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In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches (tones, notes), or chords.〔Malm, William P. (1996). ''Music Cultures of the Pacific, the Near East, and Asia'', p.15. ISBN 0-13-182387-6. Third edition. "Homophonic texture...is more common in Western music, where tunes are often built on chords (harmonies) that move in progressions. Indeed this harmonic orientation is one of the major differences between Western and much non-Western music."〕 The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic line, or the "horizontal" aspect.〔Jamini, Deborah (2005). ''Harmony and Composition: Basics to Intermediate'', p.147. ISBN 1-4120-3333-0.〕 Counterpoint, which refers to the interweaving of melodic lines, and polyphony, which refers to the relationship of separate independent voices, are thus sometimes distinguished from harmony. In popular and jazz harmony, chords are named by their root plus various terms and characters indicating their qualities. In many types of music, notably baroque, romantic, modern, and jazz, chords are often augmented with "tensions". A tension is an additional chord member that creates a relatively dissonant interval in relation to the bass. Typically, in the classical common practice period a dissonant chord (chord with tension) "resolves" to a consonant chord. Harmonization usually sounds pleasant to the ear when there is a balance between the consonant and dissonant sounds. In simple words, that occurs when there is a balance between "tense" and "relaxed" moments. == Etymology and definitions == The term ''harmony'' derives from the Greek ἁρμονία (''harmonía''), meaning "joint, agreement, concord",〔'1. Harmony' ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology in English Language Reference'' accessed via (Oxford Reference Online ) (24 February 2007)〕 from the verb ἁρμόζω (''harmozo''), "to fit together, to join".〔(Harmonia, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus )〕 The term was often used for the whole field of music, while "music" referred to the arts in general. In Ancient Greece, the term defined the combination of contrasted elements: a higher and lower note. Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the simultaneous sounding of notes was part of ancient Greek musical practice; "harmonía" may have merely provided a system of classification of the relationships between different pitches. In the Middle Ages the term was used to describe two pitches sounding in combination, and in the Renaissance the concept was expanded to denote three pitches sounding together.〔 Aristoxenus wrote a work entitled ''Harmonika Stoicheia'', which is thought the first work in European history written on the subject of harmony.〔(and (World Cat ))〕 It was not until the publication of Rameau's 'Traité de l'harmonie' (Treatise on Harmony) in 1722 that any text discussing musical practice made use of the term in the title, though that work is not the earliest record of theoretical discussion of the topic. The underlying principle behind these texts is that harmony sanctions harmoniousness (sounds that 'please') by conforming to certain pre-established compositional principles.〔Arnold Whittall, ''The Oxford Companion to Music'', ed. Alison Latham, (Oxford University Press, 2002) (accessed via (Reference Online ), 16 November 2007 (is gayubview=Main&entry=t114.e3144 ) )〕 Current dictionary definitions, while attempting to give concise descriptions, often highlight the ambiguity of the term in modern use. Ambiguities tend to arise from either aesthetic considerations (for example the view that only "pleasing" concords may be harmonious) or from the point of view of musical texture (distinguishing between "harmonic" (simultaneously sounding pitches) and "contrapuntal" (successively sounding tones).〔 In the words of Arnold Whittall: The view that modern tonal harmony in Western music began in about 1600 is commonplace in music theory. This is usually accounted for by the 'replacement' of horizontal (of contrapuntal) writing, common in the music of the Renaissance, with a new emphasis on the 'vertical' element of composed music. Modern theorists, however, tend to see this as an unsatisfactory generalisation. As Carl Dahlhaus puts it: Descriptions and definitions of harmony and harmonic practice may show bias towards European (or Western) musical traditions. For example, South Asian art music (Hindustani and Carnatic music) is frequently cited as placing little emphasis on what is perceived in western practice as conventional 'harmony'; the underlying 'harmonic' foundation for most South Asian music is the drone, a held open fifth (or fourth) that does not alter in pitch throughout the course of a composition.〔 and Catherine Schmidt Jones, 'Listening to Indian Classical Music', Connexions, (accessed 16 November 2007) ()〕 Pitch simultaneity in particular is rarely a major consideration. Nevertheless, many other considerations of pitch are relevant to the music, its theory and its structure, such as the complex system of Rāgas, which combines both melodic and modal considerations and codifications within it. So, intricate pitches combinations that sound simultaneously do occur in Indian classical music—but they are rarely studied as teleological harmonic or contrapuntal progressions—as with notated Western music. This contrasting emphasis (with regard to Indian music in particular) manifests itself in the different methods of performance adopted: in Indian Music improvisation takes a major role in the structural framework of a piece, whereas in Western Music improvisation has been uncommon since the end of the 19th century. Where it does occur in Western music (or has in the past), the improvisation either embellishes pre-notated music or draws from musical models previously established in notated compositions, and therefore use familiar harmonic schemes. Nevertheless, emphasis on the precomposed in European art music and the written theory surrounding it shows considerable cultural bias. The ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (Oxford University Press) identifies this clearly: Yet the evolution of harmonic practice and language itself, in Western art music, is and was facilitated by this process of prior composition (which permitted the study and analysis by theorists and composers alike of individual pre-constructed works in which pitches (and to some extent rhythms) remained unchanged regardless of the nature of the performance).〔see Whittall, 'Harmony'〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Harmony」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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