Questions: Melody Harmonization with Voice-Leading Principles

Question 1

A melody has E on a strong beat. A student harmonizes it with E minor because 'E is the root of E minor.' The harmonization sounds weak in context. What is the most likely problem?

• A. The chord was chosen by note-matching rather than by evaluating whether E minor creates a coherent harmonic progression in context
• B. E minor is never an appropriate chord for harmonizing the note E
• C. The student should have used a dominant chord on every strong beat for maximum harmonic drive
• D. The melody note E forces a specific chord choice — only one chord is ever correct for a given note

Answer: (A)

Note E is a chord tone in several chords (E minor, C major, A minor, G major as the sixth, etc.). Choosing the chord that 'contains E' without considering context is note-matching. The real questions are: what function does this chord serve in the progression? Does it connect smoothly to the previous and next chord? Does it support the phrase's harmonic direction toward a cadence? A chord can contain the melody note and still produce a weak or incoherent progression.

Question 2

A melody note falls on a weak beat and is clearly a passing tone between two structural chord tones. When harmonizing, you should...

• A. Maintain the surrounding chord — passing tones do not require their own chord change
• B. Find a chord that contains this passing tone as a chord tone, since every melody note must be supported harmonically
• C. Insert a dominant chord on weak beats to create consistent rhythmic harmonic interest
• D. Change the harmony on every beat to prevent the progression from sounding static

Answer: (A)

Non-harmonic tones — passing tones, neighbor tones, suspensions — exist between chord tones and do not need to be harmonized as if they were structural melody notes. Trying to give every note its own chord leads to over-harmonization: a congested, directionless progression where the actual harmonic rhythm becomes unclear. Recognizing which melody notes are structural and which are embellishing is one of the core analytical skills in harmonization.

Question 3

In melody harmonization, non-harmonic tones such as passing tones do not require a new chord.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

True. Non-harmonic tones are melodic embellishments — they decorate the structural melody notes but are not chord tones themselves. Assigning a new chord to every melody note (including passing tones and neighbor tones) results in over-harmonization, which blurs the harmonic rhythm and weakens the sense of progression. The skill is knowing which beats are structurally important enough to require a chord change and which carry embellishing tones that should be sustained over an existing chord.

Question 4

The chord that contains the melody note as a chord tone is typically the best harmonization choice.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

False. Most melody notes are chord tones in several different chords. The best choice among them depends on the harmonic progression: which chord connects smoothly to the previous and next chord? Which functional category (tonic, pre-dominant, dominant) does this moment in the phrase call for? Does the choice support a cadential arrival later? Note-matching alone gives no answers to these questions, and locally 'correct' chords can produce globally weak or directionless progressions.

Question 5

Why should you analyze the entire melody — identifying cadence points and structural beats — before choosing any chords, rather than harmonizing note by note?

Model answer: The structural cadence points (where the phrase comes to rest) are the anchors of the harmonization — they demand specific chord types (authentic cadence, half cadence) and constrain what must happen harmonically on the way there. If you choose chords note by note without knowing where the phrase is going, you may reach the cadence point with the wrong chord already in place, or create a progression that lacks functional direction. Analyzing the whole melody first reveals which notes are structural chord tones (requiring harmonization) and which are passing or neighbor tones (not requiring chord changes), and shows the harmonic rhythm and phrase direction.

This top-down approach is what separates harmonization from note-matching. Bach's chorales are canonical models precisely because every local choice — which chord, which inversion, how to move the inner voices — serves a larger phrase-level plan. The structural cadences are planned first; the rest fills in a functional path between them.