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A method of analysing harmony, based on interval patterns or “Gestalten”

  • II. From Pitch to Harmony
  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Music, Gestalt, and Computing (JIC 1996)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 1317))

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Abstract

Although in the last decades the traditional theory of harmony in tonal music has often been sharply criticized, it is still in use and a better alternative has not yet been elaborated. Since it is used today mainly for the purpose of describing and teaching tonal harmony, a modern alternative should offer, above all, a better method of describing any succession of harmonies. Starting from a recently evolved system of encoding harmony objectively as a succession of harmonic interval combinations and melodic bass steps, a similar shorthand writing of harmonies with additional mnemonic qualities is suggested. This shorthand may be used in describing and teaching tonal harmony. Moreover, its use within the scope of a modern Gestalt theory of musical perception concentrating on the learning and recognizing of patterns of harmonic and melodic intervals is outlined.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Musikwissenschaftliches Institut, Universität Köln, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, D-50923, Köln (Cologne), Germany

    Roland Eberlein

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  1. Roland Eberlein
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Marc Leman

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Eberlein, R. (1997). A method of analysing harmony, based on interval patterns or “Gestalten”. In: Leman, M. (eds) Music, Gestalt, and Computing. JIC 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1317. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0034117

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0034117

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-63526-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69591-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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