One note harmonisation

A single note in isolation has limited value and weight. It’s neither sad nor happy, colourful or dissonant. Only when used in combination with other notes do relationships reveal themselves. While a C note by itself might suggest a tonality of C, place an A underneath and we’ll begin to hear and sense an A Minor tonality. Change A to A b and A b Major begins to emerge.

The way that we attribute value to notes, 3rds, b 7ths, 4ths and so on, is by measuring these relationships, counting the distance between the floor and the ceiling, from lowest to highest note; and we quantify this distance in relationship with the Major scale. Most traditional harmony is taught in this way, starting with the root, adding a gender-defining 3rd (Major or Minor), building stability with the 5th, and adding colour with 7ths and beyond. While this