Tag Archives: reharmonization

Demonstration: I Am Thine O Lord

Yesterday, we finished the first year of Online Music School. We had two 16-week semesters and I calculate that I talked in front of the camera for somewhere close to 200 hours. Roughly 150 students participated. Registrations were about equal for both semesters even though I only taught 5 classes in the second semester compared to […]

Reharmonization example: Jesus Shall Reign

I am really enjoying working with students around the world in my music school. For those wondering why I have taken down that part of the web site, it is because I am retooling for next semester. We are making a number of changes and are about ready to announce them. I will have everything up by Thanksgiving for sure.

Triads vs 7ths

Triads are sort of the basic building block of homophony, which is a technical term for the dominant way that harmony has been used in Western music for the past few centuries. They are useful without doubt; you can play most any song with triads.

But remember this: triads are not the end of harmony as we know it; they are the beginning of harmony as we know it. Being dependent on triads today is sort of like driving around in a Model T. We can celebrate the history of triads but they have severe limitations in music and music development has grown past them.