--"Grand March" from Aida by Guiseppi Verdi 
 
    The major key could generally be described as a happy or brighter sound.  How fitting for a triumphant victory march before the King, the action occuring in the opera at this time.

    Another sound possibility is a minor key.  Listen to an excerpt from Bethoven's 5th Symphony to hear the sonority of the minor key.
   Excerpt #2--Symphony no 5, Movement I, by Ludwig Von Beethoven

    The minor key could generally be described as a darker or scary sound.  What other emotions might be portrayed through this sound of music?

    But how are these different sonorities constructed?  What distinguishes them from the other?
 

 

SCALES         Both major and minor keys are constructed with scales.  A scale is "the underlying tonal material of some particular music, arranged in order of rising pitches."  The only difference between the major and the minor scale is the pattern of whole-steps and half-steps they use.

        The Major scale: (Click on the scale to hear the sound)
 
 
                             1          2           3         4            5          6         7          1
                                                        \       /                                       \        /
                                                         Half                                         Half

        The minor scale: (Click on the scale to hear the sound)

 
                               1          2          3          4            5           6        7          1
                                             \         /                           \         /
                                              Half                                Half

        These scale patterns are used to construct all major and minor keys, evoking the sound described above.
 
 

 

CHORDS         Within any key, the harmony is sounded through use of chords.  A chord is "three or more tones sounded simultaneously..."  The most common type of chord in Western tonal music is a tertian chord, built on the interval of a third.  Most basic of the tertian chords is the triad, constructed of three tones.  Here are the four types of triads and their fundamental intervals (Top / Bottom):

  Major third / Major third = Augmented triad

  minor third / Major Third = Major Triad

  Major Third / minor third = minor triad

  minor third / minor third = diminished triad
 

            **Click on each chord to hear its sound**

        The most commonly used chords in the "Grand March" are the Major and minor triads.
 
 

MODULATION         Does a piece of music stay within a single key for the entire composition?  Very rarely.  To add some variety to the harmony, the composer uses the technique of modulation.  Modulation is defined as "the change of key within a composition."
        The "Grand March" makes use of this common technique.  Verdi begins the piece in the key of A-flat major, shown here:
 
  --Principal Theme in A-flat Major

 
 

        Here's the same theme, later cast in B major.
--Principal Theme in B Major

 

        As you can see AND hear, the composer chooses to change the key for this section to add some variety to a similar musical theme!

        Click here to eject the CD
 
 

QUIZ  
         Test your knowledge of the harmonic concepts discussed in this page by taking the Harmony Quiz!  Questions include terms (indicated with boldface type), chord structure, and scale structure.  Make sure you review these terms before taking the quiz!  After taking the quiz, return to this page by clicking on the "BACK" button on your Web Browser.

                        Click here for the Harmony Quiz!
 

LINKS TO OTHER PAGES  
        Music Educators National Conference (MENC) Homepage
 
        Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) Homepage

        American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Homepage

        JW Pepper's Music Network
 
 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS  
        Harvard Dictionary of Music by Willi Apel; Second Edition; Published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press in Cambridge, Massachusetts; (c) 1969.

        Classics Greatest Hits; Compact Disc produced by RCA Victor; (c) 1991.