Learning how to describe harmony in music, for a lot of music students, can be challenging. But, with a few simple resources, and this step-by-step process, your students will know how to describe harmony in music effortlessly!
Meaning of Harmony in Music
Before your students can know how to describe harmony in music, they need to know the meaning of harmony in music. The process of knowing how to describe harmony in music is much easier when your students know the meaning of harmony and can define each term as they hear it in the music they are studying.
The simplest definition of harmony in music is “the succession of chords, or chordal progressions made by two or more parts, or voices, playing or singing together”.
If you would like to learn all about the terms used to define in music, then read the blog post that has all the harmony in music definitions explained in a simple and easy to understand way.
Click here to read the What is Harmony in Music Blog Post.
How to Analyze Harmony in Music In 5 Easy Steps
The how to describe harmony in music lesson uses the following resources, click each one for more information
- Christmas Music Listening Worksheets
- Elements of Music Harmony Listening Worksheets
- Harmony Elements of Music Terms
- Harmony Terms Music Memory Game
- Free Elements of Music Mind Maps
Step 1 – listen to the music
To be able to describe harmony in music, the very first thing that you need to do is choose some music to listen to and study. This lesson was completed around Christmas time, and students listened to 2 different versions of the same song to study and compare how harmony was used in each song. The two songs referred to in this lesson are linked below. Please listen to them before reading the “how to” – it will make more sense that way!
Deck the Halls performed by Tenth Avenue North
Deck the Halls performed by Mike Tompkins and Friends
Step 2 – Complete the Listening Comparison Worksheet
After listening to each song, complete the Harmony Comparison focusing on the following harmony questions. These listening questions can be found in the Elements of Harmony Listening Worksheets.
- Is the music consonant or dissonant?
- What instruments are performing the melodic accompaniment?
- What is the chord pattern?
- Describe the harmonic rate of change.
For the Tenth Avenue version of Deck the Halls, the answers for each aspect of Harmony are as follows:
- Consonant – pleasant sounding
- Melodic accompaniment – double bass, piano/keyboard and electric guitar, saxophone and horn section
- Three different chord patterns for different sections of the music. Pattern 1 x2, Pattern 2 x 2 and Pattern 3 x 2, then this whole chord pattern repeats. TIP – find the sheet music or the guitar chord music for the song and listen to the music as you read the score. If it is the guitar chart, then you will need to count the number of beats before the chords change.
- Harmonic rate of Change – mostly every 4 beats, but there are some quick chord changes at the end of phrases
For the Mike Tompkins and Friends version of Deck the Halls, the answers for each aspect of Harmony are as follows:
- Consonant – pleasant sounding
- Melodic accompaniment – all performed by voices, an a capella group
- The chord changes are not as obvious as the other version, but follows the same pattern. Three different chord patterns for different sections of the music. Pattern 1 x2, Pattern 2 x 2 and Pattern 3 x 2, then this whole chord pattern repeats.
- Harmonic rate of Change – mostly every 4 beats, but there are some quick chord changes at the end of phrases
Step 3 – Find the Similarities
The main similarities between the two versions are listed below.
- Consonant sounding
- Underlying chord pattern
- Same harmonic rate of change
Step 4 – Find the Differences
The main differences between the two versions are listed below.
- Melodic accompaniment or harmonic support is performed by different instruments.
- Tenth Avenue has actual instruments – double bass, piano/keyboard, electric guitar, saxophone, and a horn section
- Mike Tompkins is all voices, and is an a capella group
Step 5 – Write the Harmony in Music Analysis using M.U.S.I.C.
Knowing how to describe harmony in music is easy with the process developed by Jooya Teaching Resources using the Writing About Music scaffold – M.U.S.I.C.
M.U.S.I.C. is a simple to use writing about music scaffold that stands for
M- Main Music Idea
U- Understanding of the Main Musical Idea
S- Specific Sample that supports the main musical idea
I – In Depth Information about that specific sample
C- Connect to the question or Element/Concept of Music
To use the Writing About Music scaffold – M.U.S.I.C. is easy when you follow the music paragraph writing structure
- Write an introductory sentence about the Main Musical Idea, in this case, Harmony, then show your Understanding of the Main Musical idea by defining it.
- Introduce the song name/s and the performer/s and that the other Main Musical Idea is comparing the two versions of the music, focusing on the similarities and/or differences.
- The next few sentences should state a Specific Sample and supporting In depth Information about that sample. Write a sentence for each Specific Sample.
- Complete the paragraph by writing a statement about how the Main Musical idea Connects to the Element of Music.
The images below show both the similarities and differences paragraphs, color coded with each different part of the Writing About Music framework – M.U.S.I.C.
If you prefer to watch a live demonstration of this M.U.S.I.C. writing process in action, watch the video linked below. The video explains the process in more detail and shows you how it is written in real time.
You can also join me, every Tuesday night, at 7 p.m., Australian Eastern Time, over on the Jooya Teaching Resources Facebook page, where there is a live demonstration of the Writing About Music process, music lesson ideas and more. Use the link here to join me!
Until next time
Happy listening and teaching
Julia from Jooya