Understanding Harmony: Chords and Their Functions in Music

Understanding harmony allows composers to create music by combining chords effectively.

### Understanding Harmony: The Building Blocks of Music Composition
* 🎶 Everyone can hum a tune, but not everyone can become a composer, as composing requires understanding the **fundamental elements of music**: **melody, rhythm, and harmony**.
* 🎼 Harmony is often seen as a secret among musicians, and to grasp it, one must first understand **chords**, which are created by **stacking notes** on a staff or notation program.
* 📊 Chords can be built on the seven notes of the scale—**Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si**—and can be represented using **Roman numerals** to indicate their **starting notes**.
* 🎹 A triad, which consists of three stacked notes, has a **root note that is essential for the chord's identity**, while the third note and any extensions add **color and stability**.
* 🎵 Chords can be categorized into three main functions: tonic, subdominant, and dominant, with the tonic providing **stability**, the dominant creating **tension**, and the subdominant leading into the **dominant**.
* 🔄 The typical chord progression **I-IV-V-I** exemplifies this functional harmony, showcasing a structure that moves from **tonic to subdominant to dominant** and resolves back to **tonic**.
* 🎤 While learning to create chords and harmonies from the do-re-mi scale is foundational, composers must also be **adaptable**, considering **vocal ranges** and the possibility of **starting from different notes** to suit their musicians.
* 🎧 Finally, contemporary composers, like Nana from Yorushika, often experiment with progressions that **start on the subdominant**, encouraging **new approaches to avoid clichés** in songwriting.

Everyone can hum a tune, but not everyone can become a composer. Why is that? The most basic elements of music are melody, rhythm, and harmony. This harmony can be seen as a secret of music that musicians tend to keep to themselves. So, what is harmony? To understand harmony, we first need to know what a chord is. Let's open a staff or a free notation program like MuseScore. Then, let's draw a single note on it. If we stack two more notes on top of it like this, voilà, we have a chord. We can create chords by stacking notes in the same way on all seven notes: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. Of course, there are more chords starting from do, but let's set that aside for now. The chords we create can be combined horizontally to add color to melody and rhythm.

The harmony that we are talking about is the harmony of the scale. Now, let's write the chords built on each note of the scale—Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Si—using Roman numerals from 1 to 7. These numbers indicate which note the chord starts from. For example, the I chord starts on the first note, Do, while the V chord starts on the fifth note, Sol. 

Let's take a closer look at the chords. When we stack three chords, we call it a triad. It's an intuitive name. The note at the bottom of the chord is called the root. The basic principle is that chords are always built on the root note. If we omit the root note, the chord becomes like a team without a leader, so we must be particularly careful not to leave it out. 

The note directly above the root is called the third. It's not the main character, but it's still an important note. Even a slight change in the third can completely alter the feeling of the chord.

If you discard it, to put it differently, without the root note, it is very difficult to express what a chord feels like. So, let's be careful not to omit the root note. The notes above it are called extensions. These notes provide stability to the chord. However, they can sometimes be omitted. Think of them as characters in a shonen manga who lack presence but are nice to have around. Chords can continue to stack upwards like this: seventh, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth. Why can we only count up to the thirteenth? Because if you go up to the fifteenth, you come full circle and return to yourself. One thing to note is that the meanings above the root are tricky for beginners to handle. Even in jazz, which can digest anything harmonically, you need to be careful with those higher notes. However, you can safely use up to the root note. So for now, let's not mess around and focus on the root note. The chords created this way, especially the root note and...

If it includes sound, it doesn't matter how it's arranged. To give a somewhat extreme example, even if you arrange it like this, it still relates to what we just saw. This is called rearranging the positions. There are various reasons for conveying harmony, but explaining them now would just give me a headache, so let's coolly move on for now. Let's stack some layers on the seven chords created from the notes Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, and Si. If we learn how to arrange and combine these well, we will truly be able to compose music, right? Wow, so how do we do that? In fact, that question is quite difficult to answer. Depending on the composer, theory, and genre, the explanations differ. For now, I will borrow the explanation of functional harmony to classify chords by their functions. Why? Because the explanation of functional harmony is the easiest. If we divide chords by function, we can classify them into three main categories: tonic, subdominant.

Now, let's take a look at the dominant while listening to the spring of our hometown together. First, let's examine the tonic. The main chord of the tonic is the first degree, which can be replaced by the third or sixth degrees. The primary role of the tonic is to provide harmonic stability. How does that work? It's simple. You start the music with the tonic and end with the tonic. This way, no matter what chords progress in between, you will ultimately have a structure that returns to the tonic. Naturally, when the listener hears the tonic, they will feel a release of tension and a sense of comfort. Even if the chords in between are bypassed, what matters is that the beginning and end are both tonic chords. Next, let's look at the dominant. The main chord of the dominant is the fifth chord, which can be replaced by the seventh. The function of the dominant is to create a lot of tension and build up the song. Starting off steadily with the tonic...

