[Rhodes22-list] Harmony

[Steve Alm]

Bill and Roger - you're welcome.

Bill, I remember trying to get through that Hofstadter book years ago and I
really had no idea what he was talking about.  I came away with nothing.  If
you can glean anything useful from it, then I'm happy for you, but I didn't.

There was a huge work published back in the 1940's called The Schillinger
System of Musical Composition, by Joseph Schillinger.  He breaks music down
to mathematical formulas, which I found useful.  Sometimes music seems sort
of mysterious and ethereal but when you look at it mathematically, it starts
to make more sense, at least it did for me.

Check Schillinger out of the library (don't buy it - it's too expensive) and
give it a look.  It's geared for those who already read music, but you might
find it interesting.

Slim

On 1/29/05 7:03 PM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:

> Slim,
> 
> Thanks for taking the time.  That helps a lot.  I knew the question was
> hard to answer because I've asked it of many people before.
> 
> I'm reading Godel, Escher, Bach for another perspective on the same
> question.  Hofstadter's answer is longer, but yours is much more to the
> point.  You have significantly advanced my ability to grasp this concept.
> 
> Thanks, again,
> 
> Bill
> 
> Steve Alm wrote:
> 
>> Bill,
>> 
>> How does harmony work?  Sometimes the simplest questions are the hardest to
>> answer.  Volumes have been written on Western harmony, Eastern harmony,
>> traditional functional harmony, modern, jazz and so on, but here are the
>> basics:
>> 
>> Think of a graph where the horizontal axis is time and the vertical axis is
>> frequency (pitch).  If you plot a melody on the graph, it goes up and down
>> to different notes as it moves through time.  Harmony happens when you put
>> two or more contrasting melody lines together on the same graph.  When two
>> or more notes sound at the same time, that creates or implies a "chord."  A
>> chord is a simultaneous or "vertical" juxtaposition of pitches.  The most
>> common chords are called triads and made of three notes, usually every other
>> white key on the piano.  You probably know the white keys are named A, B, C,
>> D, E, F and G.  A typical triad would be A, C and E; or B, D and F.  (You
>> could make a chord using consecutive notes such as A, B and C together, but
>> it bangs in the ear and sounds like "discord" unless you're listening to
>> modern jazz or maybe Stravinsky's Rite of Spring--where discord is the
>> intent of the composer)  As the melodies move through time and the notes
>> change, the chords change too.  We call this the "chord progression" or as
>> the jazzers say, "the changes."
>> 
>> The chord progression in any given song is very specific and the note
>> combinations have to fit into that scheme as they move along.  When Simon
>> and Garfunkle are singing together, you're hearing two distinct melodies
>> that work together.  You see Paul strumming the guitar and changing chords
>> as they go.  The notes that Paul and Art are singing must match the notes in
>> the guitar chords.  I'm oversimplifying here because melodies can certainly
>> go "outside" the chords, but let's stick to the basics.
>> 
>> Simon and Gar are only two voices.  Now add a third, fourth and fifth voice
>> to the equation--five separate melodies plotted on the graph that all fit
>> together both horizontally and vertically.  When it fits just right, our
>> ears are happy. 
>> 
>> There's a very strong anthropological element at play here.  What makes my
>> ear happy might not for my neighbor.  And there have been studies of
>> aesthetics that reveal the demographics of all that, but for now, let's just
>> think of that as various flavors of ice cream.
>> 
>> Still with me?  Let's get back to the Beach Boys.  Brian Wilson created his
>> songs in much the same way as J.S. Bach created his chorales.  The Bach
>> chorales were typically four voices, soprano, alto, tenor and bass.  Each
>> had their own individual horizontal melody to sing, but when sung
>> simultaneously it created vertical chords along the way.  The melodies have
>> to be crafted so they do indeed make pleasant sounding chords.  "Plotting"
>> the melodies on the "graph" so they work both vertically and horizontally IS
>> the art of harmony.
>> 
>> In order for the graph to make the ear happy, the composer needs to follow
>> many "rules" regarding the placement of notes, exactly which chords to use,
>> timing and on and on.  One of the things that makes Brian Wilson so
>> exceptional is that he knew and followed those same rules as Bach so
>> meticulously.  Not many other 'popular' artist did that.  Or did it to the
>> extent and complexity as Wilson.  Bach would have loved Surfer Girl.  8-)
>> 
>> Good Vibrations was a studio cut all the way and the live version was a mere
