A melody has a chord tone on beat 1 followed by a stepwise passing eighth note on the 'and' of beat 1 that doesn't belong to any obvious chord. What should a skilled harmonizer typically do?
AFind a new chord that contains the passing note so every melody note is harmonized
BHold the chord from beat 1 through the passing note, treating it as a non-chord tone
CRemove the passing note from the melody to simplify harmonization
DUse a chromatic chord under the passing note to add color
Non-chord tones — passing tones, neighbor tones, suspensions — are a compositional tool, not a problem to solve with chord changes. Holding the chord and treating the weak-beat note as a passing tone is nearly always more graceful than scrambling to find a new chord for every note. Changing harmony on every beat to accommodate passing tones destroys harmonic rhythm and misuses the concept of non-chord tones entirely.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
A harmonizer wants a phrase to end with a strong sense of closure. Which approach best reflects deliberate, expert practice?
AHarmonize the melody note by note from the beginning and see what cadence results naturally
BUse IV–V–I at every phrase ending to guarantee closure
CDecide on the cadence type first, then choose interior chords that lead convincingly toward it
DIncrease harmonic rhythm near the end to create more motion approaching the final note
Expert harmonization is end-directed: you choose the cadence type first (authentic for closure, half cadence for expectancy, deceptive for surprise), then build backward to find chords that create a convincing path toward that arrival. Harmonizing left-to-right without a target cadence tends to produce aimless progressions that land at the end by accident rather than design.
Question 3 True / False
A melody note falling on a strong beat most naturally functions as a chord tone (root, third, or fifth) of the chord sounding beneath it.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
Strong-beat melody notes are structural tones that the ear hears as defining the harmony. Placing a non-chord tone on a strong beat creates dissonance that sounds like an error rather than an ornament. Skilled harmonization anchors chord tones to strong beats and reserves weak beats for non-chord tones — identifying structural tones is the first step in any harmonization.
Question 4 True / False
The most effective melodic harmonizations change the chord on nearly every beat so that nearly every melody note belongs to the chord currently sounding.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
This is one of the most persistent beginner mistakes. Holding a chord across a non-chord tone is nearly always more graceful than assigning a new chord to every note. Over-harmonization produces choppy progressions and destroys harmonic rhythm — one of the most expressive levers in harmonization. Slower harmonic rhythm creates spaciousness and inevitability; dense chord changes belong only where the music genuinely requires that density.
Question 5 Short Answer
Explain why a harmonizer typically decides on the cadence type before choosing the interior chords of a phrase, rather than harmonizing the melody from beginning to end in order.
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: The cadence determines the phrase's emotional outcome — whether it closes, pauses, or surprises. Interior chords only make sense as a path leading toward that destination. Deciding the ending first ensures every harmonic choice contributes to a coherent direction; working forward without a target cadence produces progressions that arrive accidentally rather than inevitably.
End-directed thinking is what separates deliberate harmonization from note-by-note chord guessing. The cadence is the phrase's goal; the interior harmony is the argument that builds toward it. Just as effective writing begins with a conclusion, effective harmonization begins with a harmonic destination.