The Bach-Breaker: Harmonising Bach Chorales Using Codes

This resource supports the A level specifications (Edexcel, AQA) and Pre-U where the harmonising of Bach Chorales features in the composing paper. It breaks the process into three manageable stages. Stage A deals with identifying the key, the related keys and sorting out the cadences using ‘cadence codes’. These are the cadential progressions Bach typically used. Stage B deals with ‘melodic codes’ which are again the progressions between the cadences which Bach typically used. Then modulation preparation and the completion of the bass line. Stage C deals with completing the inner parts, adding suspensions and chromatic chords in typical Bach-style.