5/7/15  

1  

Composition Club A 6-month Course to give you all the tools you could

ever need to create truly original music, harmony, and other arrangements for the great highland bagpipe.

Month 3: Writing Harmonies

Harmonies are a natural extension of music theory and tune writing!

Intro: A Natural Extension.

5/7/15  

2  

Defining “Harmonies” ¡  “Harmony” can be defined super-simply as:

¡  The use of simultaneous pitches.

¡ When two or more notes sound at the same time during a bagpipe melody, we call these “harmonies”!

If you think about it… ¡  If you think about it, we sort of have harmony

happening all the time in bagpipe music,

¡ Due to the three drones that are always playing underneath all of our melodies.

¡  But, the harmony we’re going to study in this month of the composition club involves two or more pipers, playing different notes on top of bagpipe melodies.

Bad Harmonies ¡  There is a LOT of bad bagpipe harmony out

there!

¡ As we already know (as music theory gurus-to-be), harmonies aren’t as simple as just picking some notes, “two above”, or “two below” the melody line.

¡  Let’s look at some awful (yet awfully common) examples of the 2-Up-2-Down abomination!

5/7/15  

3  

Good Harmonies ¡ As you undoubtedly already know and sense –

harmonies have to follow the somewhat universal rules of theory:

¡ Chords and Chord Progressions (We learned about these in Month 1).

¡ Also, basic tune writing fundamentals and instincts will need to be applied (Month 2).

We have the foundation. ¡  That’s right! We have the two key skill-sets already

built up from months 1 and 2 of the composition club.

¡ We understand chord progressions, and how to craft bagpipe melodies.

It’s really as simple as… ¡ Writing good bagpipe harmony can really be

summed up as simply as:

¡  Selecting other members of the current chord to harmonize with the main melody line.

¡ Do this thoughtfully and with “craft,” and you’ll have some amazing bagpipe harmonies on your hands.

5/7/15  

4  

Let’s dive in. ¡  Let’s start with the simplest applications of this

idea in the next video or two.

¡  Then, we’ll look at some ways to fundamentally and creatively improve your harmony writing in later videos!

Part 1: “Static” Chord-Note

Writing

Sounds Scary, But Isn’t. ¡  “Static Chord Note” harmony writing isn’t as

scary as it sounds.

¡  Basically, in this most basic form of harmony writing, we’re just going to play a long, sustained note over top of a melody!

5/7/15  

5  

Long Notes that Follow the Progression ¡ We need to make sure the static notes we pick

belong to the chord we’re currently playing.

¡  Let’s listen to some examples:

Creating Some Static Note Harmonies ¡  Let’s head over to Finale and explore some

static-note harmonies.

¡  For simplicity sake, we’ll just use the main melody notes (and leave out gracenotes and embellishments).

Summarizing: Isn’t that Surprisingly Simple? ¡  Isn’t that surprisingly easy in concept?

¡  You should explore as much of this as you can, with tunes that you like!

¡ What sort of cool harmonies can you come up with?

5/7/15  

6  

Testing Your Harmonies ¡  One important note is that you’ll need a good way

to test out your harmonies to see how they sound.

¡  I often use Finale (with no gracenotes/embellishments) or other multi-layer-friendly software to help me hear my harmonies.

¡  You can use a multi-track recording software (see bonus videos).

¡  Other ideas: Play with a friend, use an iPhone, etc.

Assignments: ¡ Can you write suspended-note harmonies to the

following snippets?

¡  Bring them to an Open Dojo Session, and we’ll give you feedback on how they sound!

2nd Part, Steamboat

5/7/15  

7  

3rd Part, Paddy’s Leather Breaches

2nd Part, Scotland the Brave

2nd Part, Fuddler

5/7/15  

8  

Any of Your Favorite Tunes ¡  Lastly, you can experiment with suspended-note-

harmonies for any of your favorite tunes.

¡  Try a bunch, and see what you come up with!

Part 2: Simple Counterpoint Harmony ¡ While technically “counterpoint” can include

suspended-note technique from Part 1, for the purposes of Part 2:

¡ Counterpoint will refer to: Writing harmony-lines that (generally) mirror the rhythm of the primary line.

Simple! ¡  So, this is simple!

¡  Simply take a tune, and select different members of the chord.

