Chapter 15 Flashcards
Harmonization in Focus
But the vocal interest is multiplied when the two parts still track each other in terms of the contour and rhythm of the phrase - but now above or below the original line, Le. , at a higher or lower series of pitches. This may be an obvious, primitive description of how to ‘harmonise a tune’ , but it is one that raises an interesting point. McCartney himself describes how the presence of more than one
vocal part creates a paradox as to the very nature of melody and harmony :
It is important to remember that , as a line unfolds in harmonised thirds, the interval at any given point might consist of either a
major or a minor third (i.e., distances of both 3 and 4 semitones will be involved over the course of a line in order to keep the harmony diatonic, or to accommodate a non -diatonic effect in one of the lines). ‘Baby’s In Black’ demonstrates both situations particularly clearly in the second part of the verse:
