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.
A Journey through Harmony in Western Music
Instructor: Clayton Scott
Often we use the word "harmony" to mean pleasing sounds or the mutually beneficial interaction between people or ideas. However in music, harmony has a more precise meaning.
In music, harmony is the sounding together of separate tones to produce rich combinations called chords. 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.
Harmony was born in the 9
th century, and music has never been the same since. Virtually all Western music from this time on can be boiled down to its bare bones, its harmony. This is a fascinating journey which continues to evolve.
In this course, we will study this journey: starting with how chords are built, we will 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.
We will investigate tonality: the concept of a home key and the journey, called modulation, to other keys within a piece of music. We will look at how concepts of “acceptable” harmony change over time and study how the pleasing sounds of consonance increasingly mingle with the disconcerting sounds of dissonance until we reach 20
th century 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.
This lively presentation/performance series will guide you through a study of harmony found in music from the Baroque to Modern eras. Among works selected for study will be those of Bach, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Dvorak, Puccini, Debussy, Ravel, Schoenberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Milhaud, Elgar, Barber, Haas, and Louie.
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.