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Harmonization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Harmonization
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inmusic,harmonizationisthechordal
accompanimenttoalineormelody:"Using
chordsandmelodiestogether,making
harmonybystackingscaletonesas
triads".[2]
Aharmonizedscalecanbecreatedbyusing
eachnoteofamusicalscaleasarootnote
forachordandthenbytakingothertones
withinthescalebuildingtherestofa
chord.[3]
Forexample,usinganIonian(majorscale)
therootnotewouldbecometheI
majorchord,
thesecondnotetheiiminorchord,
thethirdnotetheiiiminorchord,
thefourthnotetheIVmajorchord,
thefifthnotetheVmajorchord(or
evenadominant7th),
thesixthnotetheviminorchord,
theseventhnotetheviidiminished
chordand
theoctavewouldbeaImajorchord.

Twoharmonizationsof"YankeeDoodle"

Oneharmonization[1] Play.

Anotherharmonization Play.

HarmonizedCmajorscale Play:I,ii,iii,IV,V7,vi,viio.

Usingtheminor(aeolianmode)onewouldhave:
iminor,
iidiminished,
()IIImajor,
ivminor,
vminor,
()VImajor,
()VIImajorand
theiminoranoctavehigher.[4]

Contents
1 Reharmonization
1.1 Reharmonizingamelody
1.2 Jazzreharmonization
1.2.1 Chordsubstitution
1.2.2 Planing

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1.2.2 Planing
1.2.3 Multitonicsystems
2 Seealso
3 References
4 Externallinks

Reharmonization
Reharmonizationisthetechniqueoftakinganexistingmelodiclineandalteringtheharmonywhich
accompaniesit.Typically,amelodyisreharmonizedtoprovidemusicalinterestorvariety.Another
commonuseofreharmonizationistointroduceanewsectioninthemusic,suchasacodaorbridge.

Reharmonizingamelody
Amelodictonecanoftenbeharmonizedinavarietyofdifferentways.Forexample,anEmightbe
harmonizedwithanEmajorchord(EGB).Inthiscase,themelodictoneisactingastherootofthe
chord.ThatsameEmightbeharmonizedwithaCmajorchord(CEG),makingitthethirdofthe
chord.Thisconceptextendstoninths(Ewouldactasthe9thifharmonizedwithaDm7chordDF
ACE),fifths(Ewouldactas5onanAaugmentedchordACE),andawidearrayof
otheroptions.
Typicallyhowever,reharmonizationsinvolvenotjustasinglemelodynote,butamelodicline.Asa
result,thereareoftenseveralmelodictoneswhichmightoccuroveraharmony,andallofthesemustbe
consideredwhenreharmonizing.
Forexample,ifamelodycomposedofEFandGwasoriginallyharmonizedwithEmaj7,choosing
D7asthereharmonizationchordmightnotbethebestchoice,sinceeachmelodictonewouldcreate
semitoneorminor9thdissonancewithchordmembersofthesupportingharmony.Experienced
arrangersmightdecidetousethesekindsofhighlydissonantchordswhenreharmonizing,however
handlingthisdissonancerequiresagoodearandadeepunderstandingofharmony.

Jazzreharmonization
Injazz,thetermistypicallyusedtorefertotheprocessofreharmonizingsomeorallofatune,whereby
anexistingmelodyisrefittedwithanewchordprogression.Jazzmusiciansoftentakethemelodyfroma
wellknownstandardandalterthechangestomakethetunesoundmorecontemporaryorprogressive.
ArtTatumwasapioneerofreharmonization,andlateronJohnColtrane,MilesDavisandBillEvans
wereamongthefirsttoseriouslyexploreitspossibilities,andsincethenthetechniquehasbecomean
essentialtoolforthejazzmusicianandjazzarranger.
Chordsubstitution
Oneofthemostcommontechniquesinjazzreharmonizationistheuseofsubstitutechords,througha
techniqueknownastritonesubstitution.Intritonesubstitution,adominantchordisreplacedbyanother
dominantchordatritoneaboveitstonic.Thistechniqueisbasedonthefactthatthethirdandseventh
degreesofadominantchordareenharmonicallythesameastheseventhandthirddegreesofthe
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dominantchordatritoneaway.Forexample,BandF,thethirdandseventhofaG7chord,are
enharmonicequivalentsofCandF,theseventhandthirdofaD7chord.Sincethetritoneisa
distinguishingfeatureofthesoundofadominant7thchord,[5]aD7chordmaythusreplaceG7.
Tritonesubstitutionworksverywellonstandards,becausethechordprogressionstypicallyutilizetheII
VIprogressionandthecircleoffifths.Forexample,ajazzstandardusingachordprogressionof
Dm7G7Cmaj7couldeasilybereharmonizedtoDm7D7Cmaj7,(G7isreplacedwiththe
dominant7thchordatritoneaway,D7).Thenewprogressionhasamorecontemporarysound,with
chromaticbassmotionandsmoothvoiceleadingintheupperparts.
Tritonesubstitutionisalsopossiblewithmajorseventhchords,forexampleDm7G7Cmaj7could
becomeDm7Dmaj7Cmaj7.ThadJonessometimesusesthistypeofsubstitutioninhisbigband
writing.[6]
Asopposedtotheclassicalapproachtotonalharmony,injazzthereareonlythreefunctions:tonic,
subdominantanddominant.Therefore,chordscanalsobesubstitutedforcongruentfunctions:for
example,theseconddegreecanbesubstitutedforthefourthdegree,thetoniccanbesubstitutedforthe
sixth/thirddegreeandsoon.Thefourthdegreeinmajormaybesubstitutedforaseventhchordtocreate
a"bluesy"sound.Inaprogressiongoingupafourth,ifthefirstchordisaminorseventhchord,itcan
alsobesubstitutedforaseventhchordarelativeseconddegreecanalsobeaddedbeforeittocreateaii
VIturnaround.(Asoleminorseventhorseventhchordcanbeperceivedasaseconddegreeorits
dominantqualitysubstitution,inwhichcaseafifthmayfollow.)Inthesameprogression,chordqualities
aresometimesflexible:theIImaj7chordmentionedinthepreviousparagraphmaygetapreceding
VImaj7chordinsteadoftherelativeIIoritstritonesubstitution.
Combiningtheabovetechniques,thefollowingprogression:
C

