Child of Stardust
Member
It's my opinion that the innovation of harmony and chords in music was probably the greatest innovation in music since...well, the invention of music! (If it was "invented" to begin with).
It may seem odd that I'm posting this now, but I was told recently that harmony (as opposed to different instruments/voices simply playing/singing at the same time) didn't actually develop till the Middle Ages in Europe (or sometimes round then). (Is this even true? Sorry for my ignorance either way...it seems odd no one would have thought of it before then).
It really hit me, since most of the songs I find *the* most emotional...the ones I feel are practically perfect, listen to over and over and never have them lose their power...have the extra oomph, the cherry on top as it were, added by the brilliant chord changes and harmonies. Obviously, there are plenty of songs I find very moving that don't have harmony...the beauty of the melody, obviously the lyrics, and the passion with which it is played and sung do most of it. Still, to me the difference almost seems like going from black and white to colour in visual art...it adds a whole emotional dimension that wasn't there before. I could barely imagine living in a culture without it.
Anyone else have similar feelings?
It may seem odd that I'm posting this now, but I was told recently that harmony (as opposed to different instruments/voices simply playing/singing at the same time) didn't actually develop till the Middle Ages in Europe (or sometimes round then). (Is this even true? Sorry for my ignorance either way...it seems odd no one would have thought of it before then).
It really hit me, since most of the songs I find *the* most emotional...the ones I feel are practically perfect, listen to over and over and never have them lose their power...have the extra oomph, the cherry on top as it were, added by the brilliant chord changes and harmonies. Obviously, there are plenty of songs I find very moving that don't have harmony...the beauty of the melody, obviously the lyrics, and the passion with which it is played and sung do most of it. Still, to me the difference almost seems like going from black and white to colour in visual art...it adds a whole emotional dimension that wasn't there before. I could barely imagine living in a culture without it.
Anyone else have similar feelings?
