Harmonic devices

Hello and welcome to today's lesson entitled: Harmonic devices. My name's Mr. Norris. I'm gonna take you through today as we explore a range of different harmonic devices and look at some of the different ways they're used by composers. Our outcome is, I can identify a range of harmonic devices and how they are used. Some keywords: firstly, pedal. This is a bass note that stays the same while the chords change above it. Drone: this is a sustained sound that plays underneath other parts. Ground bass: this is a bass pattern that repeats while the upper parts develop above. Modulation, which is when the key changes during a piece of music. And finally, suspension, which is when a note is held to play over a chord that it doesn't fit with, creating dissonance. The first part of our lesson is looking at pedals, drones, and ground bass. Composers use a range of different harmonic devices to enhance the harmony of their music. Here are a few common examples: We got the pedal, drone, ground bass, modulation and suspension. And we're gonna be exploring each of these in turn today. Let's start with the pedal. A typical bass line plays the root note of the chords from the chord sequence, changing note when the chords change. A pedal is when the bass instrument keeps playing the same pitch while the harmony, the chords, change above, so it doesn't change notes as the chords change. Usually the pedal note is the tonic of the key, so that in C major, for example, that'll be the note C. But it can also be the dominant note, which is the fifth, so in C major that would be the note G. The pedal creates a distinct harmonic effect where the bass note can clash with the chords because if the bass note stays the same and the chords are changing, that's gonna create some dissonance between the two parts. Although the pitch has to stay the same, a pedal doesn't necessarily have to use one long sustained note, so it can use any rhythm. So it's not that there's only one note playing and holding, but it's that the pitch stays the same and uses the same repeating pitch. The bass line in this clip repeats the tonic note while the chords change above. See if you can hear how the bass note stays the same as the chords change above. (bright music) (bright music continues) Hopefully there you managed to hear how the bass notes stayed the same as those chords were changing. That's a really good example of a tonic pedal in that case. Let's listen to these two versions of the same piece of music, and let's listen to it with and without a pedal. What effect does the pedal have on the feeling of the harmony? Here it is with no pedal. (bright harmonic music) Now let's hear that same clip but with a pedal, so listening out to how the bass note stays the same and having a think about the effect that that has on the feeling of the harmony. (bright harmonic music) And here we might say that "It creates tension because the pedal note creates dissonance and clashes with the chord notes." So because that pedal is staying the same, it's staying on the same note and the chords are changing, there are clashes between the bass note and the notes in the chord. Let's check your understanding. Usually the pedal note is the what of the key. I'll give you a few seconds to get the correct answer. And the correct answer here is the tonic or the tonic note of the key. So in the key of G major, the tonic would be the note G, and that's the most common note to use for a pedal. Now let's have a look at drones. A drone is a sustained or constant sound that plays throughout a section or a piece of music. This is a drone played on an instrument called a tanpura in North Indian classical music. And this is a very common feature of that type of music. (gentle music) (gentle music continues) Now I'd like you to listen to that drone in context. So listen to this piece of North Indian classical music and try and pick out that constant accompaniment created by the tanpura drone. You can pause my video while you have a listen to this one. Another type of drone uses the tonic note and the fifth to create an accompaniment. So if we have a look at this example here and we're looking at the left-hand part, the bass cleft part, we can see the tonic in the fifth, that's A and E, playing constantly, as the music changes above, creating that constant drone accompaniment. Let's just have a listen to this and try and pick that out in the lower part. (bright harmonic music) And obviously that sounds very different from a tanpura drone, but it's the same effect of this constant sustained accompaniment. Drones and pedals are very similar because they repeat the same pitch, while other things change around them, so that's the key thing that links drones and pedals. A ground bass, however, is a different harmonic device that doesn't stay on the same pitch. This is where the bass line repeats throughout a piece of music, and the upper parts develop above it, but the bass part doesn't have to stay on the same notes. It might follow the root notes of some chords for example. But the key point is that it repeats a bass pattern and the other parts change and develop above. "Pachelbel's Canon" is probably the most famous example of a ground bass, and in this the bass line repeats. It plays a two-bar or eight-note pattern that repeats over and over, and over the top of that, the melody and all the upper parts develop and change. See if you can pick out that repeating eight-note pattern in the bass in this clip. You can pause my video while you have a listen. Let's check your understanding. Which harmonic device is not at a constant pitch? Is it a pedal, drone, or ground bass? I'll give you a few seconds to choose your answer. And the correct answer here is ground bass. Both a pedal and a drone maintain constant pitch while things change above, whereas a ground bass uses different pitches but it repeats a pattern over and over. For Task A, listen to each clip and identify which harmonic device is used. Choose from pedal, drone, ground bass or no harmonic device. You can pause my video, listen to each example, and give this your best shot. Good luck. Let's review this task then. So the first example had a pedal, the second one used a ground bass. In the third example, there was no harmonic device used. In example four, there was a pedal, and then in the fifth one there was a drone. So well done if you managed to correctly identify those. Getting your ears tuned in to picking out those different harmonic devices will really help you to understand some of the ways that different composers use harmony. Now let's move on to looking