Playable BooksOpening the book…
JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
Traité de l’harmonie
Harmony
& composition
The French treatise, in English and in music.
Before you startReading Simplified English
You’re reading Simplified English. , the clefs or the source pages in Settings. Every figure with verified notation plays: press ▶, or tap the notation to start from a bar.
All examples are review drafts. Check any of them against the original scan beside it.
Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Traité de l’harmonie (1722) develops a theory of harmony, then applies it to composition and accompaniment. Its terminology and rules belong to the musical practice of its time.
Start with a short passage and one example. Choose Simplified English, English, or Caveman for different levels of language, and switch to French to compare the original wording.
Listen to an example, then follow one voice at a slower tempo. Read the source notes for uncertain details and alternative readings. Where a separate fundamental bass demonstrates the harmony, the example’s notes explain how it is heard.
Open the original page when a detail matters. The scans preserve the printed notation and annotations alongside the reading edition.