Book Description

Excerpt from A Simple Method of Modern Harmony, Vol. 1 of 2 1. Rhythm, Melody and Harmony are three essential factors of music. Rhythm is the change, but systematic grouping, of tones of various duration. If tones of different pitch are heard one after another in logical order, we get what is called Melody; if tones of different pitch are heard together, we get Harmony (a chord). In its widest sense Harmony means the science of chords, their relationship and connection. It is the laws of harmony that we shall explain in this book, but it will be seen as we proceed that the question of rhythm or melody is often so closely connected with that of harmony that it is impossible to treat of one without also paying some attention to the other. 2. Intervals. An interval is the distance and difference between two tones, heard one after the other or at the same moment. Intervals have numerical names. These names depend on the number of letters which are included from one key of the key-board to another, or from one line of the staff to another. Intervals are measured by means of half-steps (half tones or semi-tones) and whole steps. A half-step is the term of measurement for the smallest distance. It is the distance between any one note, and the nearest note to it, above or below. It is evident that two half-steps together will make a whole step. The nomenclature of intervals, especially the modified ones, is, unfortunately, in a somewhat confused state and not uniform in all textbooks. The classification adopted here will recommend itself for its simplicity, because the intervals are arranged into only three classes: normal, enlarged and narrowed. First of all we will learn the accurate size of the normal intervals, and then the modifications (augmentation and contraction) of them. The word prime means an interval of one degree; it also means the starting note, the one from which the other notes are counted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.