Unlocking Musical Understanding

With the incredible range of challenging repertoire available to us as pianists, it is understandable that we tend to focus intensely on learning notes and developing technical skills. Unfortunately, this often means that other essential aspects of musicianship such as ear training, theory and analysis are neglected.

A Dry, Abstract Study

Music theory is often taught in isolation from real musical experience. Traditional theory instruction generally relies on written exercises and analysis which can feel dry and disconnected from actual music-making.

As a result, pianists may develop strong technical skills without truly understanding how music is structured. This can ultimately become an impediment to progress, especially when learning more advanced repertoire.

A Practical Solution

Keyboard harmony is an ideal means of developing essential, but often overlooked skills by integrating them directly into piano practice. By playing harmonic progressions, chords and voice leading directly at the keyboard, it makes theory an active, hands-on experience rather than an abstract academic exercise.

Rooted in historical traditions such as figured bass and partimento, keyboard harmony was once considered an essential part of a musician’s education. Baroque and Classical composers and performers developed their harmonic intuition at the keyboard, using techniques that are still valuable today. Sadly, music theory became less connected to practical application and this invaluable tool began to fade from standard training.

Why Study Keyboard Harmony?

By integrating several aspects of musicianship in a single activity, the study of keyboard harmony offers pianists the following benefits:

• Learn pieces faster – Having a better understanding of what’s happening in the music you’re playing and being able to recognise patterns speeds up the learning process.
• Memorise more effectively – Understanding harmonic structures makes it much easier to memorise and means that you’re not entirely reliant on muscle memory when performing.
• Practise more creatively – Devising creative ways to learn music through reductions can turbo charge the learning process and opens up expressive possibilities.
• Improved sight reading – Recognising common harmonic progressions is a highly effective way to simplify a score for more successful playing at sight.
• Train your ear – Playing harmonies rather than just analysing them on paper develops an intuitive sense of sound and harmonic function, giving you the ability to hear music inwardly.
• Interpret more expressively – Understanding voice leading and harmonic tension allows for more informed and expressive interpretive choices.
• Develop other skills – Being comfortable with harmonic progressions at the keyboard makes it easier to transpose pieces, experiment creatively and even improvise!

Getting Started

Pianists looking to develop their keyboard harmony skills can begin with a few simple exercises:

1. Play Cadences in All Keys – Start with basic cadences (I-IV-V-I) and gradually explore more complex progressions.
2. Harmonize a Simple Melody – Take a familiar tune and add harmonies using common chord progressions.
3. Reduce a Score to Chordal Blocks – Identify the harmonic framework of a piece by simplifying it into chord shapes before adding details.

The Circle of Fifths is also an excellent tool for embarking upon developing keyboard harmony skills. Main chords in different keys and then playing and transposing common progressions  such as ii-V-I or I-IV-V-I in different key centers around the circle… help you gain fluency in keys, recognise patterns, better understanding of harmony / theory etc.?

For a hands-on introduction to keyboard harmony, join Lona Kozik’s interactive workshop on Thursday 24th April. Lona will guide you through using using the Circle of Fifths to deepen your understanding of music and strengthen your musicianship in a natural and engaging way. Click here to find out more!

Other Resources

• Learning Notes of Learning Music
• Creative Practising Using Keyboard Harmony
• Why Study Music Theory
• Building Your Music Theory Knowledge
• Harmony, History & Style