November 22, 2006
More Intervals for Harmony

This is a prescription for making some nice music, but YOU need to provide the raw material, i.e., the song.

Work out a simple single note melody line. You can play several notes in a row, but only one at a time. It could be a nursery rhyme, like "Row, Row, Row your Boat", or a pop song like "Let it Be", or something of your own design. Spend about 10-30 minutes getting really solid on this tune so you can play it without thinking. If it takes longer than this, pick an easier song and come back to the difficult song in the future.

Now, use the Rule of Thumb to add a harmony. You need to decide: will the harmony be above the melody or below? Choose one or the other, and act accordingly. For every note in your melody, you will play a harmony note on the other side of the kalimba - let's say a lower note for now. If the melody goes up but stays on the same side of the kalimba (i.e., goes out toward the outer tines), your harmony note should also go out, but in the opposite direction. If the melody shifts sides, your harmony also has to shift sides. Previously in the single note melody, one thumb played while the other rested, i.e., they switched between resting and playing. Now there is no resting, but thumbs switching between melody and harmony.

When you master this technique, you have a simple but very powerful tool for spontaneously creating beautiful harmonies which seem well thought out.