How to create Chord progressions that make sense?

Question

I've been reading over Walter Piston's Harmony book, and it has been an eye-opener to say the least. I understand concepts like tension and release, voice leading and so forth, but I still don't quite understand the process of generating harmonic patterns other than by trial and error, or composing as a whole. I understand many things that I didn't before, but there seems to be so much more when I listen to a piece by Sibelius, Mahler, or Mozart. To be honest, I expected a kind of harmonic revelation in the sense that I would have a way to understand (in a very limited sense) and analyze works, but this is simply not the case.It makes sense now that you can make a piece using simply I V I, and I have seen many such examples, but I still don't really understand what the composer is thinking from when he starts at I and makes his way to V. I still don't really understand how to think about harmonic progressions in a way that is useful (meaning in a way that will help me write my own music). These pieces that I hear seem like they have written themselves... so my conclusion is that I am doing it wrong.Maybe I'm putting way too much emphasis on harmony. Should I be looking into musical form?

Answer 1

This is not a question with a short and tidy answer. The germ of a composition can be melodic, and harmonies are found to support it and bring it to life; or it can be harmonic, and melodies and rhythms can flesh it out; or it can be rhythmic, or it can be formal, or some combination of these. There is no one way in that works every time. The study of harmony and form and orchestration is meant to give you the tools you need to create music, not a blueprint. All of the different strands interweave to make a piece of music.

Also remember that all the theory and harmony you've read is descriptive, not prescriptive; it is a distilled version of what past composers have done. You can follow their lead, or not. When you analyze existing music, you find out how it works; if you want your music to work the same way, you can use the same tools.