1st Edition
Harmony at the Piano Using Keyboard Harmony to Learn Advanced Piano Music
Harmony at the Piano adapts the traditional study of keyboard harmony to the practical needs of modern piano students, using innovative exercises to help students practice their repertoire more deliberately, consciously, and creatively.
The author introduces the essential elements of harmony through extensive examples from real piano music. Rooted in the understanding that the language of tonal harmony is best assimilated at the keyboard, this textbook:
- Gives students effective practice methods for learning repertoire, including techniques for memorizing music in a deliberate, analytical way.
- Connects harmony to musical expression, enabling students to make interpretive decisions based on their understanding of harmony.
- Contains extensive practice drills in each chapter, including chord progressions, figured bass, melody harmonization, reduction techniques, transposition, repertoire study, and more.
Designed to support a full college or conservatory course in keyboard harmony, this book clearly connects the study of harmony to practical musicianship and keyboard skills, providing an essential resource for all instructors and students of advanced piano music.
Extensive online resources complement this textbook, including suggested realizations of the figured bass exercises, the original scores of the melody harmonization and fill-in-the-blank exercises, as well as additional exercises and examples.
1. Root Position Triads 2. First Inversion Triads 3. Sequences with Triads 4. Embellishing Tones 5. Second Inversion Triads 6. The Dominant 7th Chord in Root Position 7. Inversions of the Dominant 7th Chord 8. Secondary Dominant Chords 9. Diatonic Modulation 10. The Supertonic 7th Chord 11. Sequences with 7th Chords 12. The Leading Tone 7th Chord in Minor 13. Secondary Diminished Chords 14. The Leading Tone 7th Chord in Major 15. The Neapolitan 6th Chord 16. Augmented 6th Chords 17. Chromatic Voice-Leading Techniques
Biography
Ken Johansen is Associate Professor of Keyboard Studies at the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University, where he has taught since 2002. He is a co-inventor of the piano sight-reading app Read Ahead, and the creator of From the Ground Up, a series of study editions published on Practising the Piano Online Academy. He holds degrees in piano performance from Peabody and the University of North Texas, and studied harmony and musicianship in Paris with Narcis Bonet.
"Ken Johansen's teaching has provided a marvelous benefit to a great number of my piano students over the years. Harmony at the Piano is a truly valuable work which will help younger as well as the most advanced musicians to reach a higher understanding of our art."
Benjamin Pasternack, Professor, Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University
"I think this is a superb textbook; it combines clear, practical and helpful information and directions for the students with a deep artistic sensibility—a rare combination, especially for a textbook. I appreciate how the author emphasizes the link between keyboard harmony and repertoire, and I especially like the advice for how to use this material for memorizing repertoire."
Roger Graybill, New England Conservatory
