Tasting Harmony is designed to teach your ear to focus on the sound of each individual chord tone while simultaneously hearing the full chord. This is a new approach to ear-training, utilizing the concept of synesthesia; the mixing of the senses.
Tasting Harmony taps into the ability we all possess to discern the different flavors of food items and uses that ability to establish an emotional connection to your note choices by providing you with a harmonic menu of eighty-one different sounds played in all twelve keys…that’s nine hundred and seventy-two chords you’ll hear and “taste” with each listening to the play-along CD.
The chord progression of every song represents a harmonic recipe created by the composer. Tasting Harmony allows you to fully stock your ear with the ingredients needed for each recipe, so you don't have to substitute water for cream when it's time to put those ingredients together to bake your harmonic creation.
Tasting Harmony was developed to provide a fun approach for all musicians who want to get involved with harmony on a deeper level in a direct and non-theoretical way. Sing and play along with vocalist Petra van Nuis and pianist Jeremy Kahn as they take you through a full menu of ear-enriching harmonic flavors.
For all musicians, available in Concert, Bb and Eb Editions
64 Pages + 1 Play-along CD with 81 Tracks.
A special note to saxophonists (and all instrumentalists) from Greg Fishman regarding his latest book, "Tasting Harmony":
Tasting Harmony was designed with the jazz saxophonist in mind. One of the greatest challenges for all saxophonists is to develop the ability to hear notes in harmonic context. Since we’re limited to playing one note at a time, we need the ability to clearly hear any note that we play in a variety of harmonic contexts. If you're not hearing the full chord while playing your individual notes, you're missing out on the true flavor of each note you produce.
To find out if you can hear your notes "in context," take the harmonic taste test below:
THE HARMONIC TASTE TEST
While playing a high “C” on the saxophone, vividly imagine the “C” sounding as the #9th on a dominant 7th chord. After playing the individual note and imagining the sound of the chord, sing the chord (dominant 7#9) from the root up to the “C” you just played.
Next, play the high “C” and imagine it sounding like the 9th on a minor 7th chord. This time, after playing the “C,” sing a descending arpeggio of the chord (it would be a Bbmi9 chord).
If you have trouble accurately singing these chord shapes, “Tasting Harmony” is designed for you! (If you can pass this test with no problem, you’ve already internalized these basic sounds, and can use the advanced level practice options included with the book, which are fun for even the seasoned professional).
More than ten years of research and development went into Tasting Harmony. I'm happy to share it with everyone and I hope that it helps to enhance your enjoyment of playing and listening to music.
