Melody & Harmony

The second and third angels of the ‘Daughters of Music’ is ‘Melody & Harmony’. A melody is a series of tones sounding in succession whereas harmony is relationship between the pitches of the tones. 

The words Melody and Harmony are from Greek, meloidia, meaning “singing, chanting” and, harmonia, meaning “joint, agreement, concord”.   When notes played together sound pleasing we say it sounds harmonious (consonant).

The melodic line is often said to refer to the ‘horizontal’ aspect of music, as distinguished from harmony, or the ‘vertical’ aspect.

Counterpoint is the interweaving of melodic lines whereas polyphony is a play of independent voices. 

Chords are the ‘engine’ of harmony and are often augmented with ‘tensions’.  A dissonant chord (chord with tension) will "resolve" to a consonant chord. Harmonization sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between the consonant and dissonant sounds.  A balance between ‘tense’ and ‘relaxed’ moments.

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