Lesson with JairCrawford

Ok, so I've done this much so far. But at that next measure, I get stumped. Updated

Ok.
Some basic pointers: don't think about harmonising each and every note. Harmony doesn't usually change with every note of the melody. Try and see what harmonic rhythm is being dictated by the melody. Remember than you can have passing notes, and appogiaturas etc. in the melody -- don't harmony note by note. Probably think in bars, and half bars, and maybe occasionally the harmony can change faster.
Keep the bass part fairly simple for now.

You seem to be harmonising just by trying to fit the best consonant chord to each melody note -- try to be very conscious of the progression of harmony - play out each chord change, and make sure it's strong. (I say chord because you must be implying a chord with your bass and melody).

As for the Db, like I said, an F could work below, so could a D, a Gb, a G, an A,....
Certainly, in C major, Db implies a Db F Ab chord, but you needn't be restricted to standard tonal progressions. The A before the Db almost rules out a Db major chord.


By the way, watch that the rhythm of your bass-line doesn't 'denature' the 6/8 rhythm in the places where 6/8 is meant strongly to be felt.

Ah... I must be limiting myself... I'm not into atonal... so I guess I'm limiting myself to tonal harmonies.

Nowhere did I say atonal. It would be very difficult to make something atonal out of this melody. You just don't have to limit yourself to standard tonal progressions in this.
Some of the melody suggests a certain tonal progression, whereas others suggest things which are much less standard.

That's part of what makes this a difficult exercise. I want you to tackle all these problems.

Oh. Ok. Well, I updated the excercise.

Listen to what I said about rhythm. Your first bar has three crotchets. At the start, the melody is clearly following a 6/8 rhythm, so it would be best not to totally upset that at the outset.
Do you know how 6/8 works, as a time signature? I'm not patronising - perhaps you haven't learnt that yet.

You harmonised the 9th bar OK - but you treated the Db as if it was a C# (so as if we have an A major chord) - this doesn't work well going into the 10th bar. This progression is bad (from 9 - 10).

The only other thing I have to say is: watch for false relations. A false relation is where you have a note in one part which is followed by that note flattened or sharpened in another part. (Or some difference of accidental - the first could be sharp, the second natural). In the last bar, you precede the F# in the melody immediately with an F natural. False relations' use depends on the style you're writing in. They can be quite acceptable, if they're a consistent part of your style. In this case, just be sure you want it there. At least make sure you can hear it.

(keep going - not bad so far!)

Ah. Ok. I updated it again.

Either the updates aren't working, or you're not listening to me.
Which post did you update?

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Well it looks almost (if not) exactly the same as before...