COMBINATORIAL HARMONY
Concepts and Techniques for Composing and Improvising
Mel Bay Publications

 

COMBINATORIAL HARMONY – CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES FOR COMPOSING AND IMPROVISING (BY JULIO HERRLEIN) is a unique and complete system for exploring endless musical possibilities in any style. This book is a must for the contemporary musician. Despite being a guitar-friendly book with a complete mapping of the fretboard, the book is also useful for improvisers, arrangers, composers, theorists and students interested in the combinatorial approach to music. About 1,000 different voicings in all positions and drops are presented, including complete 3-note and 4-note voicings with specially designed guitar diagrams. The book also includes all triad-pairs (hexatonics) and their combinations in melodic exercises. The book presents brand new “combinatorial voice-leading”, for 21st century chorale writing and contrapuntal exploring for any instrument or arrangement. In 312 pages, the book provides a vast store of material for compositional and improvisational use.

“This book is unique in that it applies combinatorial approach to harmony with materials generally known to the jazz improvisor, thus casting a new and exciting light on a familiar subject. It is also the only book I have seen of its kind to be so guitar-friendly. I am finding a vast store of possibilities here, and I am very grateful to Julio Herrlein for providing them.”

Ben Monder

“Julio Herrlein has put together a very comprehensive overview of his approach to harmony and improvisation. His text is filled with useful and practical tools that will be very valuable to any serious student. Highly recommended.”

John Stowell

“Julio Herrlein’s Combinatorial Harmony book reveals all the possible combinations of notes and harmonic situ- ations you’ll need in order to be a creative and unique musician, regardless of the style you play. One of the best things about this book is that it really inspires you to come up with your own ideas. It shows the student all the different colors and canvases you have available, but you’re the one that has to paint it! I’m sure many serious guitarists (and other musicians) will benefit from this definitive work!”

Gustavo Assis-Brasil

What we see in this book is heavy artillery! Valuable information, deeply detailed and illustrated in order to bring both the student and the experienced musician the opportunity to experience harmony and all its combinatorial relations in a logical and effective way.
A good tree is one that produces good fruit, and the musical examples presented by Julio Herrlein in this book prove that. The tasteful exercises in this book demonstrate the genius of this virtuoso guitarist, who has now generously shared with us his knowledge.

Nelson Faria

COMBINATORIAL HARMONY – CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES FOR COMPOSING AND IMPROVISING (BY JULIO HERRLEIN) is a unique and complete system for exploring endless musical possibilities in any style. This book is a must for the contemporary musician. Despite being a guitar-friendly book with a complete mapping of the fretboard, the book is also useful for improvisers, arrangers, composers, theorists and students interested in the combinatorial approach to music. About 1,000 different voicings in all positions and drops are presented, including complete 3-note and 4-note voicings with specially designed guitar diagrams. The book also includes all triad-pairs (hexatonics) and their combinations in melodic exercises. The book presents brand new “combinatorial voice-leading”, for 21st century chorale writing and contrapuntal exploring for any instrument or arrangement. In 312 pages, the book provides a vast store of material for compositional and improvisational use.

http://www.melbay.com/Products/30042BCD/combinatorial-harmony-concepts-and-techniques-for-composing-and-improvising.aspx

- Essential reference for guitarists, arrangers, composers, improvisers and harmony students
- The most complete fingerboard mapping
- All four-note chords (35 types) with diagrams
- All three-note chords (18 types) with diagrams and mnemonic exercises in the included CD
- 24 different voicings for each four-note chord including closed,Drop 2, Drop 3, Drop 2+4, Drop 2+3 and Double Drop 2 + Drop 3
- Functional Harmony and Musical Set Theory
- Combinatorial Voice Leading (New Concept)
- Pentatonic Exercises
- Hexatonics and triad pairs exercises (for all instruments)
- How to build chord progressions (97 cadential models)
- Electric and acoustic guitar compositions

JULIO HERRLEIN RELEASES BOOK WITH UNIQUE CONTENT AND APPROACH

The basic idea of the book Combinatorial Harmony is to be a catalog of possibilities. In the work, Julio does not deal with specific styles and the students will use the book as they feel the need to apply in their own music, some of the ideas presented in it.

“As a guitarist for over twenty-five years, I have always been interested in how I could use these hints on my instrument. Currently, there is a great tendency for the use of intervallic phrasing in improvisational music, based on specific combinations of sounds, modes of limited transposition and other techniques such as hexatonics (six-note sets). During the preparation of this study, all three-note and four-note sets have been mapped with their possible usage as harmonic function. Furthermore, this mapping includes fretboard diagrams for acoustic and electric guitars and practice exercises to memorize these patterns. I have also attempted to turn the hard musical set theory approach into something easier, presenting “friendly” denominations for the note sets using Chord Typology”. (Julio Herrlein).

The book has 312 pages and a CD included. It have a foreword by Nelson Faria, a pioneer in the field of guitar publishing in Brazil and reference as a guitarist; with executive produced by Luciana Etchegaray.

CREDITS

Acoustic / Electric Guitars and Compositions: Julio Herrlein
Chord Diagrams (Chapter 3 and 4): Guilherme Barros
Cover art by Julio Herrlein and Luciana Etchegaray
English Translation: Thais Gonzalez
English Revision and Proofreading: Emily Hurst and Ben Monder Musical Editing and Musical Notation Revision: Julio Herrlein
Recording and Mixing: Julio Herrlein
Coordination and Graphic Production: Julio Herrlein
Assembly and Artwork: Julio Herrlein
Executive Production: Luciana Etchegaray
Author’s Photo Credit: Lucio Chachamovich