All Questions
23
questions
2
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79
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Was this chord substitution chart part of a larger harmony system?
I recently rediscovered in my files several photocopied sheets of chords similar to the one below.
A friend (deceased in 2014) gave them to me many years ago.
There are a total of 11, covering keys ...
- 2,993
5
votes
1
answer
1k
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How does one resolve the conflict between Renaissance theory of Cadences and the contradictions against it in Bach Chorales?
A level pupil.
Made the mistake of learning Renaissance cadence voicing way before starting A-level harmony course. There's a conflict of interest between the cadential progressions of the renaissance ...
5
votes
3
answers
792
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what is the oldest use of 9th chords in western music and when did they become popular
From page 752, of Laitz's The Complete Musician 4th edit.
''(...) By continuing the process of stacking thirds, these composers added another third above the seventh, creating a ninth chord; by adding ...
- 119
1
vote
3
answers
228
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What makes a song a Christmas song? [closed]
Apart from lyrics, what features have been common to Christmas music in different traditions and eras of classical, folk and modern music?
Have there been specific melodic intervals, structure, ...
- 135
6
votes
3
answers
256
views
Has such an anti-musical tune ever been composed?
The following part from chapter 84 of the Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality fanfic describes a tune that appears to be designed to be unnerving.
The humming started as a simple children's ...
- 169
3
votes
4
answers
1k
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Why did it take a millennium to use harmony/polyphony (900 AD) when Pythagoras discovered perfect fourth and fifth around 500 BC?
Considering the fact that Pythagoras formulated the properties of Perfect Fifth and Fourth around 500 BC, why did it take so long to include them in Music?. The first instance of using the Fifth in ...
- 155
0
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2
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1k
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Is the Descending Fifths sequence also an Ascending Fourths sequence ? Who is the original source of this sequence?
Can the Descending Fifths sequence also be correctly named as an Ascending Fourth's sequence ?
in major : I - IV - vii dim - iii - vi - ii - V - I
Is Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706) and his Canon in D ...
- 624
9
votes
2
answers
483
views
Where is the circle of fifths mentioned for the first time?
How and when was the Circle of Fifths invented, and who is responsible for the discovery of this musical godsend?
- 26k
14
votes
2
answers
4k
views
I wish you a merry Christmas: what is this chord progression called?
Is there a special term for this chain of secondary dominants V/IV, V/V, V/vi ?
(or in C major: C,F,D,G,E,Am)
It’s a frequent chord pattern in the era of Baroque and has also been used in the ...
- 26k
6
votes
1
answer
359
views
In the partimento tradition, what strategies were used to harmonize non-bass melodies?
In my readings on partimento theory (mainly the books by Sanguinetti and IJzerman) I have so far only encountered rules for harmonizing a bass melody. This is to be expected of course, because ...
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7
votes
1
answer
688
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On The Origin of Dissonant Chords
Without relying upon French harmonic theory (Rameau for instance), can you explain how the emergence of “freely” (by freely, I refer to such harmonies not being the result non-harmonic tones, or ...
2
votes
2
answers
542
views
Is it true that Bach had no concept of suspended chord?
In an answer to a question in SE I read the sentence with the pretension above.
Chord in the Bach d-minor prelude
I think this can be easily be counter-proofed by many examples of Bach’s music and ...
- 26k
3
votes
3
answers
242
views
Is there a chord containing an augmented and diminished fifth?
What chord is this?
There’s a chord progression often used at the beginning of a new phrase (chorus or interlude) leading from I6 to the ii:
In C-major this would be:
Starting: E-G-(C)
...
- 26k
9
votes
2
answers
508
views
When was the dominant ninth chord incorporated in music theory?
The "ninth chord" that Rameau, Kirnberger, Marpurg or Koch (inter alia) discuss during the 18th century is the chord formed by a triad and an added ninth, and its explanation is always through a "...
- 316
10
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2
answers
1k
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Why is the hexatonic scale that can be derived via a chain of perfect fifths so little-known?
When learning about European classical music, it's heptatonic scales. The pentatonic scale is also very well known and widely used in folk music in different parts of the world. However, before I ...
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