Associations of Harmony – Film Music Notes

Associations of Harmony in Film Themes

Learn the emotional associations of common progressions in Hollywood themes.

Lifetime Access

No need to rush through the course. Take the time you need to learn the material thoroughly.

Site Forums

Get answers to your questions, share your compositions, and talk with your peers.

Quick References

Review courses quickly and easily with summary notes on key points and details.

$125 USD
Duration: 5 Hrs 24 Min

Enroll In Course

Watch Preview

By studying many of the greatest themes to come out of Hollywood, this three-lesson course will teach you the most common harmonic progressions in Hollywood film music and the emotional and musical associations they tend to have. Learn how to use harmony to evoke the perfect emotions in your themes!

Lesson 1 – Diatonic Progressions

Preliminaries
- Our Use of Chord Symbols
- Theme Harmony – General Principles
Associations and Their Progressions in Major Keys
- Innocence – Reverence – Americana
- Noble – Heroic Quest – Majestic
- Personal Loss – Intense Sadness
- Emotionally Touching
- Emotionally Painful
- Of Great Importance
- End of a Phrase
Associations and Their Progressions in Minor Keys
- Heroic – Beginning of a Phrase
- Beginning of a Phrase
- From a Past Time – Pirates
- End of a Phrase

Lesson 2 – Chromatic Progressions

Associations and Their Progressions with a Major Tonic
- Awe-Inspiring & Fantasy-Based
- Heroic
- Outer Space
- Love, Romance
- Rural America – Cowboys – Action Heroes
- American-ness (Culture, People, Places, etc.)
- The Extraordinary, Wonder, Amazement, Otherworldly
- The Thrill of Discovery
Associations and Their Progressions with a Minor Tonic
- Suspense, Mystery, Dark Humor
- Great Dangers – Mysterious Objects
- Evil, Villain, Antagonism
- Hope in Adversity

Lesson 3 – Advanced Techniques

Associations of a Tonic-Chord Melody Over a Non-Tonic Chord
- Bittersweet Emotion
- Jubilant, Overjoyed
Associations of Tonal Chords with Other Scales
- Octatonic Scales: Tension, Danger – Comedy
- Hexatonic Scales: Strange, Mysterious – Comedy
Associations of Ambiguous Tonics
- Incomprehensible, Incredulous
- Ambiguity
Surprise Chords for Distinctive Theme-Writing
- I–bIII
- bV–V
- bVI–biii

“Outstanding. Another brilliant course. I am starting to see these progressions everywhere.”

Eric Griffin

“Having real-world examples from masters of melody showcases how powerful simple writing can be!”

Tim Hare

“Excellent lessons. I’ve never seen this direct analysis of progressions as they relate to emotions before. Very helpful.”

Jess Knubis

Related Course

Learn how film themes express certain emotions with chromatic chords and changes of key. We cover emotional expressions, voice leading, and harmonic progressions for a wide range of harmonies and modulations, focusing on their film-specific uses. We also explore many uses that are not covered in other sources, like deceptive leading-tone dominants, tritone-polyrooted chords, and modulation cycles. Tailor your use of chromatic chords and modulations to your expressive needs.

Learn More

Join Our Mailing List

Receive an email when a new course or blog post becomes available.

By subscribing, you agree with our Privacy Policy.