at modulations. Modulation is when a piece of music changes key. It's useful for developing the harmony of a piece of music and changing its mood and character. Have a listen to this clip. Which word is sung when the music modulates here? So listening out for that changing key, see if you can identify when it is by which word is being sung at that point. Pause my video and have a listen. Well done then, if you picked up that "The key modulates on the word close." Really well done if you identified that, and hopefully you felt that shift in harmony, that sort of shift in mood at that point. Modulations usually happen between closely-related keys such as: up a fourth, so, for example, from C major modulating to F Major, or up a fifth, so for example from C major going to G major, these are really closely-related keys. You often get modulations up a tone as well, so we might start in C major and move up to D major. And these are the most common modulations that occur. That's partly because the key signatures are quite closely linked, so it doesn't sound really strange and unusual when it goes to that other key. It sounds like a slight harmonic mood shift. However, that said, it's possible to modulate to any key, and sometimes composers are quite imaginative with the modulations that they use. Music often modulates between major and minor keys. And when this happens, it's normally between the relative major, so, for example, C major, and its relative minor key, which in that case would be A minor. These are the keys with the same key signature. And again, that's because they sound closely-related, so it sounds like a natural harmonic progression rather than something strange or a bit weird. What is a modulation? Is it when two pieces are in different keys, or the key stays the same throughout a piece, when the key changes during a piece, or when somebody transposes a piece to make it suit their voice better? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer is it's when the key changes during a piece, so start in one key and then it moves to another key. We can identify what modulation has taken place by using our voice. Listen to this clip and see if you can sing the tonic note, so the note that feels like it's the home note of the key. (gentle piano music) Try to keep that note in your head, and now listen to this new key, and see if you can sing the tonic note of this. (gentle piano music) So see if you can sing that tonic note. And if you sing both notes one after the other, they should sound like this. So this was the first tonic. (note sounds) And this was the second tonic. (note sounds) So we've got both of those notes: ♪ La, la ♪ That's our two tonic notes, and that's the first step to identifying the modulation. Then all we have to do is work out what the interval is between the two. So sing those two notes to yourself: ♪ La, la ♪ And see if you can work out the interval. Pause my video while you do that. In that case the second tonic note was a fifth higher than the first, the interval was a fifth, so that means the music has modulated up a fifth. That's quite a big modulation but it's a very common one, 'cause those two keys are closely-related. So if the original was in C major that means the music can modulate up a fifth to G major because G is a fifth above C. By listening carefully to those tonic notes, then singing them back one after the other, we can work out what modulation has taken place, and it can be quite a tricky thing to do that, but that's the strategy you want to follow if you're doing that. Let's try this with a different example. I'd like you to listen to this short clip, see if you can sing back the tonic note. Pause my video while you do that. Now sing the tonic note in this new key. This comes from later in the song where it's modulated into the different key. So pause my video and have a go at singing this tonic. So if you sing both notes, one after another, it should sound like this, this was the original tonic. (note sounds) And this was the second tonic. (note sounds) ♪ La, la ♪ Those are our two tonic notes there. See if you can work out the interval. Pause my video. So in this case the modulation was up a semitone, because the interval between those two notes was a semitone. Really well done If you managed to get that, or even if you just managed to notice that it was a small interval it was modulated by. How can you work out what modulation has taken place? Pause my video and think of your answer. And here we would say, listen carefully to the tonic notes, sing them back one after the other, and then identify the interval between them, and that will tell you what modulation has occurred. For Task B, listen to each clip and identify if there's a modulation. If possible, try to identify what the modulation is. So in the second box you should write: It modulates up a fifth or down a tone. And even if you can't get the exact interval, try and approximate it, so maybe say moderates by a small interval, for example. And pause my video, listen to each of these clips, give this your best shot. Let's review this task then. And in the first example we did have a modulation, it was up a tone. So really well done if you managed to identify that or even if you just identified that it's modulated by a small interval. In the second and third examples, there was no modulation, and in the fourth example there was a modulation. In this case it was up by a third, a major third, so slightly bigger interval than the first one. And that's a slightly more unusual modulation to hear because the keys aren't very closely-related. Well done if you managed to get some of those correct. And as always, with these sort of listening skills, it just takes lots of practice to really get proficient at them. For the final part of today's lesson we're looking at suspensions. A suspension is a harmonic device where one note from the first chord is held or repeated when the chord changes. The suspended note doesn't belong in the second chord, so this creates a distinct harmonic tension. You've got this note held over from the first chord, your chord changes, and now that note doesn't fit with the second chord, so it creates a bit of tension. Listen to the difference in these two short chord progressions. The first one has no suspension, so we're not expecting harmonic tension in that. In the second one there is a suspension, so try and pick out the moment where there's tension between the top note and the chords. Here's the one with no suspension. (bright music) And now with a suspension listening out for that tension. (bright music) Let's listen to that