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Harmony

Musical Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Harmony is the combination and progression of tones sounding together or supporting a melody.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Volta — A volta is a turn: the moment when a poem changes direction in its thinking, feeling, argument, perspective, tone or imagery. Though closely associated with the sonnet, the volta can occur in almost any poem and at almost any point.

Detailed Definition
Harmony gives a musical line depth by placing it within relationships of agreement, tension, and movement among simultaneous pitches. In poetry, the term can describe the way images, rhythms, voices, and meanings cooperate across a poem. Harmonious elements need not be identical: contrasting parts may create a richer unity when their differences are balanced. A poem’s harmony is often felt as coherence of atmosphere rather than as a plainly stated argument.
Example
Example in poetry:
Harmony is the pleasing relationship among simultaneous or successive sounds, and a poem can create it through complementary vowels and rhythms; In “mellow wedding bells,” the soft consonants and open vowels produce verbal harmony; Two speakers whose separate lines complete one another create dramatic harmony; A poet may contrast harmony in sound with disagreement in meaning to create subtle tension.
Additional Notes
Harmony is the combination of pitches sounding together and the movement of chords beneath or around a melody. It can support, complicate, or contradict the main tune, and its changes help shape mood and direction. In poetry, harmony may describe agreement among sounds, images, voices, or ideas. A poem can have harmonious language through balanced phrasing and repeated patterns, while deliberate disharmony may introduce conflict. Related concepts include melody, chord, consonance, and dissonance.
Other Meanings of “Harmony”
Also Known As
Chordal Harmony
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