Harmony
How simultaneous notes relate — and how those relations move
Related
Harmony is the relation formed when notes sound at the same time, and how those relations move one to the next. It concerns both the vertical "stack" and the horizontal "walk": what a chord is, where it goes, whether it resolves on arrival.
Harmony differs from counterpoint: counterpoint cares how several melodies move independently, harmony cares what they make when they sound together. One passage can be both — a Bach fugue is lines moving and harmony supporting. Harmony is not "accompaniment"; it is the music's system of gravity.
Read deeper → Chord · Harmonic Function
Sources
- 和声作为同时音高关系及其进行的定义，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Harmony"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.