Is the Negative Harmony Theory Real?
By Kaylee Fullington
The negative harmony theory is widely unheard of as it is not commonly used in most of the music we hear today. However, it tends to resurface into the media and occasionally gain popularity.
The idea behind a negative harmony is that every chord on the standard scale has its own mirrored chord in which it can equally substitute the original chord. An easy way to think about this theory is to imagine there being an inverted scale which exactly mirrors the standard scale and set of chords.
Negative harmonies have been around since the Renaissance, but it was not officially defined until Ernst Levy’s book “A Theory of Harmony” was released in 1985. Levy was a Swiss composer as well as a theorist, so his idea of negative harmony was widely used throughout his works as a teacher and pianist.
Levy’s theory has inspired many musicians through the years including familiar names like Jacob Collier and Steve Coleman. This theory is greatly seen through Coleman’s work as he has extended the possibilities of alternative paths that can be taken with rhythm changes.
Most negative harmonies take a deeper approach to the original melody and display darker rhythms. There is also sometimes an eerie feel added to the music. This is due to the fact that most modernly composed pieces use chords from the standard side of the scale and will fit a more uplifting role in musical tones.
It is not uncommon that there will be alternative sounding chord progressions in modern music pieces, but it is definitely rare to come across in some genres. There is plenty of calculation that goes into perfecting these alternate melodies as the composer must go as deep as matching tones and time signatures as well.
A simple way to understand this flipping of chords would be to look at it as a chart just like you would a color wheel. The color wheel displays every color in the spectrum in a way that if you take the color directly across from it that you will find its perfect color match. The same would work for this negative harmony theory if you were to look at all the chords laid out on a spectrum.
Many have recently crossed paths with this concept as it has resurfaced its potential on TikTok. Most people have come into contact with this theory by hearing their favorite rock songs in an inverted fashion through using the negative harmony theory.
The most popular song to be reimagined through this theory so far would be “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the 1970s British rock band Queen. The original version of this song has already been deemed to drive so much emotion from its listeners, but reworking the melodies to fit the negative harmony theory has given listeners a whole new take on this Queen classic.
Another fan favorite amongst the listening crowd would be “Here Comes the Sun” by the 1960s English rock band The Beatles. This reconceptualized version has given listeners a striking new emotion when hearing the classic stylings of The Beatles in a new manner.
Negative harmonic songs will continue to resurface through the media every so often and it is up to the younger generations to utilize this theory in order to teach more of the population about its unique sound. This is a great tool to use in improvisation as it continues to keep music interesting by creating new rhythms that pair well with the listening ear.