Solfege at your Fingertips: Chords and Harmony

An intermediate-level online course by UMontrealX

Course Description

"Solfege at your Fingertips: Chords and Harmony" is an intermediate-level online course offered by UMontrealX, designed to elevate your understanding of music theory and its practical application through solfege. This comprehensive course is the third in a series of MOOCs focused on demystifying the language of music. Whether you're a budding musician preparing for pre-university or university music programs, or an enthusiastic amateur looking to enhance your musical skills, this course offers invaluable insights into the mechanics of tonal music.

What Students Will Learn

  • Construction and qualities of 3-tone and 4-tone chords
  • Tonal harmony fundamentals
  • Chord names and qualities in jazz and pop music
  • Harmonic degrees in major and minor scales
  • Chord inversions and their applications
  • Dominant 7th chord resolution
  • Chord progressions and cyclical progressions
  • Practical sight-reading skills
  • Music dictation techniques

Prerequisites

While this course is designed for both music enthusiasts and those preparing for formal music education, it's recommended that students have a basic understanding of music notation, intervals, and scales. Completion of the first two courses in the "Solfege at your Fingertips" series would be beneficial but is not mandatory.

Course Coverage

  • Chord construction and naming conventions in various musical styles
  • Three-note and four-note harmonic degrees in major and minor scales
  • Chord location and function within different scales
  • Inversions of 3-note chords
  • The dominant 7th chord and its resolution
  • Cyclical chord progressions
  • Sight-reading practice through video capsules
  • Guided musical dictation exercises

Who This Course Is For

  • High school students preparing for CÉGEP or university music programs
  • Amateur musicians looking to deepen their understanding of music theory
  • Instrumentalists, singers, and composers seeking to enhance their musical literacy
  • Music enthusiasts who want to read music as fluently as they read a novel

Real-World Applications

  1. Improved sight-reading abilities for faster learning of new pieces
  2. Enhanced composition skills for creating richer, more complex music
  3. Better understanding of chord progressions for more effective improvisation in jazz and classical performance
  4. Increased ability to analyze and appreciate musical structures in various genres
  5. Stronger foundation for pursuing higher education in music or a career in the music industry

Syllabus

Module 1 – Chord names and qualities: Names in jazz and pop, chord construction, and the qualities of 3- and 4-note chords
Module 2 – Three-note harmonic degrees: Chords in the major scale and the melodic, harmonic and natural minor scales (3 notes)
Module 3 – 4-note harmonic degrees: Chords in the major scale and the melodic, harmonic and natural minor scales (4 notes)
Module 4 – Chord location in scales: The location of chords in the major scale and in the harmonic minor scale, as well as a look at chord location in all the scales seen in this course
Module 5 – Inversions, dominant chord and chord progressions: Inversions of 3-note chords, the dominant 7th chord and its resolution, and cyclical progressions

Enroll now in "Solfege at your Fingertips: Chords and Harmony" and take your musical journey to the next level!