Modern Harmony Method

A text designed to progressively teach the fundamentals of melodic harmonisation in the jazz and popular genre.

Suitable for

• students of composition
• students of arranging
• senior high school musicianship and harmony students
• classically trained pianists who yearn to play modern sounds and extend their harmonic vocabulary.

There are many texts written for the tradition of harmonising melodies in 4-part vocal style, but relatively few in the field of modern keyboard harmony. This book reveals simply but thoroughly how to choose and voice modern chords, the nature of chord progressions, and instruction into extending and altering chords. For the teacher, student or self-learner.

The book includes 15 original 8-bar practise melodies with full solutions. Students will find these exercises a stimulating test encapsulating all the concepts learned in the text.

Download midi solutions for all exercises

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Read the article Putting Modern Harmony into the Curriculum – Music in Action, Australia, 2009

Mr. Griffin does a superb job giving clear and concise steps that students should take when approaching the task of harmonizing a melody. The book is laid out in a clean, easy-to-understand format. Mr. Griffin is obviously a gifted teacher, and has developed a book that would be a great resource for any music teacher or student interested in understanding and implementing more complex theory/harmony concepts…

Natalie Wickham, Music Matters, USA