| Am7

| Dm7

| G7

| C ||

canturninto
E7 A7 | Bbm7 Eb7 | D7 F7 | Abmaj7 Dbmaj7 | C ||

Planing
Planingisareharmonizationtechniqueusedbybothimprovisersandarrangers.Itreferstothetechnique
ofslidingachord(orchordtone)upordown,eitherchromaticallyoratritoneapart,maintainingthe
shapeandvoicingofthechord,attimesresolvingtotheoriginalchord.Forexample,F7(FAC
E)couldslideuptobecomeG7(GBDF),thus"planing"eachnoteupasemitone.The
planedchordscanbefurtherembellished:forexample,ifaDmajorisplaneddownasemitone,aminor
seventhcanbeaddedtotheresultingchord,Casadominantchordassumedtobethefifthdegreeof
themomentarilytonicizedFmajor,itcanhaveaseconddegreeaddedtoit,thuscreatinganincomplete
iiVIturnaroundwhichmayormaynotresolvetotheoriginalchord:Gm7C7|(D)
Planingisoftenusedbyjazzarrangerstoreharmonizemelodicpassingtoneswhich,ifvoicedasa
verticalsonority,mightclashwiththeprevailingharmonyintheprogression.Aswell,anumberof
improvisershaveusedplaningeffectively,typicallyaspartofaprogression.HerbieHancockuses
improvisedplaningonhistune"Chameleon",onhis1973HeadHuntersrecordMcCoyTynerusesit
extensively(specifically,pentatonicscaleslocatedatritoneapart)inhisrecordingswithJohnColtrane,
mostnotably"ALoveSupreme",aswellasinhisownalbumsofthesameperiod.
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Multitonicsystems
AconceptintroducedbyJosephSchillingerandNicolasSlonimsky,theideaofmultipletonicsderived
fromequaldivisionoftheoctaveappealedtoJohnColtrane,whoproceededtocomposethe
groundbreakingtune"GiantSteps".ThecompositionfeaturesaseriesofdominantchordsandiiVI
turnaroundsresolvingtothreetonalitiesbuiltontheBaugmentedtriad(thethreetonicsystem):
B D7 | G Bb7 | Eb | Am7 D7 |
G Bb7 | Eb F#7 | B | Fm7 Bb7 |
Eb
| Am7 D7 | G | C#m7 F#7 |
B
| Fm7 Bb7 | Eb | C#m7 F#7 || (B)

Thisconceptwasveryinnovativeforthejazzworld,tothepointthatTommyFlanaganwasunableto
properlyimproviseontheoriginal"GiantSteps"recording.Developingthistechniquefurther,Coltrane
startedutilizingthethreetonicsystem(andlater,thefourtonicsystemaswell,whichisbasedontonics
derivedfromadiminishedseventhchord)asareharmonizationtool,whichhasultimatelybecome
knownas"Coltranechanges".[7]Inthisexamplefrom"Countdown"(whichisreallya"Coltrane
changes"versionof"TuneUp",thewellknownjazzstandardcomposedbyMilesDavis),thelongiiVI
inthekeyofDmajorislacedwithVIprogressionsthatresolvetothethreetonicsoftheDaugmented
triad:
original(TuneUp):
Em7

| A7

|D

|D|

reharmonized(Countdown):
Em7 F7 | Bb Db7 | Gb A7 | D |

Thiskindofreharmonizationmostlyrequiresalterationoftheoriginalmelodybecauseofthefrequent
modulationsandtherefore,becomes"reharmonizationofthechanges"ratherthantheclassicconceptof
reharmonizingthemelody.

Seealso
Chordprogression
Harmonicrhythm
TraditionalsubSaharanAfricanharmony

References
1.Porter,Steven(1987).HarmonizationoftheChorale,p.9.ISBN0935016805.
2.Schonbrun,Marc(2006).TheEverythingMusicTheoryBook:ACompleteGuidetoTakingYour
UnderstandingofMusictotheNextLevel,p.257.ISBN1593376529.
3.BruceBuckinghamEricPaschal(October1,1997).RhythmGuitar:TheCompleteGuide.Musicians
InstitutePress.p.48.ISBN9780793581849.Retrieved19July2010.
4.KeithWyattCarlSchroeder(April1,1998)."11".HarmonyandTheory:AComprehensiveSourceforAll
Musicians.MusiciansInstitutePress.p.58.ISBN9780793579914.Retrieved19July2010.
5.Levine,Mark(1995).TheJazzTheoryBook.CA:SherMusicCo.p.262.ISBN1883217040.
6.Wright,Rayburn.InsidetheScore:adetailedanalysisof8classicjazzensemblechartsbySammyNestico,
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ThadJones,andBobBrookmeyer.NewYork:KendorMusic,Inc.,1982.pp.45109.
7.FarahJasmineGriffinandSalimWashington(2008).ClawingattheLimitsofCool.ThomasDunneBooks.
p.242.ISBN0312327854.RetrievedJul16,2009.

Externallinks
http://www.torvund.net/guitar//index.php?page=Th_harmscale
http://guitarsecrets.com/harmonizing.htm
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Categories: Harmony Musicalscales
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