{"id":14302,"date":"2023-06-20T15:19:52","date_gmt":"2023-06-20T22:19:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/?p=14302"},"modified":"2024-02-15T07:53:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T15:53:07","slug":"how-to-harmonize-a-melody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-harmonize-a-melody\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Harmonize a Melody In 4 Easy Steps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Matching Chords To Melodies - The Piano Bench (Ep. 9)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EO-jvXhTprQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re a budding composer and you\u2019ve just come up with a beautiful melody. Congratulations! Now it\u2019s time to flesh out your song with harmony. This can seem like an intimidating task for beginners. So in this lesson, we\u2019ll teach you how to harmonize a melody in four easy steps (plus a bonus one).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harmonizing a melody doesn\u2019t need to be complicated. If you have a basic understanding of keys, chords, and scales, you can do it! And even if you don\u2019t, we\u2019ll link you to awesome resources that will fill in the gaps. Anyone can learn how to harmonize a melody! All it takes is a little imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><p><strong>Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/p><nav><ol><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#howto-step-1687213648270\">Step 1: Figure out what key you&#8217;re in<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#howto-step-1687214276017\">Step 2: Assemble your primary chords<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#howto-step-1687215417317\">Step 3: Match chords with target notes<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#howto-step-1687216317407\">Step 4: Add some color<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#howto-step-1687274223408\">(BONUS!) Step 5: Reharm<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#how-to-harmonize-a-melody-resources\">Additional Resources<\/a><\/li><li class=\"\"><a href=\"#advanced-reharmonization-techniques\">Advanced Reharmonization Techniques<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<span class=\"blue-text-block\"><center><h2 style=\"font-size:22px\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Your Go-To Place for All Things Piano<\/b><\/h2><p>Get exclusive interviews, fascinating articles, and inspiring lessons delivered straight to your inbox.<\/p><iframe class=\"email-form-include\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weeklyemail\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe><\/center><small><i>By signing up you\u2019ll also receive our ongoing free lessons and special offers. Don\u2019t worry, we value your privacy and you can unsubscribe at any time.<\/i><\/small><\/span>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-howto-block\"><div class=\"rank-math-howto-step\"><h2 class=\"rank-math-howto-title\"><strong>Step 1: Figure out what key you&#8217;re in<\/strong><\/h2><div class=\"rank-math-howto-content\">The first step to harmonizing a melody is knowing what key you\u2019re in. To do this, notice if your melody uses any sharps and flats. Then take a look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-use-the-circle-of-fifths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Circle of Fifths<\/a> and see if your melody matches any of the key signatures. For example, if you notice that your melody has F# and C#, it may be D major or B minor.<br><br>Another clue is the note your melody ends on. Most melodies end on the <strong>tonic<\/strong> \u2014 the first note of the scale. So, if your melody has F# and C# and ends on B, it may be in B minor, not D major.<br><br>Our example melody has no sharps and flats and ends on C. Therefore, it\u2019s likely our melody is in the key of C major.<\/div><\/div><div class=\"rank-math-howto-step\"><h2 class=\"rank-math-howto-title\"><strong>Step 2: Assemble your primary chords<\/strong><\/h2><div class=\"rank-math-howto-content\">Primary chords are like primary colors! They\u2019re the <strong>I<\/strong>, the <strong>IV<\/strong>, and the <strong>V<\/strong>. In C major, that\u2019s Cmaj, Fmaj, and Gmaj. These are the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/diatonic-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">diatonic chords<\/a> built on the first, fourth, and fifth note of the C major scale.<br><br>You can harmonize any melody in any key with the I, IV, and V. That\u2019s because these chords contain, between them, <em>all <\/em>the notes in the scale!<br><br>So, it\u2019s always easiest to start your harmonization with these three chords. Of course, most songs have more chords than just these three, but we\u2019ll talk more about that later\u2026<\/div><\/div><div class=\"rank-math-howto-step\"><h2 class=\"rank-math-howto-title\"><strong>Step 3: Match chords and target notes<\/strong><\/h2><div class=\"rank-math-howto-content\">Melodies tend to have \u201ctarget notes.\u201d These are notes that hold extra weight, that the melody builds towards. They usually fall on the downbeat. You can probably intuitively figure out which notes are the target notes, but we\u2019ve pointed to good notes to use as targets in our sample melody above.<br><br>To figure out which primary chord matches which target note, find a chord that has a note in common with the target note. For example, our second target note is F, so try Fmaj (F-A-C) with that note.<br><br>You don&#8217;t have to harmonize just the target notes! You can harmonize every note if you want, or harmonize just one note per measure. Try out what works. In our example, we harmonized the B with Gmaj because V-I makes a satisfying perfect cadence. <\/div><\/div><div class=\"rank-math-howto-step\"><h2 class=\"rank-math-howto-title\"><strong>Step 4: Add some color<\/strong><\/h2><div class=\"rank-math-howto-content\">You may have noticed that all our primary chords are major chords, which makes our melody sound super sweet and happy.<br><br>This is great, but we don\u2019t <em>always <\/em>want to sound sweet and happy! This is when other chords come in \u2014 in particular, let\u2019s introduce the relative minor: the vi.