¡  Listening Examples:

¡  Example(s) in Finale:

5/7/15  

9  

When You Come to a Non-Chord Tone… ¡  You have a couple of options:

¡  You can write your own non-chord tone to mimic the primary line.

¡  You can write a (**distant**) chord-tone over top of the primary line’s non-chord tone.

Playability ¡ We’ll talk about this in more depth later, BUT:

¡ Make sure your harmony line is comfortable to play!

¡  Select super-simple articulations so as not to interfere with the primary melody.

Let’s just do it! ¡  Let’s dive in and just write a bunch of simple

counterpoint.

¡  Here are a few assignments you can bring to Open-sessions for critique:

5/7/15  

10  

Murdo’s Wedding, 1st Part

Keel Row Strathspey

Ale is Dear, 2nd Part

5/7/15  

11  

Any of Your Favorite Tunes ¡  Lastly, you can experiment with simple

counterpoint for any of your favorite tunes.

¡  Try a bunch, and see what you come up with!

Part 3: Advanced Counterpoint

Techniques

Making Things More Interesting ¡  Frankly, a tasteful combination of suspended chord

notes and simple counterpoint is enough to write some very nice harmonies.

¡  Remember, it’s generally rare to find harmonies that only use one trick or the other.

¡  Usually, it’s a combination of suspended notes and counterpoint that does that trick.

¡  Let’s look at another key consideration in this video.

5/7/15  

12  

Similar vs. Contrary Motion ¡ When it comes to selecting the harmony notes

for a passage, consider note shapes.

¡ What shape do the notes of a passage take?

¡ A few examples

Similar Motion: ¡ Composers of counterpoint long ago discovered

that mimicking note shape can lead to more engaging harmonies.

¡  This is called “Similar” or “Parallel” Motion.

Contrary Motion ¡ Also, on the flip side, inverting the primary line’s

note-shape can produce equally spellbinding results.

¡  This is called “Contrary” Motion.

¡ Considering mimicking or inverting the main line’s note-shapes is a great harmony writing technique.

5/7/15  

13  

Finale Example ¡  Let’s look at both techniques in action:

Keeping Things Smooth ¡ When writing similar/contrary motion, or any

other counter point, smoothness should be your objective for the harmony player.

¡  It should feel natural to play, and

¡  If the harmony part were to be played on its own, it should sound as close to its own tune as possible.

Almost a Separate Tune ¡  You can (and should) use non-chord tones in your

harmony writing to smooth things out.

¡  Think about when you wrote tunes on their own – what did you do to make them craft-ful and smooth?

¡ Apply these same sensitivities to your harmony writing.

¡  (Without going crazy… i.e. – don’t be too obsessed with making it a tune – this is a harmony line after all!)

5/7/15  

14  

Some Examples ¡  Let’s look at some examples of harmony and

evaluate them in terms of their note-shapes and playability.

Part 4: Dissonance, Suspensions,

“Forced” Chords

Reviewing The End Goal ¡ We need to always keep in mind the “golden

rule” of harmony writing:

¡ We always* need to resolve to the Tonic at the end of every part and/or tune.

5/7/15  

15  

But… ¡  But, what we do on the way to our resolution is

up to us!

¡ While we have harmony writing “rules” we have been learning to follow…

¡ All of these rules can be broken, and sometimes to great effect.

Three Awesome Ways to Break the Rules ¡  Let’s spend time in this video looking at:

¡ Dissonance (Purposefully using un-tonal harmony notes)

¡  Suspensions (Waiting on a dissonant harmony, and then resolving to the desired chord)

¡  “Forced” Chords (Creating a Chord Progression that isn’t clearly evident in the melody)

Dissonance ¡  So, obviously we want to make beautiful tonal

harmonies all the time.

¡  But, just like life, there are instances where ugliness actually paves the way to the appreciation of beauty.

¡  In harmony writing, something that sounds dissonant, unsettling, or downright ugly can lead the listener into a simple chord that sounds all the more beautiful.

5/7/15  

16  

Examples: ¡  Let’s look at some general examples of

dissonance.

“Suspended” Notes in a Chord ¡  Suspended-note chords are a good example of

using dissonance to one’s advantage, and they have a very “classic” effect:

¡  In a chord, the third will be temporarily omitted, and (usually) the 4th or 2nd interval will be put in its place.

¡  (Usually the 2nd or the 4th carries over from the previous chord)

Suspended Chords Continued ¡  This creates a temporary dissonance – the two most

important notes of the chord (1st and 5th) are where they’re supposed to be.

