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These harmony lessons, which constitute a complete
manual, have been conceived as introductory material to Classical Tonal
Harmony.
Their main purpose is to present and train its fundamental aspects
in a clear, simple way and without going into excessive detail, which
would be left for later specialised studies. However, they are sufficiently
complete to allow an understanding of most of the harmonic resources
that appear in the works of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods. |
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The study of Harmony can be
started at the age of 13 or 14. This text is also intended to be
accessible to students of this age group. For this reason, careful
attention has been paid to making the text clear, and to organising it
into chapters with a more or less equivalent didactic load. At the end
of each chapter there are a few exercises, based on two principles:
The study of Harmony can be started at the age of 13 or 14. This text is
also intended to be accessible to students of this age group. For this
reason, careful attention has been paid to making the text clear, and to
organising it into chapters with a more or less equivalent didactic
load. At the end of each chapter there are a few exercises, based on two
principles:
- The first is that they should be sufficient to ensure the
assimilation of the concepts presented in the lesson.
- The second is that they should avoid complexities that require
guessing skills in order to be able to carry them out. For this
reason, we have tried to ensure that they are clearly stated, and do
not contain more difficulties than are necessary to work on the
contents of the subject.
Following tradition, both the exposition of the theory and most of
the exercises are based on choral textures. Although it is possible to
teach harmony on other polyphonic supports (piano, guitar, ...), choral
settings are optimal for their clarity in the voice-leading and note
doublings, as well as for their capacity for later development in varied
textures or instrumental formations, following Schenkerian theories. |
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Finally, in order
to make the most of these lessons, it is essential to have
the support of a teacher who can clarify any doubts
that may arise regarding the theory and, above all, who
can correct the exercises. Together with these
corrections, it is desirable that the teaching of harmony
includes activities not mentioned in these chapters, such as
writing small compositions, or making analysis, harmonic
dictations, improvisations, games, auditions, etc...
They are also a complementary goal to the content of these
chapters, since a clear exposition of harmonic theory allows
students to acquire, in the shortest possible time, a solid
theoretical basis on which to develop all kinds of
creative activities. |
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