Music Theory 102: Harmony

23 videos | 75 minutes | by Gregg Fine

Chords infuse music with color and emotion. Learn the theory and magic behind creating chords in this Harmony tutorial by Master Composer and Arranger Gregg Fine.

If melody is the story of a song, then harmony is the feeling behind the story. To create songwriting magic, you need to know both. In this Harmony tutorial by chordiologist Gregg Fine, get the whole story of harmony and learn how you can enhance the color and emotion of your tunes.

Harmony starts with triads: the basic building blocks for chords. In this tutorial you’ll learn how to combine intervals to change the nature and color of the chords in your productions. Watch and listen as Gregg shows how to build major, minor, diminished and augmented chords, along with their inversions. You'll also see and hear how added tones can add a new dimension to simple chords.

Professor Fine then introduces you to extensions, suspended chords, power chords and arpeggios. You learn all about the Circle of 5ths and how it can be used to create chord progressions. Understanding progressions is “key” to building a successful and satisfying song. Gregg wraps it all up by taking you to another dimension as he teaches you how to create well-designed progressions, modulations, pedal tones, drones and ostinatos.

So if you're looking to get a better understanding of that musical feeling, this insightful tutorial on Harmony by Gregg Fine will take you there.