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Harmonic - Harvard Dictionary Of Music

205.163.202.10

Posted by Neward T on February 27, 2001 at 10:41:02

Rather than groping around the internet for a morsel of music information, let's pull out a REAL REFERENCE. "What?" you ejaculate. Could there be actual authoritative references for music theory, history, and the like?"

Well, yes there are. The one standard most people use is Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. The Oxford Dictionary of Music is another, and I use "The Harvard Concise Dictionary of Music" (1978). There are others.

So, let's take a look and see what we may find. There we find NO LISTING FOR HARMONIC THEORY!!! OH MY GOD!!!!

What we do find is a listing for 'harmonics' and 'harmonic series', directing us to the listing under Acoustics. Finally, we find listings for HARMONIC ANALYSIS, and, of course HARMONY.

The definition goes on at length and ties into 'harmonic analysis', naturally; but here is the first line:
"That aspect of music consisting of simultaneously sounded pitches (i. e., chords)..."

But we may see how confusing all of this HARMO stuff is, especially to really brilliant minds.

Now who would cite a course listing, a description probably hurridly tossed together by some catalog writer with little or no training in music, as an AUTHORITY? It's rather like holding up a comic book as proof that Superman exists. In any event, let's take a look at that hasty internet course listing:

>>>233. Jazz Performance Workshop. Participants study jazz composition and harmonic theory and apply that knowledge to the practice and performance of small-group jazz improvisation.<<<

Then, this appears in the course listing, but the usage is different. Note, that they're talking about a variety of contrasting theoretical ideas:

>>>Harmonic Theories: (systematic explanations of the mechanisms that underlie the pitch- relationships and harmonies in music) <<<

But, when we come to the study of what makes music tick, what makes it go, the system used for analysis and composition, we find:

>>>243. Music Literature of the Classic Period. Beginning with the music of such preclassic composers as the sons of J.S. Bach, Stamitz, and D. Scarlatti, the study moves to works of Haydn, Mozart, and early Beethoven. Students analyze form and harmony.

332. Music Theory IV. A continuation of Music Theory III, emphasizing chromatic harmony and the post-tonal styles of the twentieth century. Prerequisite(s): Music 331. M. Anderson. <<<

Form and harmony. And that, bushy-tailed students, is what you'll get when you enter a conservatory or music major at a university. The term may be used to denote a field of inquiry, or a grouping of theoretical constructs, but the study of pitch relations is called harmony, and it is inept to use confuse and use in place of the other.

Score! 3 to nothing.

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