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Harmony isn't something you recite: you listen to it, play it, and only then name it. Here is the six-step approach I follow in my lessons, applied from start to finish to a four-chord progression you can play today.
Our example
To play at the pianoFour chords, four beats each, on a loop. It is the progression behind many songs, and a good ground for learning.
Anyone who plays the piano and wants to understand what they play: adults starting or coming back, students preparing for conservatoire exams, pianists who sight-read well but don't know why a progression “works”. The core of the approach is the same for everyone; only the form adapts.
My starting point: you can hear harmony from day one. Words come afterwards, once the ear has already experienced it. I don't ask for repetition without a reason: everyone should know where a difficulty comes from and how to solve it.
Each step is something you can do at the piano, with or without HarmoLink.
Hear, play, experience
Play the four chords, four beats each, on a loop. Don't look for their names yet. Just listen: where does the music seem to leave from? Where does it feel like coming home? Play softer, louder, with the pedal, without it.
In HarmoLink: tap the chords on the playable circle and listen, or play them on your MIDI keyboard.
Look for the why behind the how
Why does G make you want to go back to C? Because it contains a B, right next to C, which “wants” to rise. Why does A minor sound so close to C? Because they share two notes, C and E. F shares the C with the tonic and takes us gently away.
In HarmoLink: on the circle, each neighbouring slot comes with a plain-language explanation.
Give words to the experience
Now the words, because they have a use. The progression is in C major. C is the tonic (I), G the dominant (V), A minor the sixth degree (vi), F the subdominant (IV). So we write the progression I – V – vi – IV. The advantage of numerals: they work in every key.
In HarmoLink: the dictionary (free) gives the meaning of a term when you run into one.
Transform, simplify, enrich, transpose
Take the progression and make it move. Transpose it to G major: G – D – E minor – C. Simplify it: remove A minor and keep C – G – F. Enrich it: replace G with G7, or F with F maj7. Change the order: start on A minor (A m – F – C – G). Same four chords, a completely different mood.
In HarmoLink: the chord grid (free) lets you move, change and re-listen to each chord in a few gestures.
Improvise, invent, write, make choices
Invent a melody over the loop. Start with one note per chord, taken from the chord (E over C, B over G, C over A minor, A over F). Then add rhythm and passing notes. Finally make your own choices: one more chord, a different ending, a sad version and a happy one.
In HarmoLink: write your melody by hand in the grid (free), above your chords.
Work without depending on the teacher
The goal is to gain independence step by step: to rely less and less on me, and on the tool. Listen to a song, guess its key and its first chord, then check. Transpose your progression into three keys without a score. Once you can spot I, IV, V and vi by ear, you can start working out pieces you have never seen on your own.
In HarmoLink: Learn mode (Pro, 7-day free trial) walks you through your progression step by step, on piano or guitar. Try it
These steps are not done only once. You replay them with each new idea: the seventh chord, inversions, cadences. You feel, understand, name, reshape, create, then do it alone.
A tool replaces neither the instrument nor the ear, nor a teacher who listens to you play. A teacher sees your hand, your breath, the way you phrase, and knows when a rule should give way to the music. HarmoLink is mostly for between lessons: it makes harmony visible, lets you try things safely, and helps you understand faster so you can eventually do without it.
To go further on the circle itself, read the circle of fifths explained by playing it.
Who is writing this
I'm Jonathan Marion, a piano teacher, pianist, composer and arranger at Studio Angelus in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France. I built HarmoLink to make harmony visible, starting from what I do in my lessons.
My teaching approach ↗ jonathan-marion.fr ↗ Who is behind HarmoLink
Open HarmoLink, tap the circle, listen, and let your ear lead the way.
