Section 3: Harmony

How do I write notes that fit together well?

1. Listening task

🕑 5 minutes

Read the questions below and think about them in your head.

1. Look at the two Song Makers below.

2. Press the Play button on the first one, then stop it and play the other one.

3. Which one do you prefer? Why?

4. (You don't need to edit them)

Song Maker 1 (https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/6702854082396160)

Song Maker 2 (https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Song-Maker/song/4794380331253760)

Did you think Song Maker 2 was more clashy? Did you think the notes were a bit wrong?

2. Strategies for writing harmonies

Watch my video below to learn four strategies for composing harmonies.

3. Skill Up

🕑 10 minutes

1. I have made a melody in Song Maker.

2. Can you add a harmony line using the ideas from my video? f you get lost, go back and watch my video.

3. Come back to this page after 10 minutes for the next activity.

4. Click here to go to my melody in Song Maker

4. Over to you!

🕑 20 minutes

Pick a challenge from the Beginner, Intermediate or Expert boxes below.

Read all the instructions before you start.

Beginner

Your challenge is:

1. Using Song Maker, write your own melody.

2. Then add a harmony line to it as well.

3. Make sure your harmony line fits with your melody all the way through.

4. Once you're done, copy and paste the link into the Song Maker channel in Teams.

5. If you have forgotten how to do this, watch this video.

6. Click here to go to Song Maker now.

Intermediate

Your challenge is:

1. Using Song Maker, write a short melody that is catchy and interesting.

2. Add harmony to your piece.

3. Can you try one of the Level Up ideas below?

4. Once you're done, copy and paste the link into the Song Maker Channel on Teams.

Level up

• Can you use different types of harmony in the same piece?

• For example, can you use:

  • Thirds above

  • Thirds below

  • Chords

  • Broken chords

• Can you make your Song Maker longer? Perhaps 8 bars? This means that you could have two sections that last 4 bars each. Or four sections that last two bars each.

• Can you carefully plan the beginning, middle and end? I suggest your piece goes from simple to more complex as it goes along. This will help keep your listeners interested.

Expert

Your challenge is:

Write a piece of music on Song Maker* to accompany this short section of a horror film:

The character is having a flashback to a period from their childhood. The screen goes wavy and out of focus as they enter the flashback. The scene starts off bucolic and cheerful, but as the character walks down the street, they are slowly aware something is wrong, and that someone... no, something is following them. Closer... Closer....!

You will have to make imaginative use of harmony to convey the changing emotion of the scene. This should be conveyed through an appropriate treatment of consonance and dissonance.

Click here and watch a short video of suggested techniques.

*If you so wish, you could write the piece on other software, for example MuseScore or other notation packages.