Excerpt from Exercises in Harmony, Simple and Advanced: Supplementary to the Treatise on Harmony by G. W. Chadwick, and Designed, Also, as Additional Material for Any Figured Bass Method

The Object Of this work is stated by its title. A few words of explanation seem, however, to be necessary. The brevity of many Of the exercises, and their comparative fewness in some instances, as, for example, in the altered chords, only three or four under a heading - are due to the following reasons. Experience teaches that in cases where a special progression is in question, the learner Often masters his task most satisfactorily, when a few short exercises pointing directly and specifically to the progression in question are transposed a goodly number Of times. If those who have won the mastery in these matters will consider their Own experience, they will find that familiarity with a progression - due to repeated writing, or due, oftentimes, to the correction Of many exercises is the'road over which they have passed to this mastery. In the study Of harmony the learner is made acquainted with each chord and its possibilities, after a certain order, and with more or less detail: quite as an apprentice learns the purpose and handling of the tools in his tool chest. And it is only when considerable material - in other words, considerable skill - has been got together that the learner is allowed to make anything, to construct. The work Of the learner may be called, then, a process of comprehending and of assimilating, for ready use, the technicalities which underlie the conventional connection of chords. As has just been said, these conventionalities - we call them progressions° are most readilv made one's property through that familiarity which comes from their frequent use. It is hoped, then, that the comparative paucity of material in certain parts Of this work will be understood aright.

In the florid sopranos, on the other hand, may be found severalexercises of a kind. Experience shows that in advanced harmony the learner fails to grasp his task quite as Often as in the earlier lessons; that he stumbles quite as much and is as easily discouraged. If, however, one exercise of a kind be written two or three times, until the idea be grasped, the following parallel or 'similar exercises may then be assayed with the prospect Of writing them correctly at the first attempt. The encouragement and the assurance which come from success, in other words from the possession of more technique, will prove of wholesome effect, in the mastery of this interesting and valuable part Of the harmony course. It is suggested that in ad vanced work two or three subjects be undertaken simultaneously; for the element of gradual growth, dependent on reflection and observation, not only during the times Of actual writing, but also between them, enters vitally into this problem, and should be borne in mind.

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