Music Producing & Engineering
Course 5: Harmony

Strictly speaking, harmony is defined as two or more notes played simultaneously to create a chord. When harmony is used to create a series of chords, we call that a chord progression. A chord progression, also known as harmonic progression, is a tool used in western music to create tension and resolution.

In this course, you’ll learn how to use harmonics and chord progressions to craft songs that move, lift, crescendo, whisper, and rouse! By understanding how the notes in a chord work together to create emotion and movement, you’ll learn how these foundational building blocks are needed to create music that speaks to people.

You’ll learn the Circle of Fifths and how certain intervals help create the chords you’ll be working with. By knowing the building blocks of chords, you’ll be able to create music that leads the listener down a path of your choosing. At the end of this course, you will be able to differentiate between consonance and dissonance, use polyphonic instruments, and create a harmonic progression by programming a MIDI sequence in your digital audio workstation.

The Course 5 assignment will have you listen to a series of provided songs and listen for chord changes. You’ll then create two instrumentals with commonly used chord progressions in two different keys and then another instrumental in a key of your choice. This is in addition to a course review, blog entry, quiz, and other tasks.

Objectives:

• Be able to identify consonance and dissonance in a harmonic progression.
• Be able to demonstrate the use of polyphonic instruments.
• Be able to create a harmonic progression through programming a MIDI sequence.
• Be able to create a harmonic progression through programming a MIDI sequence as a result of using a digital audio workstation and a basic knowledge of music production.