In music, the dominant creates a buildup of tension, which is then resolved back to the tonic. This is the most fundamental framework of functional harmony. In the children's song The Spring of My Hometown, the tonic is followed by the dominant. Now, let's take a look at the subdominant. The main chord of the subdominant is the fourth, which can be replaced by the second. The primary role of the subdominant is to lead into the dominant, creating tension directed towards the dominant. However, it is not always necessary to resolve to the dominant. If the flow of the song does not require the tension of the dominant, the subdominant can return directly to the tonic, providing stability. Now, we can see the structure of harmony more clearly. We start with a stable tonic, create tension with the subdominant, then move to the dominant, and resolve to the dominant.

Because of that, the tension is resolved again with the tonic, creating a somewhat repetitive structure that resembles card shuffling, while the song progresses. Now, I can speak about music like a knowledgeable person. For example, the chord progression of I-IV-V-I is very typical. It has a structure that progresses from tonic to subdominant to dominant and back to tonic. How does that sound? I already seem like a musician, right? Now, if I had the sheet music, I could explain the harmonies of The Spring of My Hometown. If I become a bit more familiar with it, I might even be able to create harmonies myself. So, we have learned how to create chords and construct harmonies from the notes do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si. It's simple, isn't it? Unfortunately, on the flip side, it means that we can only analyze songs written with these notes for now. If we stray just a little from this, we still have a lot to learn.

It cannot be explained with the knowledge I have. If I wrote a song for the band using the do-re-mi-fa-sol-la scale, but the vocalist just can't sing it, what should I do? Should I end up fighting with the vocalist, blaming them for not being able to sing and putting the blame on me? Fortunately, that’s not the case. What we commonly know as the do-re-mi-fa-sol-la scale is a musical scale. The do-re-mi-fa-sol-la scale is one of the scales that starts from do. If the vocalist throws a tantrum, it’s enough to just consider the poor vocalist and make adjustments so they can sing it. You can start the scale from a different note to change the vocal range. This scale is like a recipe; as long as you know the rules for making it, you can create it from any note. However, since we’ve learned a lot today, let’s wrap it up here. Next time, let’s learn about scales and intervals. Lastly, this is a secret, but these days in the meta, songs must be in tonic.

There are many cases where it doesn't start. Let's listen to the song Nakhyang by the J-Pop band Yorushika. In this way, Yorushika's composer Nana really likes progressions that start on the subdominant rather than the tonic. This progression is not only used by Yorushika but also by many contemporary composers. So, if you feel that the song you've written is too similar to others or feels cliché, let's try this kind of progression at least once. Thank you.

작곡 사실 별거 없음 (1) ㅣ [화성학]

김요팬

Harmony is a key element of music, created by stacking notes to form chords.

Chords can be combined horizontally to add color to melody and rhythm, and are built on the notes of the scale using Roman numerals.

The triad, formed by stacking three chords, has a root note that is crucial for its structure, while the third note above the root plays an important role in shaping the chord's feeling.

Understanding Chord Structure and Function

The root note is essential for expressing the feel of a chord, while the notes above it, called extensions, provide stability and can be omitted.

Chords can stack upwards to the thirteenth, but higher notes can be tricky for beginners to handle.

Classifying chords by their functions into tonic and subdominant is an effective way to understand their roles in music composition.

The Role of Tonic, Dominant, and Subdominant in Music

The tonic, main chord of the first degree, provides harmonic stability by starting and ending the music, creating a sense of comfort for the listener.

The dominant, or fifth chord, builds tension and drives the song forward, while the subdominant (fourth chord) leads into the dominant, creating tension towards it.

The subdominant can also return directly to the tonic, providing stability if the song's flow doesn't require the dominant.

Understanding Chord Progressions and Musical Scales

The I-IV-V-I chord progression is common in music, creating a repetitive structure that resolves tension.

The do-re-mi-fa-sol-la scale is a musical scale that can be started from different notes to change the vocal range.

Understanding the rules of creating the scale allows for flexibility in songwriting and harmonies.

The Unique Chord Progression of Yorushika

Yorushika's composer, Nana, favors progressions that start on the subdominant rather than the tonic.

This unique approach is common among contemporary composers.

Trying this chord progression in your own music may help you create a more original sound.