musical harmony
- noun
- /ˈmjuːzɪkəl ˈhɑːrməni/
- Specialized
:
armonía musical
- The choir demonstrated remarkable musical harmony during their performance of the piece.
Examples
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Studying musical harmony helps composers understand how to blend different chords effectively.
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While Rameau was the theoretician of the very musical harmony Adrian's twelve-tone method subverts, Mann inverts the relationship of Diderot's Rameau with his nephew.
Academic text (2000) -
In classical music, musical harmony is essential for creating a rich and pleasing sound.
Synonyms
38
2.8
A combination of musical notes that sound pleasant together
How Consonant
Surface Forms
Morphology
This is a straightforward adjective+noun composition: 'musical' (relating to music) simply specifies the domain of 'harmony' (the sounding/combination of notes), so the meaning—harmony in music—is directly derivable from the parts. The pattern is a regular, compositional modifier+noun structure common across languages, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
Musical harmony comes from the simple image of different sounds fitting together like puzzle pieces, where musical voices or instruments play different notes that match and form one pleasant sound. That's why it means 'the way notes are put together to make a pleasing sound'.