Harmony Through Melody

Book excerpt: Harmony Through Melody:The Interaction of Melody, Counterpoint, and Harmony in Western Music, Second Editionoffers a robust, composition-based approach to tonal music theory, ranging from early modality to recent film and popular music. Charles Horton, David A. Byrne, and Lawrence Ritchey develop techniques and strategies for exploring the fundamental interaction of melody and counterpoint with harmony, and provide students with opportunities to creatively express what they have learned in the writing and analysis of short passages and complete pieces in historical styles. This second edition contains additional examples from the standard literature, film music, and popular song, and features new assignments involving late nineteenth-century chromatic practice. The textbook present a step-by-step method for the composition and analysis of short passages and complete pieces, with more than 1400 musical examples drawn from a variety of styles and genres, plus classroom-tested examples for study and suggested assignments at the end of each chapter. The second edition has an online companion website (textbooks.rowman.com/horton2e) featuring: A student workbook with more than 260 assignments for individual work and classroom use Audio links to 315 newly-recorded live performances of model compositions and fully realized settings An instructor’s manual with guidelines for evaluation of assignments, additional repertoire for in-class analysis and assignments, sample syllabi, and other useful information is also available. Please email [email protected] for more information.