Benham, Hugh: A2 Music Harmony Workbook

Exam boards: Edexcel, AQA, OCR

This workbook builds on the AS Harmony Workbook and is designed to prepare students for the harmony and counterpoint tasks in their A2 Music exams. It explores more advanced techniques and is written to provide a firm foundation for all students embarking on a study of harmony.

The chapters include:

Chorales

Baroque counterpoint

String quartet

Popular songs for the AQA, OCR and Edexcel specifications

Dr Benham begins each topic by carefully introducing any material that was not covered in the AS Music Harmony Workbook. Topics are illustrated with examples from a useful range of musical styles. He then provides step-by-step guidance on the principal tasks required in A2 Music harmony tests. Each is dealt with in a progressive way, starting from short and simple examples and including many tips, clear explanations of technical terminology and carefully-graded exercises for practice.

Each chapter covers some of the most widely offered harmony and counterpoint tasks for A2. It’s clearly set out, with step-by-step instructions as to how best to complete the tasks. There is also an Index for quick reference.

This workbook is more than just a set of exercises as it also includes helpful tips for the student, and is suitable for both the current and the new A2 syllabus, with first examination in 2010.

The A2 Music Harmony Workbook provides an invaluable and up-to-date resource for students working on harmony assignments, and one that is specifically tailored to their study needs.

Together with the AS Music Harmony Workbook, this forms a thoroughly revised and expanded version of Hugh Benham’s highly successful earlier book, A Student’s Guide to Harmony and Counterpoint.