Unit 4-4: Harmonizing Melodies

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Articulate common strategies for harmonizing melodic lines.
Create a melodic skeleton to reharmonize a melody by substituting a different chord progression and/or changing the harmonic rhythm.
Compose a chord progression to harmonize a given melody.

Preparation for Class

Read:

Harmonizing Melodies (Wilmoth, PopGrammar)
Accompanimental Textures (Hutchinson, Music Theory for the 21st Century Classroom). Read the following sections:

Watch

7 Levels of Reharmonizing Eleanor Rigby
(David Bennett, 12 mins)

Explore

Check out one or more of the following videos by Adam Neely. The harmonization techniques used here are more advanced than those that we'll apply in this lesson, but these videos should give you an idea of how an artist thinks about reharmonization and how harmony changes the way that we hear the melody affect the overall song.

The 7 Levels of Jazz Harmony (reharmonizing Lizzo's "Juice") (13 mins)
Reharmonizing Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next" (14 mins)
Reharmonizing Adele's "Hello" (15 mins)
Reharmonizing Carly Rae Jepson's "Run Away with Me" (5 mins)

In-Class Activities

Discussion

Lady Gaga vs. Pomplamoose's “Telephone”: Listen to Pomplamoose's reharmonization of Lady Gaga's song, "Telephone." What musical parameters does Pomplamoose keep the same? Which are changed? Compare the harmony between the two versions in the chorus.
- - What common chord schema does Lady Gaga use in the chorus? Listen to Pomplamoose's version of the chorus. How is it different? How does the reharmonization change the way you hear it?
  - Youtube: Lady Gaga's "Telephone" and Pomplamoose's "Telephone"

Activities

Reharmonize "Let It Be": Create a melodic skeleton for The Beatles song "Let it Be." Select 1–2 important melodic notes in the melody for each chord, then work out all of the chord possibilities that you could use to harmonize each of those tones. Compose three different harmonizations of the melody using accompanimental patterns from the reading.
- - Materials: MuseScore | PDF | Youtube
  - Circle and label any non-chord tones in your melody by type.
  - Listen to your harmonizations as a class and compare them. Which do you like best? Why do you think these progressions work better?
  - Try the same activity with:
    - - Taylor Swift's "Love Story." See the worksheets here: MuseScore | PDF. Play your chordal accompaniments in class along with an acapella version of Taylor Swift singing. Compare your harmonization to the original: MuseScore | PDF | Youtube.
      - The verse from "Puff the Magic Dragon"
Harmonize a Melody: Select a melody from your sight-singing anthology to harmonize. Aim for a harmonic rhythm of 1–2 chords per measure.
- - Circle and label any non-chord tones in your melody by type.
  - Listen to your harmonizations as a class and compare them. Which do you like best? Why do you think these progressions work better?

Assignment

Assignment 5-4

NEXT STEP

Next Lesson: Melodic Harmonic Relationships

Practice

Musition:
- Pop Progressions: Lvl 7: Harmonization
- Harmonization: Lvl 1b: Melody Harmonization (I, V)

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