Learn More About the Music You Love!
Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of great composers, artists, and musical works! The Oscar Peterson School of Music in Toronto offers an unsurpassed breadth of Music Appreciation classes taught by experts in a welcoming and intimate environment. These sessions are designed to expand your understanding and enjoyment of music across genres and historical periods, from the rich traditions of the past to exciting new creations of the present.
With new sessions offered every season, there is sure to be something that sparks your curiosity and fits your schedule. Select sessions include live performances by the rising stars of The Glenn Gould School and special concert ticket offers to enhance your experience.
Harmony: The Backbone of Western Music
Instructor: Clayton Scott
Have you ever left a performance humming a melody you just heard? Do you ever notice that while you are singing this melody, somewhere in your head you are actually aware of hearing richer sounds in the background?
This background sound is “harmony”.
Harmony is the sounding together of separate tones to produce rich combinations called chords. And it is the relationship of these chords, one to another, which creates harmonic structure. Harmonic structure in music is like the skeleton in your body: it holds everything together.
In music, melody creates shape - as flesh shapes your body. Rhythm propels music forward - as legs allow you to move. Harmony is the backbone of music – as a skeleton holds you upright.
Harmony was born in the 9th century, and music has never been the same since. Virtually all Western music from this time on can literally be returned to its bare bones, its harmony. This is a fascinating journey which continually evolves throughout history.
We will study how chords are built, identify chord types by ear, and learn the relationship between them as one chord progresses to the next. We will look at how a melody can be harmonized in different ways by using different chords. And why a composer might choose one way over another. On occasion, you will be the composers who choose which chords sound “good” or “right” to you. We will investigate transposition, the meaning of tonality and modulation, the significance of consonance and dissonance, and look at polytonality, atonality and the twelve tone system.
We all hear harmony. In this course you will learn to put a name to what you are already hearing in music. You will find the underlying harmony in a piece of music, and develop greater sensitivity in listening and therefore deeper understanding. You will be able to listen to music and find the structure, the bones, the skeleton of what you are hearing.
We will take a broad approach, exploring works from all eras of music. Each week will be an exploration of different harmonic progressions and their context in specific musical works.
This lively presentation/performance series will guide you through a study of harmony found in music from the Medieval to Modern eras. Among works selected for study may be those of Palestrina, Monteverdi, Bach, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Mussorgsky, Wagner, Debussy, Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Prokofiev, and Copland.
Key passages will be demonstrated at the piano and discussed. Classes will include active listening with “guided tour” commentary, interactive components related to understanding harmony in music, and opportunities for score study (no experience necessary!). Some classes will feature live performances by students of The Glenn Gould School.