Overview
I developed these harmony lesson sheets for my students at UC Berkeley, and am making the printable pdf and the Sibelius (version 7) files available for public use. Students probably can just pay attention to the pdf's. All examples are fairly easy to play as they are either in C major or a minor.
The hope is that these lesson sheets can distill this material down as much as possible for instructors and students, to make the material effectively taught and retained.
The hope is that these lesson sheets can distill this material down as much as possible for instructors and students, to make the material effectively taught and retained.
Big picture principles of doubling and voice leading:
As the lesson sheets progress, when a big-picture principle is explained pertaining to voice leading or doubling, a compass symbol is shown. Pay specific attention there, as these nuggets of wisdom will apply to your writing no matter what chords you are learning:
Learning to see harmonic possibilities in lines:
Starting with Harmony 2, common melodic patterns will often be pointed out and how they imply certain harmonies. This way, when you spot these patterns in a given bass or soprano, you will know at least one possibility to harmonize it. (For instance, if a bass descends by step, you might ask if that could be a secondary V42 and it's resolution). By just knowing your compass, you could spot this, but these nuggets of wisdom hopefully make you more fluent. These linear patterns are indicated by the swimming fish symbol, the very tongue-and-cheek "bass line", yuk yuk (though, again, it guides you to harmonize any line, be it soprano, alto, tenor, bass, or any pitched individual in the style of 18th Century Western music).
Techniques of modulation:
Also, in Harmony 2, we get into techniques of modulation. The Mario Bros. warp tube (transporting you from one world to another) will be used to indicate a new technique of modulation that you are to learn. Eventually (if you progress into Hamony 3 and beyond), you will be able to find a warp tube to go from any key to any other key.
Harmony 1 lessons and assignments
