Music Theory Comprehensive: Part 7 - Harmonization

For years I've been teaching Music Theory in the college classroom. These classes I'm making use the same syllabus I've used in my college classes for years, at a fraction of the cost. I believe anyone can learn Music Theory - and cost shouldn't be a barrier.

Recently I was named as a semi-finalist for the Grammy Foundation's Music Educator of the Year award because of my in-person university classes. Now I'm taking those classes to an online format in order to reach more students and give them the joy of Music Theory.

My approach to music theory is to minimize memorization. Most of these concepts you can learn by just understanding why chords behave in certain ways. Once you understand those concepts, you can find any scale, key, or chord that exists. Even invent your own.

This class is a Comprehensive class - it will have many parts, going through my entire annual curriculum.

This class is Part 7: Harmonization, and it continues what would be the second semester of a college music theory class (according to the typical American academic system for learning music theory).

Throughout this class, I'll be providing you with many worksheets for you to practice the concepts on. If you get stuck, you can review the videos or post a question, and I'll back to it as fast as possible. Also in this class, I have several complete analysis projects that we will complete together - just like in my college classes.

In this class, we will cover:

• Tools of Counterpoint
• How Inversion Names Work
• 7th Chord Inversion Names
• The Chordal 7th
• Root Position V7 - I Resolutions in SATB Voicing
• Inversions of V7 - I Resolutions in SATB Voicing
• Exceptions to Voice Leading
• Doubling Concerns in 7th Chords
• Figured Bass
• Figured Bass and Roman Numerals
• Studying with Bach
• "Realizing" Figured Bass
• The Pre-Dominant Phrasing Area
• Moving from Root Position IV to V Without Parallels
• Predominant 7th Chords
• Harmonization Steps
• Finding Cadences
• Finding the Right Chord Progression
• Finding the Right Inversions
• Practicing Harmonization
• Melodies for Practice
• Worksheets and Music for Practice
• ...and much, much more!

And of course, once you sign up for Part 7 - Harmonization you automatically get huge discounts to all the upcoming parts of this class.

You will not have another opportunity to learn Music Theory in a more comprehensive way than this. 

Dr. Jason Allen is an Ableton Certified Trainer and a Ph.D. in Music Composition and master of Electronic Sounds. His music has been heard internationally in film, radio, video games, and industrial sound, as well as the concert hall and theater. His 2015 album, Aniscorcia, reaching the CMJ Top200 Charts and radio broadcasts nationwide. In 2014 he was named a semi-finalist for the Grammy Music Educator Award.

He currently is a professor at Augsburg University and the CEO of Slam Academy in Minneapolis.

Praise for classes by Dr. Jason Allen:

• "Without a doubt the best explanation and east of use that one can get. It leaves you enough room to go explore. The classes go by quickly, so you can be on your way to being proficient. What are you waiting for!"

• "Amazing - Seriously Loved It! I took all his courses and have to say I'm so happy! Learned loads! Jason is an awesome teacher!"

• "I have never had any formal training in music at all. Trying to learn all the notes and how everything translated was a serious challenge. After going through this class, Dr. J has totally brought down the barriers. The content was very useful and was easy to grasp for me."

• "I like these courses because you can get up and running quickly without having to spend hours of time wading through TMI (too much information!). Jason hits the high points but shows you what you need to know. Thanks!"

• "I've watched many other videos on scales and chords before, however, this one has been the best. I now understand minor scales and chords and even how to analyze songs. It really gave me the confidence to start producing music because I feel like I have some structure and guidelines to follow. AWESOME!"

• "Clear and Informative - Jason has a clear uncluttered style (with the important dashes of humor) of presentation that is focused on the important key aspects of this course. Recommended for those starting out!"

• "Dr. Allen does it again with his music theory series. This course really opened up everything I learned from the 1st section, and now I understand more about the composition side of things for music. I highly highly recommend this course to anyone!!! Really opened my eyes to many things I wasn't aware of."

• "The Best Teacher Ever, who makes you understand the ins & outs of Music Theory by all means without giving what you don't want to know."

Three different worksheets and a number of tips on how to practice will be assigned throughout the class. Here are all the files you need for those worksheets and practice files!

Project: Harmonize a Melody

Use the attached melody to create a harmonization. Some tips:

• Look at the "phrasing" - how do the first four measures relate to the second four? Can the harmonies be similar?
• Look for a V chord (or V7) at the end of phrases.
• Think about the tempo: This could be slow or fast - whatever you want to do with it.
• What key is this in? C major or A minor? Your harmonization will determine it!

Upload your harmonization and share!