Arrangement Seminar/Discussion

I don't think there are any differences; if anything, it seems to me that depending on how the tension presents itself (on the beat resolving to a chordal note / long or short / followed by a leap / etc.), different harmonizations may be preferred.

Harmonization of tensions.

In 4-part harmonization, the addition of a tension necessarily involves the elimination (or alteration) of a chord tone.

The goal in this case will be to enrich the chord without it losing the characteristics that define its harmonic function.

The notes that are easiest to replace are the root (which is assumed to be highlighted by the rhythm anyway) and the perfect fifth, which does not significantly affect the harmonic function (for example, the diminished fifth of a Ø chord is a decidedly important note).

The rule of thumb consists of eliminating the chord tone underlying the tension:

9, b9, #9 replace the root

13, b13 replace the (perfect) fifth

11 replaces the minor third (but there are some alternative solutions)

b5, #5 involve the alteration of the fifth.

The discussion regarding the #11 is a bit particular; this would actually involve the elimination of the major third, but the identity of the chord could suffer as a result.

One possibility is to eliminate the fifth or to play with the voicing of the chord (a parti late).

In any case, it remains a rather delicate case; it is no coincidence that in most arrangement books we find rare examples of harmonizing the #11 on a ∆ ...

In fact, if you find any examples of this latter harmonization, I would be grateful if you could point them out to me.

Some examples.

You will notice that the addition of the tension has partially modified the chord symbol. In these cases, it would be good practice to indicate all the changes applied to the chord in the symbol, to facilitate the work of the rhythm section and the soloist.

P.S. is it very obvious that I don't feel like going to the seaside?

AleGozzo wrote:

i don't think there are any differences; if anything, it seems to me that depending on how the tension presents itself (on the beat resolving to a chordal note / long or short / followed by a leap / etc.) different harmonizations might be preferred.

Yes, it seems to me that it is a reflection of the "identification" of notes to be treated as tensions.

hey, if I'm running too fast tell me, I did a simple harmonization of Confirmation for where we have reached so far, i.e., only chord tones and tensions.

Technically it seems correct to me. There are some notes that should probably be treated as non-chord tones. This piece is not easy at all.

For this reason, I prefer to wait until those who are less experienced gain confidence with the tensions.

Guys, you are so informative. You're making me become a forum addict...

... the pheromones are massacring me

With all the women hanging around here, it's hard to think about tensions ... or rather, there are other tensions

Ok, that was a bad joke; I promise that tonight "with the cool air" I'll try to make sense of all these examples, mirrors, etc.

Women??? Where??????

At the beach

OscarP wrote:

Hi DrJellyFish, I participated in the choral music workshop that expires at the end of the month (the ones following Frank). My piece won't be excellent (first experience with a choir) but I would like your opinion because I tried to use a bit of counterpoint.

Here is where you can find my piece, take a look and let me know, as I am curious.

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/1283-laboratorio-musica-corale-2012-elaborati/

Well, it's not exactly my territory...

Anyway, I found it very interesting; just on instinct, I liked the first part a lot. Every now and then there is some strange sound, but I wouldn't be able to give a technical evaluation. For example, I found the sound of the D natural in the melody above the C# at measure 15 to be a bit harsh.

Wake uuuup! To work! :D

good morning !!

i think we are waiting for a nice little discussion on the harmonization of NCs or on when to treat notes that are not NCs as NCs

mmm... first one would need to have a good mastery of tensions and their harmonization. I am not referring to you, obviously.

DrJellyfish wrote:

Anyway, I found it very interesting

Thank you

DrJellyfish wrote:

the sound of the Re at the singing is a bit harsh on the C# at measure 15.

It's a ninth inversion, I should have made the C# arrive on the last beat of the measure... but the text is the text, another solution could have been a vocalization perhaps starting from Re descending to C#.

We'll see, it's my first experience with the choir

DrJellyfish wrote:

Wake uuuup! To work! :D

You're right Dr, we're slacking off but these African cyclones have really broken my balls, it's infamously hot, and you even lose the desire to f... um um.

Anyway, we understand each other.

DrJellyfish wrote:

mmm... first one would need to have a good mastery of tensions and their harmonization. I am not referring to you, obviously.

anyway, since we are idling around, I propose another piece to analyze (mark chordal notes, non-chordal notes, tensions) and then to harmonize (only the chordal notes and the tensions). This is to verify if there are still difficulties with this.

the next step after that will be to make an arrangement like this haha

All Of Me.mp3

it seems like a good idea