chord progressions in tonal music

 

Guidelines for Referencing www.harmony.org.uk


If you are planning to quote this website in a paper or on another website or you are planning on carrying out any research or writing a thesis or dissertation which involves root progression analysis techniques as specified on this website then it is important to to correctly reference this work in your thesis or dissertation.

Whilst I welcome references to the research and ideas on this site, please note that all writing on this website is governed by international copyright regulations and therefore needs to be referenced in a correct manner.

The following outline notes should help with this. Please read all sections.

If you are in any doubt please write to me at contact address

Please note, I am not able to assist with individual projects or able, at this stage, to enter into joint projects. However, I will endeavor to answer questions were I can. Please write to contact address.

 

1. Following the techniques specified on www.harmony.org.uk

If you are planning to do a project which uses the root progression analysis techniques specified on this site then the following guidelines should help you carry out this task in a correct manner.

  • Analyses of classical pieces should be based on authentic texts. Which texts are used should be specified. Whether these are acceptable is up to your tutor/ supervisor.

  • All popular music analyses should be based on transcriptions of specific recordings or performances. Song sheets and/or song books are not reliable for academic analysis. What recording or performance your transcription is based on should be specified. If a transcription by other than the author is used then the source should be acknowledged. Permission will normally be required to use someone else's transcription.

  • I would recommend that transcriptions should be made in the key of the recording or performance as this ensures greater accuracy and makes it easier for a reader to compare the transcription with a recording.

  • Chord symbols on song sheets/ song books cannot be considered as reliable for a root progression analysis and should not be used.

  • All chord analyses should be based on analyses of note by note transcriptions taking account of the notes of the melody, accompaniment, bass and all other parts. i.e. the total music.

  • Chord analysis should take account of linear progressions, passing chords, auxiliary chords and appoggiatura chords as specified on www.harmony.org.uk.

  • All music analysed should be segmented into episodes of static and dynamic harmony as specified on www.harmony.org.uk.

  • The music should be segmented into complete and incomplete phrases as specified on www.harmony.org.uk. The example analysis is the thesis section can be used as a guide to how to do this.

 

2. What is novel and needs to be acknowledged to the author Tom Sutcliffe


It must be recognised that certain concepts were introduced on www.harmony.org.uk and full reference should be made to Tom Sutcliffe as the author of these ideas.

These novel concepts include the following (but not only the following):

Please note, the above is not a complete list To check whether an idea needs to be referenced in this way then please refer to the glossary. All such novel ideas or novel uses of a word are indicated with an *.

When making a reference to, or using one of these terms as specified on www.harmony.org.uk then please make the reference in a way similar to the following example:


"…. using Tom Sutcliffe's concept of static and dynamic harmony (see www.harmony.org.uk) ….."

or:

"… using the concept of prolongation as specified by Tom Sutcliffe on www.harmony.org.uk....."

Note the difference between these examples: the first is a new term introduced by Tom Sutcliffe. The second is a term used elsewhere but with a specific meaning as defined on this website. Please refer to the glossary for clarity on this distinction.

If you wish to specify the date of writing you can use the version information on the site (see footnotes) to determine what date a section was first added to the site, for example:

"Using the concept of Blues-modal harmony as introduced by Tom Sutcliffe on www.harmony.org.uk (2006) . . . . ."

The version control information in footnotes indicates that the popular music section was first uploaded in 2006.

Referencing the site generally you can give the date of 1999.

Note: the version number on the bottom of some pages indicates the last time the page was updated and so is not the correct date to use for reference purposes. The correct date is the date the section was first uploaded as indicated in footnotes

If your institution's standards require you to indicate a place of publication you can show: London, England.

 

3. How to reference a quote from www.harmony.org.uk


If you wish to quote a section of www.harmony.org.uk, then:

You should only quote a reasonable length - usually no more than a sentence from a particular section. The quote should be shown in quotes (single or double) and it should be clear who the author is and where on the site the quote is from so that the reader can check the quote in context.

Example quote:

According to Tom Sutcliffe (www.harmony.org.uk, book outline, Appendix A, "Modal and Blues-modal harmony")


"… during the 1960's some pop groups started to experiment with modal chord progressions as an alternative way of harmonising blues melodies. . . . This created a new system of harmony that has influenced subsequent popular music."

You can use footnotes or references to bibliographies at the end of your essay depending on your institutions standards.

The important thing is to show the correct source of the quote or idea.

If you have any queries about this section or about anything else on this site then please contact me at: contact address.

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