Harmony vs. Melody

When you play a series of notes by yourself, you are playing a melody.

Listen below to hear a very classical sounding melody.

Cannon in D melody

When two or more different notes occur at the same time, it creates harmony. Harmony can produce a happy sound (MAJOR Harmony). Or a sad sound (MINOR Harmony). Click on the player below, to hear the same classical melody with harmony. Listen for the places is sounds happy (major) or sad (minor).

Cannon in D Harmony

Let’s try it.

In this song, the saxophone will play the harmony part.

This song uses the note C which appears in black. The other notes are color coded as before. Each note is a half note, meaning they all get two beats of sound. There are no rests in this song, so it is OK to sometimes cut a note short in order to take a quick breath.

Cannon in D Harmony Alto sax

Now try to perform the song by yourself.

Cannon in D Harmony Alto Perform