Harmonizing Melodies
To harmonize a melody, all you need to do is find chords which contain the same note as the melody note on the first beat of each bar. This is demonstrated in the following example which shows a simple melody in C major harmonized with primary triads.
In %, ^ or 3/8. time, there will usually be one chord per bar. However, in * or ) there are often two chords per bar - in * the second chord can be played on the third beat, while in ) the second chord can be played on the fourth beat. The following example demonstrates an other melody in * time with primary chords played on the first and third beats of each bar. Sometimes there is a new chord on the third beat (e.g., bars one and two) and other times the chord played on the first beat is repeated on the third beat (e.g., bar 3). As a general rule, if the melody note on the third beat is one of the notes contained in the chord on the first beat, the same chord can be repeated, but if the melody note on the third beat is not in the chord from the first beat, a new chord will be used.
