Generally speaking, western music is comprised of three primary elements: melody, rhythm, and harmony. Most of us, regardless of our experience level as musicians, understand the concepts of melody and rhythm. A melody is a song’s linear musical theme, and rhythm is the pattern in which notes fall in time. Harmony, however, is a slightly more complicated concept to grasp, and perhaps requires a bit more investigation to understand.

In this online piano lesson for beginners, keyboard instructor at CSU Los Angeles and ArtistWorks’ “Beginner’s Guide to Piano” teacher, Zachary Deak, outlines the concept of harmony, explains the relationship between different notes and chords, and illustrates how harmony functions on both the vertical and horizontal musical planes. He even provides a few examples of common chord progressions to help these basic music theory concepts sink in.

“As the name implies, harmony has to do with togetherness, connectedness, consonance, dissonance, and even forces of attraction in music,” Zachary explains. “Harmony creates relationships and musical hierarchies that we then intuitively hear and react to.”

LEARN MORE: Want to learn how to play piano from a master musician and member of the CSU Los Angeles keyboard faculty? Try some free online piano lessons now!

Understanding how harmony works will not only provide you with a better understanding of music theory, it will greatly improve your musical ear and your technical abilities when playing as well. It will help you better internalize the keyboard and help you make more informed decisions as a player. As such, it’s as important to take the time to master these theoretical concepts as it is to practice your scales and arpeggios.

“Out of context, a chord or harmonic moment can mean many different things,” Zachary explains. “But, in the context of other chords, that original chord takes on a very specific meaning. There’s now structure and intent, and it’s critical to understand that relationship.”

To learn more about the concept of harmony, how it works, and the relationship between notes, dive into this online piano lesson designed specifically for adult beginners from Zachary Deak:

“What is Harmony?” with Zachary Deak:

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Have you always wanted to learn how to play piano? Through our comprehensive beginner piano lessons online and Video Exchange Learning platform here at ArtistWorks, you can learn directly from CSU Los Angeles piano instructor, Zachary Deak, and get personal feedback on your playing.

Zachary’s comprehensive course teaches all the fundamental beginner piano basics and will quickly get you playing your favorite classic piano music. This is the perfect course for adult beginners and first-time players and will lead all students to grow and improve their skills as pianists and musicians.

Try out some free sample music lessons here and see what makes ArtistWorks courses some of the best online music lessons around!

READ MORE:

Beginner Piano Lesson: Major vs. Minor Pentascales with Zachary Deak

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Classical Piano Lesson: Practicing with the F.E.R.N. Approach with Christie Peery