Harmony

How do you get maximum marks in the harmony question? As with all questions in all exams, you should have a technique - your own, personal tectnique - for each question. Always approach and complete each question the same way. This is the best way to make sure you get the most marks.

1. Use your chord box, even if you're fairly confident. Imagine how stupid you would feel if it turns out you made one silly mistake in your head which messed up your whole harmony question and all you had to do to avoid it was refer to your chord box. Pretty stupid? Damn straight.

2. Make sure you use small case lettering for minor chords. It's not that hard - dm not Dm or d/ ii, not II. As long as you do this in your chord box and then abide by my number one rule then there shouldn't be a problem here.

3. CADENCES FIRST. Always do your cadences first. Cadence = goal. You should know what your aiming for when you start a line.

4. Put in basic bass line as you go along. If you run out of time, at least you have something on your bass line and having a matching bass note under each chord box is worth a significant amount of marks. And, of course, make sure you remember that you're writing in the bass clef!

5. Make sure your bass notes are aligned with your treble notes. Marks will be taken away if you don't do this. It makes it hard for the examiner to read and be sure which bass note goes with which chord if you don't do this and it's simply incorrect.

My Harmony notes cover Q5 of the composing paper in detail including choosing the right chord, cadences, inversions, bass lines and hints and tips for the exam.

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