EARTRAINING 1: Harmony (in progress)

Overview
Curriculum

 ๐ŸŸข Exclusive pedagogy tested in real life lessons by choir conductor and transcriber for the Yousician App 

๐ŸŸข Original examples with different instruments gives you an unity according to my composition praxis

๐ŸŸข Careful disposition of harmonic material that triggers the inspiration for your first composition exercises  

 ๐ŸŸข The course is symmetric to my harmony course: keep theory, practical competence and creativity so close to each other as possible!

Curriculum

  • 12 Sections
  • 6 Lessons
  • 17 Quizzes
  • 0m Duration
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Instructions
1 Lesson1 Quiz
  1. General Instructions
  2. this quiz is here to wish you good luck
Cadences in Major
3 Quizzes
  1. Minor and Major Triads
  2. T,S,D root position – PAC and IAC cadences
  3. Major half-cadence vs. authentic cadence
Cadences in Minor
3 Quizzes
  1. T,S,D root position in minor cadences
  2. T,S,D root position in minor half-cadence vs. authentic cadence. Identify the position
  3. T,S,D root position in minor: Half-cadence
INTRODUCTION to SIXTH-CHORDS
1 Lesson
  1. Root position vs. Sixth Chords in General
SIXTH-CHORDS in Major
1 Lesson2 Quizzes
  1. Primary Sixth-Chords in Major (comming soon)
  2. SIXTH-CHORDS vs. Root Chords
  3. Sixth-Chords Intervals in Free Context
SIXTH-CHORDS in MINOR
1 Lesson1 Quiz
  1. Primary Sixth-Chords in Minor
  2. Sixth-chords vs. Root Chords
4/6 Cadences
2 Lessons2 Quizzes
  1. Cadencial 4/6 Chord
  2. Cadencial 4/6 Chords in Major
  3. Cadencial 4/6 chords in minor (Model)
  4. Cadencial 4/6 Chords in Minor
MODULATION with MAIN FUNCTIONS
2 Quizzes
  1. Modulation to D vs. S
  2. Modulation to Tp vs. Sp
ASSIGNMENT: CHORD CHART TRANSCRIPTION
DIMINISHED CHORDS
1 Quiz
  1. Diminished chords vs. abbreviated dominant seventh chord vs. diminished 7th chords
MAIN FUNCTIONS in TETRADS
2 Quizzes
  1. Tetrads in Triadic Harmony
  2. Triads in Tetradic Harmony
SECONDARY FUNCTIONS
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Last Updated: June 3, 2025

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“Do I need to label all chords with Functions?”

It is hard to say. But one thing is sure: I think that labeling some chords like the one in red makes the chord look more important than it is. It also adds a visual clutter that gives the impression we are distancing ourselves from the musical event.

The reason for my approach goes deeper than this, but to put it casual and simple: I use the signs when necessary, and mostly to summarize form.

The use of function theoiry is most of the times didactic, but today- as a composer- I just read the chorale, if I want to study it, and i donโ€™t paint everything with encripted signs…

As a student you might have the need to test a complete analysis similar like in the picture. This is meant to confirm that you have a โ€œfunctional readingโ€.

This didactic purpose is, however, not the only purpose of analysis. We also want to tell why the music sounds good and how to imitate. For this reason you might perceive later how useless are the extensions of these signs: for this task general bass helps better. And these elements are so common in baroque music that is superfluous to mark them in a choral setting like this trying to use them to point the reason why the chorale is beautiful.

But this does not mean that โ€œfunction theory and Bach are anachronicโ€ as some partimento fundamentalists say.

When the ancients spoke about finalis and confinalis, this was already two concepts of โ€œmodal functionโ€: these notes are meant to be understood in a functional hierarchy regarding a precise tone set. More importantly: this had crucial consequences for the building of form, and this is what harmony should aim for.

The red chord I would summarize as a dissonant (dim. 7th ) passing chord with dominant function: this is what we hear. That the dissonance is a ninth we can just read it on the score…

It is also the abreviated dominant-seventh-ninth chord, but this is more theoretical than practical.


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