7 Thinking Horizontally 7.1 Introduction In Section 5: Understanding Harmony, we dealt with the basics of adding harmony to a melodic line and in doing so, we were mainly thinking vertically; that is to say, we went through a process of deciding which chord would be appropriate for a particular note or group of notes in the melody. This way of thinking about harmony is well illustrated in hymns/chorales [or in basic academic harmony exercises] where the underlying harmony, whether sung or played, substantially moves rhythmically with the melody. This kind of harmonisation is described as homophonic: ST. GEORGE
St. George Track 38 Soprano Alto
G. J. Elvey (1816–1893) Words: H. Alford (1810-1871)
G. J. Elvery [1816–1893]; Words: H. Alford [1810–1871]
1 G B: B: B :: 2
Come,
Tenor Bass
5 B 5 B
B B
BB
ye thank - ful
5 BB
BB
peo - ple
BB
B B
B B
' '
B: B: B ::
come;
Raise
' '
5 B 5 B
B B
the song
of
5 BB
BB ' E'
BB
har - vest
B B
B B
B
home;
' '
Of course, there is a horizontal element to this thinking too, and that arises as we consider the successive effect of our chosen series of chords – the harmonic or chord progression. In tonal music, the sequence of chords has to be coherent and it is described as a progression because it must give a sense of forward movement towards the next cadence [see Section 5: Understanding Harmony]. Vertical thinking: Selecting the chord or chords
Horizontal thinking: Considering the chord progression
This process of vertical thinking also substantially describes the way in which, say, a rhythm guitar accompaniment is added to the melodic line of a song although, of course, it can no longer strictly be described as homophonic. For example:
Rivers of Babylon
Rivers of Babylon
Trad. Jamaican
Trad. Jamaican
Track 39
G
N.C.
5 5 5 5 5
By the wa - ters of F
G 4
5 5 5 And there we
B: C
wept,
F
5
5 5 5
B¨
4
F
4
Ba - by - lon, F
4
C
= 5 5 5 5
5
When we re - mem - bered
B¨
4
5
5
B:
Where we
sat
down,
5
5: F
Zi
-
5 B
B¨
F
B:
4
on.
80
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