>> shadow of its former self.  Even the Beach Boys themselves could barely pull
>> that one off live.  It's because those lines and that harmony - the whole
>> graph if you will - is so complex and detailed that it's impossible to
>> replicate live.  Five guys in a studio can overdub the vocals and sound like
>> ten or twenty.  That means the chords are much more complex than the simple
>> triads I mentioned before.  Instead of two or three notes together, it's
>> four or five and then overdubbed to the point of sounding almost like a
>> whole choir.  That's the effect you get with Good Vibrations.
>> 
>> Class dismissed.
>> 
>> Prof. Slim
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 1/28/05 7:10 AM, "Bill Effros" <bill at effros.com> wrote:
>> 
>>  
>> 
>>> Slim,
>>> 
>>> Can you explain how harmony works?  I read what you wrote, and I sort of
>>> understand it.  But when I really think about it, I know I don't know
>>> what you are talking about.  And I would love to understand it, even if
>>> I can never sing it.
>>> 
>>> Bill Effros
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Steve Alm wrote:
>>> 
>>>    
>>> 
>>>> Rummy,
>>>> 
>>>> The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were practically the same band.  They all
>>>> worked together on many projects.  Ex:  "Barbara Ann" is thought of as a BB
>>>> song but that's Jan Berry singing the original opening:  "Ba, Ba, Ba,...Ba
>>>> Ba-bar Ann..."   Can you listen to Surfer Girl, Little GTO or Good
>>>> Vibrations and NOT feel like you're sixteen and just got your license,
>>>> cruising Main Street in your '65 Mustang with your girlfriend?  Ain't that
>>>> what's it's all about?  C'mon now, let's give Surfer Girl another listen:
>>>> http://home.mn.rr.com/almhome/Surfergirl.mp3
>>>> 
>>>> Truthfully, I used to think of the BB as fluffy bubblegum stuff until I was
>>>> in this 5-pc. show band that did a lot of 4 and 5 part harmony.  We worked
>>>> up a big BB segment and I was stunned at how hard it was to sing those
>>>> parts.  Those boys were very well-schooled in formal, classic harmony, and
>>>> that was quite evident when we dug in and tried to learn their material
>>>> note
>>>> for note.  I found renewed respect!  The vocal lines are blended so well
>>>> that it's hard to tell them apart.  By comparison, we put together the
>>>> entire Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, and pulled it off pretty well, but we
>>>> couldn't touch Good Vibrations.
>>>> 
>>>> By the time Brian Wilson became all messed up on drugs and various psych
>>>> problems, his cousin Dennis would come to him with a bag of hamburgers and
>>>> say, "Brian, do you want a hamburger?"  And Brian would mumble, "Uh huh."
>>>> Then Dennis would say, "Then write a song and you can have one."  After
>>>> Brian wrote a song, Dennis would say, "Brian, do you want another
>>>> hamburger?" ...  8-)  True story, or so I'm told.  Brian Wilson is
>>>> certifiably nuts and also a certifiable genius and IMO a national treasure.
>>>> 
>>>> I have tons of stories about these guys because we did numerous gigs with
>>>> both BB and J & D back when I was on the "nostalgia circuit." playing
>>>> either
>>>> before or after them at those big outdoor fairs and festivals multi-band
>>>> venues.  Never played with the Four Tops (love 'em) but we played venues
>>>> with Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Turtles, Three Dog Night, Gary
>>>> Puckett
>>>> and the Union Gap, The Association, Herman's Hermits, Freddy Cannon, Fats
>>>> Domino, The Buckinghams, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Mary Wilson, The
>>>> Imperials, The Dixie Cups, The Shirells, Mitch Rider, .......... 8-)
>>>> 
>>>> Slim Chance And The Gamblers  AKA  Cool Duty   8-)
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On 1/27/05 4:46 PM, "R22RumRunner at aol.com" <R22RumRunner at aol.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>>      
>>>> 
>>>>> Beach boys. Sliimmy, they were bad when they were current and even worse
>>>>> now. Jan & Dean were the best. I also liked the four tops. :)
>>>>> Speaking of sunny weather. It looks like winter is going to deposit a ton
>>>>> of
>>>>> ice on us Saturday, so if I'm away from the list for a while, it ain't
>>>>> because I'm out sailing. But, I've never tried it in an ice storm. How
>>>>> much
>>>>> rum  
>>>>> would it take to get me to go out sailing in an ice storm? Good question.
>>>>> Hmmm,  
>>>>> gonna have to think on that one for a while. What could happen?
>>>>> 
>>>>> Rummy
>>>>> __________________________________________________
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>>>>>   
>>>>> 
>>>>>        
>>>>> 
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>>>> 
>>>>      
>>>> 
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