Motifs
Notes from scales are arranged into motifs-basic thematic ideas.
Motifs are very important. In a lot of media music, a motif is about as far as tune development ever gets. In some music the motif, the hook in a pop song, the riff, is easy to pick out.
In more developed froms of music the motif may just be a starting point for a much more elaborate development - The motif acts as the building block. (Think of the theme from Jaws. Only two notes but develops into a much larger composition).
Harmony
Harmony refers to the way chords are constructed and how they follow each other. Remember that a chord is a combination of three or more tones sounded at once.
One aspect is the actual chords and intervals themselves that are used. Can be simple chords like G major or D minor, or may be more complex like augmented or diminished chords.
Clusters of notes are also possible. Such as the stabbing string chords Bernard Herrmann wrote in the shower scene of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Harmony refers to the way chords are constructed and how they follow each other.
Remember that a chord is a combination of three or more tones sounded at once.
Harmony can come about by simple block chords or arpeggios as in piano or guitar music.
Harmony may also be made up of several individual lines which all contribute a different note to the chords.
The chord diagram below includes all diatonic triads and gives a reasonably accurate representation of the common chord progressions most often found in tonal music.