¡  But, there’s still some unfinished business.

¡  Now, go from the suspended note down to the 3rd, and you have a classic dissonanceàresolution movement.

¡  Let’s see some examples.

5/7/15  

17  

A Delicate Balance ¡ Dissonance and suspensions are fun, but –

¡  Remember that overdoing it will make the tune unpleasant!

¡ Work to achieve the perfect balance between consonance (following the harmonic rules) and dissonance (bending those rules).

Part 5: Rhythmic Variation in the

Harmony Line

A Palette of Rhythmic Options ¡  So, we now know about static chord-notes and

about tracing the basic rhythm of the primary line.

¡  In this Video, let’s look at playing around with rhythm as a way to enhance our harmony writing.

5/7/15  

18  

It’s Simple! ¡  So, basically what we’re talking about here is not

writing the same rhythm in the harmony as the primary line is playing.

¡  It’s really that simple.

¡  Let’s play around with some possibilities, and listen to some examples.

Examples ¡  Examples of Rhythmic Variation in the Harmony

Line.

Part 6: Bagpipe Logistical

Concerns

5/7/15  

19  

Bagpipe-Specific concerns. ¡  There are a few bagpipe-specific things to keep

in mind as we write harmonies.

¡  Being sensitive to the unique qualities of the instrument will allow us to create even more inpsired music and harmonies.

¡  Let’s get into what I think are the main bagpipe-specific qualities to be aware of as we compose.

Note Volumes ¡  The bagpipes are well known for having certain

notes that have (or seem to have) more/less volume than the others.

¡  High A is quiet relative to other notes on the scale.

¡  Low G is LOUD relative to other notes on the scale.

Using High A ¡  Tunes like the Clumsy Lover and Itchy Fingers

(when played on the full pipes) beautifully exploit the quiet High A to bring out cool poly rhythms.

¡ Can you also exploit this factor in some of your harmony writing and arrangements?

5/7/15  

20  

Being Careful with Low G ¡  I generally avoid Low G in harmony writing unless

I am sure that it (and its arguably overbearing volume) is the right musical choice.

¡  Remember, High G is the same pitch, and will be quieter and usually equally as evocative.

¡  Some Examples

Playability ¡  I’ve suggested this quite a few times in this section

of the course.

¡  Are your harmonies playable, and erring on the side of simplicity?

¡  If not, go over them again.

¡  Harmonies will confuse the listener unless the player is truly able to “nail” them. Make them playable like a real tune.

Blowing Steadiness Issues ¡  Think about the average bagpiper and spots in

their music where they are likely to blow unsteadily.

¡  Long Notes. Especially D’s, High G’s, and Low Notes at the end of parts.

¡  High Hand notes are often prone to “surging”

¡  Etc.

5/7/15  

21  

You Guessed It. ¡ Make sure to keep these issues in mind when

writing harmonies –

¡  Especially when you know they’ll be performed by less-than-expert pipe bands!

¡ Watch out for too many long held notes that might be poorly blown and ruin the effect.

Lastly - The Drones ¡  Some harmony writers worry about the ‘A’ droning

going on at all times.

¡  As you have undoubtedly discerned during this course, I don’t really count the drones when I compose.

¡  It’s just always going to be there… a “zen” undercurrent of all of our composing.

¡  (I.e. - Don’t worry about the theory of the drone in your composing either).

Conclusion: Using Your Whole

Arsenal

5/7/15  

22  

A Foundation of Very Basic Theory ¡  I hope this month’s material has demonstrated

that, with even just our basic palette of music theory, writing awesome harmonies is not only possible… but kinda easy!

¡ An understanding of chord progressions is really all we need to be successful – at that point, you just plug in other members of the current chord in varying combinations to create your harmony.

Get to Work! ¡ At this point, your only real assignment is to go

out into the bagpipe tune world and create harmonies!

¡ Don’t get too sentimental – some harmonies will turn out great, and others will flop.

¡  You’ll start to feel what tunes will result in great harmonies and which ones won’t.

Next Month: 360-degree creations ¡ Next month, we’ll look at starting from the

absolute bottom, and bringing all the skills we’ve learned thus far together to create our masterwork!

¡ Work hard on honing your skills for the rest of this month, and we’ll see you in the next chapter!