Associations of Harmony – Film Music Notes

Q: 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

Q: 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

Associations of Harmony in Film Themes

Learn the emotional associations of common progressions in Hollywood themes.

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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