Lesson 4—Harmony and the Tonic Chord

This fourth lesson begins the early steps in composing a tune. Only the tonic chord is used for the harmony of this initial step.

Below is a hymn to set to music. It is a hymn of seven syllables for each phrase. In this selection the first syllable is strong or accented, therefore it must start on the first note of the measure, because the first count of every measure is always accented.

Read aloud the hymn below, accenting the bold syllables.

Below, the words are properly divided with two beats to each measure, the first beat being accented in every measure.

In the exercise below there is a melody using only the notes in the tonic chord. In the fourth, eighth, twelfth, and sixteenth measures half notes are used, because only one syllable is available.

Harmonize the melody below using the tonic chord positions of Lesson 3.

Write another melody and harmonize it using only the tonic chord positions.