Welcome to The Harmony Note Book

I am a student of harmony and composition, not so much in the formal sense but very much in the real sense, and as both cause and consequence I tend to think often about the meaning of harmony. In a way I am reinventing the wheel, but this is perfectly acceptable to me as the journey of harmonic discovery is as interesting as its mastery. On this blog I will post my thoughts about harmony and music in general, rant about Classical composers whom I dislike, and make uninformed controversial generalizations that anyone who is in fact a student of harmony in the formal sense will quickly point out are idiotic. Again, this is just fine; a lack of exposure to the longstanding traditions of musical thinking gives me a fresher perspective as well as a motive to rationalize why my talk is nonsense.

Feel free to correct anything you think is wrong, but remember that if I wrote it, it means I hear it that way, which you may not, and this is interesting in itself, since it speaks to a difference in perception of the same musical idea.

I will attempt to abstain from posts with nonharmonic tones like politics, Random Youtube Video That Is Funny, Why My Life Sucks/Rocks Right Now, general societal commentary (except on music), and How Awesome My Weekend Is/Was/Wasn't; for that, check out my LiveJournal at timmypowg.livejournal.com. I will NOT attempt to abstain from posting musical discoveries, analyses of music or musical moments, general comments about genres of music and why people should/shouldn't appreciate said genre but don't/do, and so on.

Be prepared for a non-traditional view of music. My genres of interest include music for wind ensemble, chorinhos, Jewish liturgy, MPB and bossa nova, videogame music, showtunes, and a bit of everything else. In real life I am a scientist (OK, fine, grad student), so what really concerns me is what makes this music tick. Why it sounds good, why it is effective or not, what elements convey a primary emotion, and also importantly, how these effects are achieved, how I can create them in my music, and so on. After all, I am an artist as well! What you won't find so much here are the "traditional" composers, especially those of the so-called Common Practice Period, as that is simply not the type of harmony in which I have interest.

Finally, I should restate that I am not a master of harmony but a student of harmony; there is much, much, much music with which I have no familiarity but probably should. This page will host what I hear as true and not what the "scholarly world" hears as true. I am also not a master of composition but a student of composition; my music is not always very good, but it is available (in synthesized recordings) at web.mit.edu/braunst/www. I always appreciate comments, and it is my plan to have a section of this site dedicated to each piece in order for there to be a convenient location for comments.

Thank you for reading, and do not hesitate to correct me!