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Harmony

             Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another.  (Romans 12:15-16a)

 

Musically speaking, harmony is “the combination of simultaneously sounded musical notes to produce chords and chord progressions having a pleasing effect.” Another way of putting it is that harmony is not playing the exact same note, but it is playing notes that, when put together with the other notes, makes a beautiful sound. Another source says that “The main function of harmony is to add value to the chords. In tonal music, there’s a key note. Harmony creates an orderly way that allows you to move from and to this note.”[1]

The key note mentioned is the first note in the scale. In a major scale, the notes one can use are based on a scale that goes like this: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step. In a minor key, the notes on the scale are different: whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step.

Emotional states might be compared with keys. To be in harmony with a mourning key (usually a minor key) one only has certain notes one can hit. To be in harmony with a rejoicing key (usually a major key) there are only certain notes one can hit.

So, if someone is mourning, and you start into the all-too-popular chorus of “Think How Much Worse Someone Else Has It!” you won’t be harmonizing. It won’t be in the right key. Similarly, if someone is rejoicing and you start singing “When’s My Turn” or “Yeah, But How About The Poor?” you are not in harmony.

Of course, there are times when we need to change the key someone is living in, but to do that, one has to start in the same key. As a quick note before I move on – I have found all of this stuff about music by looking online. It’s great fun to learn it but just because I’m sharing it doesn’t mean I really know what I’m talking about. At the same time, something within me says that this is revolutionary and life-changing, which means you’ll probably be hearing more about it.

The first way to change keys is to add a suspended chord. When something is suspended, it’s under tension, and it is the changing to the new key that relieves the tension. It's done by changing only one note in the chord just a little. The second way is to just move up half steps until you reach the new key. Take tiny steps. A third way is to find the chords that are in both keys and work with those. Both the first and the third way take some knowledge. The second way is the simplest, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best. Wisdom is needed.

So, returning to the verses. Rejoice with the one who is rejoicing. Mourn with the one who is mourning. Start in the same key, be in harmony with it, and if you must change keys, do so in a way that maintains the harmony as much as possible.

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