<br><br>In C major, our vi chord is Am. Am has the notes A, C, and E, so we can use it to harmonize those notes in our melody. Try it yourself!<\/div><\/div><div class=\"rank-math-howto-step\"><h2 class=\"rank-math-howto-title\"><strong>(BONUS!) Step 5: Reharm<\/strong><\/h2><div class=\"rank-math-howto-content\">If you\u2019re up for a challenge, we can take our harmony to the next level by <strong>reharmonizing<\/strong>. This means taking existing chords and replacing them with different ones. Reharming alters the sound and mood of our composition, which can be pretty neat!<br><br>The rules are similar: find a chord that has a note in common with your target melody note. For example, to harmonize the F, you can use a Bdim chord.<br><br>For more flavor, try <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/understanding-7ths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7th chords<\/a> and extensions. Advanced songwriters can take things even further by harmonizing notes with chords <em>outside <\/em>the key. This can add crunchiness \u2014 but also color \u2014 to the composition.<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-to-harmonize-a-melody-resources\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>How to Harmonize a Melody: Resources<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If anything in this lesson makes you scratch your head, these resources might help:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Piano Chord Theory 101<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-scales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Piano Scales: Types of Scales and How to Use Them<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-music-theory-basics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Music Theory Basics: What to Learn First<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"advanced-reharmonization-techniques\" style=\"font-size:32px\"><strong>Advanced Reharmonization Techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Still not enough reharmonization for you? Some techniques you can try include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/understanding-7ths\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7th chords<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/all-piano-chords\/#extensions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chord extensions<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Passing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/251-chord-progression\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2-5-1s<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Tritone_substitution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tritone substitutions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Secondary_chord#Secondary_dominant\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">secondary dominants<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>We hope you found this lesson on how to harmonize a melody helpful! Keep experimenting and don\u2019t be afraid to sound \u201cbad\u201d at first \u2014 that\u2019s how you learn! Good luck and happy practicing \ud83d\ude42&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"tve-leads-shortcode tve-leads-triggered tve-tl-anim tl-anim-instant tve-leads-track-shortcode_16124\"><div class=\"tl-style\" id=\"tve_tcb2_blank\" data-state=\"50\" data-form-state=\"\"><style type=\"text\/css\" class=\"tve_custom_style\">@import url(\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Bebas+Neue:400&subset=latin\");@import url(\"\/\/fonts.googleapis.com\/css?family=Open+Sans:400,400i,700,700i,600,600i,800,500&subset=latin\");@media (min-width: 300px){[data-css=\"tve-u-18c41a11f2c\"]{--tve-border-radius: 6px;overflow: hidden;border-radius: 6px !important;background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;--background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;--tve-applied-background-color: rgb(255,228,230) !important;background-image: none !important;--background-image: none !important;--tve-applied-background-image: none !important;margin-bottom: 1px !important;padding-top: 0px 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data-css=\"tve-u-18c41a11f30\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><b>\ud83c\udfb9 Join the Musora Family<\/b><\/h3><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv_text_element\" data-css=\"tve-u-18c41a11f32\" style=\"\"><p data-css=\"tve-u-18c41a11f33\" style=\"text-align: left;\">Your musical journey starts today: try Pianote and get access to drum, vocal, and guitar lessons too!<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"thrv_wrapper thrv-button thrv-button-v2 tcb-local-vars-root tve_ea_thrive_animation tve_anim_grow\" data-button-style=\"btn-tpl-58447\" data-tcb_hover_state_parent=\"\" data-button-size-d=\"s\" data-css=\"tve-u-18c4af06ae7\" style=\"\"><div class=\"thrive-colors-palette-config\" style=\"display: none !important\"><\/div>\t\t<a href=\"\/trial\" class=\"tcb-button-link tcb-plain-text tve_evt_manager_listen tve_et_tve-viewport\" style=\"\" target=\"_blank\" data-tcb-events=\"__TCB_EVENT_[{&quot;t&quot;:&quot;tve-viewport&quot;,&quot;config&quot;:{&quot;anim&quot;:&quot;grow&quot;,&quot;loop&quot;:1},&quot;a&quot;:&quot;thrive_animation&quot;}]_TNEVE_BCT__\">\t\t<span class=\"tcb-button-texts\" style=\"\"><span class=\"tcb-button-text thrv-inline-text\" style=\"\" data-css=\"tve-u-18c4af1a3bb\">Try Pianote for 7 Days<\/span><span class=\"tcb-secondary-text thrv-inline-text tve-froala fr-box fr-basic\" style=\"\"><\/span><\/span>\t<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how to find chords that go with your melody. Then add color and discover reharmonization tricks to level up your songwriting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":14511,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1108,1109],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musicianship","category-songwriting-musicianship"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14302"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16625,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14302\/revisions\/16625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}