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Rimsky-Korsakov, Practical Manual of Harmony in English

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 15 of 96

Connecting the Triads of I and IV, and of I and V, in Either Direction

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§ 13. a) When harmonizing given melodies:

1) Under each note of the given melody, place a triad on I, IV or V according to the note, without using IV and V in succession.

2) Connect the triads by the rules of harmonic or melodic connection.

3) Where the given melody leaps by more than a third, use the triad on the same degree, but in different melodic positions.

4) Where the given melody repeats a note, use chords on two different degrees, or else arrange the parts of the second chord differently from the first.

5) Begin and end the exercise with the tonic chord.

6) Do not put on the strong beat of a bar the same triad that was on the preceding weak beat.

7) In the bass, avoid two successive leaps of a fourth or two of a fifth.

Bass leaps: bad — two fourths (G–C–F), two fifths (G–C–F down); good — a fourth then a fifth, a fifth then a fourth
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