Harmonizing melodies

[FrankAtari]

 

 

Let's say that I put together a cool melody line that I like and I want to harmonize it, how should I proceed? Should I have a chord for every note in the melody or what? I mean how is it usually done?

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, FrankAtari said:

... how is it usually done?

 

This is not without interest. There is more (much more...), but here's a start...

 

 

Note : It's not mandatory to harmonise every note; one may harmonise (say...) the first note with a suitable note held for the whole bar. Have a listen to Irving Berlin's 'You're Just In Love', which features excellent counterpoint (simultaneous  concurrent melodies...). Bach has some fine stuff worth study, of course.
Hope this helps... 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Dad3353

[FrankAtari]

19 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Bach has some fine stuff worth study, of course.

 

 

Who is this guy? Another Youtuber?  

Thanks a lot, it does help. 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by Dad3353

[Dad3353]

[Dad3353]

Another tip that I forgot to add : It's very often the last note of a song that tells us what key we're in, the note that gives a sense of 'it's over' (resolution...). From there, the other notes can be assigned their 'rank' in the scale. It doesn't work every time, as some song-smiths do strange things with 'standard' harmonic principles, but for a lot of stuff it's as good a starting point as any. Beware of thinking that the 'key' is the first note; it's very often not the case at all..!  Just sayin'. 

[FrankAtari]

 

Yeah I kind of know all you wrote above Dad3353, thanks. I've got a question about the video, something the guy didn't clarify. He said "all of the notes can be dived in harmony notes or inessential notes" ok great, but he didn't really explained how to distinguish them. Can you elaborate on that?

[Dad3353]

45 minutes ago, FrankAtari said:

 

Yeah I kind of know all you wrote above Dad3353, thanks. I've got a question about the video, something the guy didn't clarify. He said "all of the notes can be dived in harmony notes or inessential notes" ok great, but he didn't really explained how to distinguish them. Can you elaborate on that?

 

Elaborate..? Not a lot, really, as there's no hard'n'fast rules about stuff of the sort. It's up to the composer to 'know' which notes are important and which are less so. Maybe a way of thinking it through could be to imagine a simple Major scale, then imagine an arpeggiator adding in-between notes to that scale. The 'key' scale notes stay the same, but the 'in-between' notes are 'optional'; they add colour and movement in some circumstances, but distract and even irritate in others. What's best..? That depends on what the composer wants.
One way in to these rabbit warrens is to keep in mind the age-old adage of 'less is more', and start off by adding as little as can be got away with. An example, slightly off-track, could be the way many songs are composed, on a strummed acoustic guitar. This skeleton is then arranged, with maybe banjo picking, piano, horns, bass etc... In the end, the original acoustic guitar is removed, and the finished song stands just the same, without its progenitor. With chords and melodies, a similar notion can apply : does it all still make sense if the original melody line is removed..? This doesn't mean 'Remove it'; just see if the song still sounds 'right' when it's not explicitly there. Just a thought.

Sorry if this confuses rather than clarifies; If I was any good, my own compositions would maybe be listenable..! In the end, it's your own taste and judgement that count, and only by doing it will you know if it's OK or not. I do have a few words of encouragement for these situations, though...

'It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly better.' 

[FrankAtari]

14 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

 

'It's the first forty years that are the hardest, after which things sometimes tend to get slightly better.' 

 

Edited October 21, 2022 by FrankAtari

[FrankAtari]

 

I had a feeling that was the case !   The explanation was crystal clear, maybe not for a beginner, but I know what we're talking about and just trying to get better with more solid knowledge. At the end of the day, no matter what you learn, the most important principle in music is unchallenged - if it sounds good, it is good

 

 

[Dad3353]

7 minutes ago, FrankAtari said:

... if it sounds good, it is good

 

Then my work here is done. 

 

...