Harmonymaking

Harmonymaking is the practice of designing and organizing harmonic content in music to support melody, structure, and expression. It encompasses selecting scales, tonal centers, chords, and progressions to create coherent sonic relationships. The term is a neologism and not a formal academic discipline; uses vary across musical traditions and contexts.

Core concepts in harmonymaking include tonal harmony with functional progressions and voice leading, modal and chromatic harmony, dissonance and resolution, as well as extended and altered chords and harmonic rhythm. Techniques involve studying common-practice progressions, analyzing repertoire, and experimenting with non-traditional sonorities. Practitioners employ tools such as notation software and digital audio workstations, and may explore algorithmic approaches that generate progressions based on constraints like mood or tempo. Harmonymaking also considers timbre, rhythm, and melody in an integrated way, recognizing that harmony interacts with these elements to shape listener perception.

Applications of harmonymaking span composition for film, television, and video games, as well as contemporary concert music and educational settings. In pedagogy, it informs how harmony is taught and analyzed, providing frameworks for understanding tonal function, modal color, or alternative systems. Critics note that harmony is culturally contingent and subjective, so harmonymaking emphasizes flexibility, context, and listening. Because the concept covers a broad range of practices, practitioners may specialize in tonal harmony, modal color, or experimental approaches, drawing on diverse theoretical perspectives from functional harmony to set theory and jazz harmony.