Harmonising a Melody Exercises (A6 & A7)

Point your mouse at the staff, light-bulb or text to reveal the answers.

1. Harmonising a Melody - Step by Step

For each melody below;

a) Name the key

b) Write out the triads for each degree of the scale, and label them with both the Roman numeral system and the letter name (e.g. I/C major)

c) Using Roman numerals, name the three possible chords for each note marked * (e.g. the note "C" may have I, IV or vi in C major).

d) Choose one chord from each group of three, choose the inversion and explain your choice.

Melody 1.

a) Key:

b) Triads:

c) Chords

Chord no.	Point your mouse over each row in the table to reveal the answer.*
Chord 1:	ia - Start with the tonic chord if possible. Always avoid chord III+.
Chord 2:	ib (or iva). ia is a repeat, IVb and VIa are similar motion, and VIb has a doubled major 3rd.
Chord 3:	ivb (or iva or VIa). ia/ib are too repetitive, VIb has a doubled major 3rd.
Chord 4:	Va. Vb has a doubled major 3rd (and moves by augmented 2nd), viia not allowed, viib bass moves by augmented 4th, III+ not allowed.
Chord 5:	VIa (or ia/ib). V-iv is not a good progression, VIb has a doubled major 3rd.
Chord 6:	iva. Plagal cadence - root position chord.
Chord 7:	ia (or Ia) - final chord of piece, plagal cadence root position.

Melody 2.

a) Key:

b) Triads:

c) Chords

Chord no.	Point your mouse over each row in the table to reveal the answer.*
Chord 1:	Ia. Using the root position tonic helps to establish the key.
Chord 2:	Ib (or iiia). Ia is a repeat chord, Va & iiib give consecutive 8ves, Vb is similar motion.
Chord 3:	iia. IVa and iib are similar motion, via and IVb are ugly leaps to the octave, vib makes a boring bass line.
Chord 4:	Va. Vb doubles the 3rd, iiia causes consecutive 5ths, viia not allowed, viib repeats the bass line. iiib is a very weak chord.
Chord 5:	Ia (or via or low Ib.) IV should be avoided after V, vib is possible but the doubled 3rd doesn't work well.
Chord 6:	iib. iia has consecutive 8ves, chord V will be used in the next chord (imperfect cadence), viib sounds similar to V.
Chord 7:	Va. This forms part of the imperfect cadence.
Chord 8:	Ia (or vib). Ib has a doubled 3rd, via forms consecutives 5ths, iiia has a large leap up to F#, iiib repeats the bass note.
Chord 9:	Ib (or iva). Ia is a repeat. IVb and via are similar motion, vib repeats the bass note. Ib works well here because it's an echo of the opening two chords.
Chord 10:	iia (or ivb or viib). IVa and iib cause exposed octaves, viia is not allowed.
Chord 11:	vib. Ia is similar motion, via has a larger jump than vib. Chord vi is preferred here, as it will form part of the progression of 5ths which makes a good finish.
Chord 12:	iia. Forming part of the progression of 5ths, bass moves in step and in contrary motion.
Chord 13:	Va. Part of the progression of 5ths and part of the perfect cadence to finish.
Chord 14:	Ia. The double barline signifies the end of the piece - always use Ia at the end. Perfect cadence.

*Not all possible answers are included. Each answer is related to the chord we picked for the chord before - other answers may be possible. We can't give all permutations, as there are too many! E.g. you could have picked chord iva for chord 2, in which case chord 3 would have different possibilities, and so on.
Sometimes a chord becomes possible when the same note is chosen in a different octave, because it can eliminate similar motion and large leaps. E.g. a bass which leaps up from E to D is not recommended, whereas a bass that falls from E to D is fine.

2. Harmonizing a Melody - Free Practice

The best way to to improve your harmony is to practise as much as you can. Here's an activity you can try which will also improve your ability to "hear" music in your head. Start off with short phrases and try longer ones as you get better.

a) Think of a well known children's song.

b) Sing it through in your head and try to work out which note is the tonic and what time signature it's in.

c) Grab some manuscript paper and try to write out the melody.

d) Play it through on your instrument, to check you got it right. (Correct any mistakes!)

e) Decide which notes need harmony chords, and which notes are passing notes (usually one chord per crotchet or minim is enough, but experiment). Mark the notes you're going to harmonize with a *.

f) Harmonize the melody, using the steps in lessons 6 & 7.

g) Play it through on a keyboard slowly and really listen to what you've written.

h) Harmonize the same melody in a different way. (Try changing minor to major (or vice versa) as well!)

Here are some well known British children's songs to get you started:

• My Grandfather's Clock
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
• Mary had a Little Lamb
• Sing a Song of Sixpence
• Ding, Dong, Bell
• Girls and Boys Come Out to Play
• Happy Birthday to You
• Sing a Rainbow
• Lavender's Blue
• I had a Little Nut Tree