one again. This time try and describe the effect that a suspension has on the sort of mood or the harmonic feeling. Here we go. (bright music) So you might say here that "It sounds like the chords are clashing," or you might say, "It sounds like there's a wrong note," and in some ways you wouldn't be wrong, because that note is clashing with the chords, and it creates a brief moment of dissonance where the notes clash that is then resolved. And this is a real key part of the suspension that we'll look at in a second. What does suspension create a brief moment of? Is it assonance, consonance, dissonance, or arrogance? I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer here is it creates a brief moment of dissonance because the notes clash. So in that suspension, it starts on an F chord and then it moves to a C chord. You can see bar one has an F chord, and bar two it moves to a C chord. The suspension happens when the note F, which is from the F chord, is held over into the C chord. So you can see that F, which is part of the F chord, is then held over the top of the C chord creating tension because it doesn't fit with the C chord. This creates dissonance because that F clashes with the chord. The dissonance is resolved by moving the dissonant F down a step to a note that fits with the C chord, and in this case that's E. So we've got that dissonant moment, that clash of the F, that doesn't fit with the C chord underneath it, and then it resolves to a consonant note that does fit with the C chord, which is E. So that resolves that harmonic tension. A suspension has three stages: We've got the preparation, which is when the dissonant note is played before the suspension, so that's where that note is heard, but it fits with the chord beforehand. Then we've got a suspension, which is that moment of dissonance where we've got the note that's held over and clashes with the chord underneath it. And then we've got the resolution, which is where that dissonant note resolves to a consonant note and resolves that harmonic tension. So preparation, suspension, resolution, those are the three steps of a suspension. The key to identifying suspensions by ear is to listen for a note that sounds consonant, so it sounds like it fits with the first chord. It's then repeated or held over a different chord and creates dissonance or harmonic tension, and it then resolves to a different, consonant note, creating a feeling of harmonic resolution. Let's listen to these two examples. See if you can pick out which one has a suspension. Here's the first example. (bright music) Here's the second example. (bright music) So in that case, it was the second example that used a suspension. Listen again and see if you can pick it out in the middle of the clip. (bright music) Well done if you managed to hear that one. This is what the notation would look like for that example. We've got that preparation in the bar before, we've got a C chord, and we've got the C that's played in it. Then we've got the suspension where that C is repeated again over a G chord. And then we've got the resolution where the C resolves to a B, which is consonant and fits with that G chord. So we've got those three steps there. They can be quite difficult to pick out by ear at first, but again, once you train your ears to hear them, you will automatically be able to pick those up. Which is true for a suspension? It includes dissonance and consonance. It includes only dissonance, or includes only consonance. I'll give you a few seconds. And the correct answer is: it includes dissonance and consonance. Well done if you picked that one. The resolution of a suspension, that's the last part, must be what? A dissonant note, a consonant note, or either a dissonant or consonant note? I'll give you a few seconds. And here the correct answer is a consonant note. So remember the resolution is when the dissonant note moves to a consonant note and resolves that harmonic tension. So for Task C, you're gonna listen to each chord progression and identify if it features a suspension or not. Listen for a note that sounds consonant, is then repeated or held over a different chord, creating dissonance, harmonic tension, and then it resolves to a different, consonant note that fits with the new chord. Here are our five examples. I'm gonna play you each one twice. Here's the first one. (harmonic music) Let's hear that one more time. (harmonic music continues) So taking a few seconds to finish your answer for that one. And now, question two. (harmonic music) Let's hear question two again. (harmonic music continues) And finishing off your answer to question two. And now question three. (harmonic music) Now, let's hear question three for the second time. (harmonic music continues) And finishing your answer. Now time for question four. Here we go. (harmonic music) Let's hear question four again. (harmonic music continues) And just finish off your answer for that one. And finally question five. (harmonic music) Let's hear it for the second time. (harmonic music continues) And finishing off your answer. And now let's go through these. So example one did have a suspension that was this one. (harmonic music) Well done if you said that. Example two did not, that was this: (harmonic music) Example three did, that was this one: (harmonic music) And example four did as well. This is quite a tricky one to pick out so well done if you got this. (harmonic music) And then finally, question five did not have a suspension. That was this one. (harmonic music) So well done if you managed to correctly identify whether they did or did not have suspensions. As I've said, it takes practice to get very proficient at this, but if you're getting your ear into the habit of trying to pick out those dissonant notes and the resolution, you will eventually get more effective at identifying these. Let's review today's lesson. Composers use various harmonic devices to enhance harmony and to create certain musical effects. Drones, pedals and ground bass are all determined by the bass parts and how they fit with the chords. Modulations are changes in key that can radically alter the mood and the character of the piece of music. And suspensions are a specific type of dissonance that is used to create harmonic tension and resolution. So that's the end of today's lesson. Thank you very much for taking part. Hopefully you feel like you've got a slightly better understanding of some of these very specific harmonic devices, and will now feel more comfortable being able to identify them in different pieces of music. Thanks for taking part and I'll see you in another lesson.