  
5
Harmonization
Adding an accompaniment to a
melody is called harmonization.
Every diatonic melody (melodies that include only notes of a major
or minor scale) can be harmonized using the primary triads I,
IV and V. Notice in the following example that all
the notes of a diatonic scale are found in at least one of the primary
triads.

The following guidelines are
very general, but will help you determine which chord or chords
to use as you harmonize a melody.
1. |
Establish the key and mode of the melody: |
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a. |
Look at the key signature. |
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b. |
Look at the first and the last tones of the
melody. |
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c. |
See if the implied chords at the beginning of
the first full measure and at the end of the last measure
are the same. Generally they are, and this chord is the tonic
(I). |
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2. |
Once you have established the key
and mode, determine the primary triads (I, IV, V) in that
key and write them down.. |
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3. |
The accompaniment chords you choose
should contain most of the tones found in the melody. Tones
on strong beats are generally more important than tones on
weaker beats. |
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4. |
Some pitches in the melody may
not belong to the chord chosen for the accompaniment. For
the most part, these will be the nonharmonic tones that were
discussed in the previous topic. |
An accompaniment consisting of only root
position chords is dull to listen to and awkward to play at the
keyboard. For these reasons, the most common accompaniment progression
involving only the primary triads is:

Harmonizing
a melody
On a separate sheet of paper, harmonize the
following melody using only primary triads. Determine the key and
then write the primary triads for that key as shown above. Notice
there is a blank in each position where a chord should be provided.
Except in the penultimate measure, there is one chord per measure.
Label each chord you use with the appropriate Roman numeral symbol.
Make sure you take into consideration the time signature when writing
your chords. Remember that most of the notes of the melody should
be a member of the accompanying chord. Circle each nonchord tone
in the melody and label it (PT or NT).

  
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