Harmonic means composed, played, or sung using two or more notes which sound right and pleasing together.
I had been looking for ways to combine harmonic and rhythmic structures.
2. countable noun [usually plural]
Harmonics are musical notes which can be produced on certain instruments. Harmonics are higher and quieter than the main note being played.
[technical]
harmonic in British English
(hɑːˈmɒnɪk)
adjective
1.
of, involving, producing, or characterized by harmony; harmonious
2. music
of, relating to, or belonging to harmony
3. mathematics
a.
capable of expression in the form of sine and cosine functions
b.
of or relating to numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic progression
4. physics
of or concerned with an oscillation that has a frequency that is an integral multiple of a fundamental frequency
5. physics
of or concerned with harmonics
noun
6. physics, music
a component of a periodic quantity, such as a musical tone, with a frequency that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency. Thefirst harmonic is the fundamental, the second harmonic (twice the fundamental frequency) is the first overtone, the third harmonic (three times the fundamental frequency) is the second overtone, etc
7. music
(not in technical use) overtone: in this case, the first overtone is the first harmonic, etc
Derived forms
harmonically (harˈmonically)
adverb
Word origin
C16: from Latin harmonicus relating to harmony
harmonic in American English
(hɑrˈmɑnɪk)
adjective
1.
harmonious in feeling or effect; agreeing
2. Ancient Mathematics
designating or of a harmonic progression
3. Music
a.
of or pertaining to harmony rather than to melody or rhythm
b.
of or pertaining to a harmonic
noun
4.
an alternating-current voltage or current or a component of such voltage or current, whose frequency is some integral multipleof a fundamental frequency
5.
any of the pure tones making up a composite tone, including the fundamental and its upper partials or overtones; partial tone
Derived forms
harmonically (harˈmonically)
adverb
Word origin
L harmonicus < Gr harmonikos < harmonia, harmony
Examples of 'harmonic' in a sentence
harmonic
And this forms the basic structure of a musical harmonic system, which may also be used to form the basis of a magical harmonic system.
Stewart, R J Music and the Elemental Psyche: A Practical Guide to Music and Changing Consciousness (1987)
In other languages
harmonic
British English: harmonic ADJECTIVE
Harmonic means composed, played, or sung using two or more notes which sound right and pleasing together.
I had been looking for ways to combine harmonic and rhythmic structures.
American English: harmonic
Brazilian Portuguese: harmônico
Chinese: 和声的
European Spanish: armónico
French: harmonique
German: harmonisch
Italian: armonico
Japanese: 和声の
Korean: 화성의
European Portuguese: harmónico
Latin American Spanish: armónico
All related terms of 'harmonic'
harmonic mean
the reciprocal of the arithmetic mean of the reciprocals of a set of specified numbers : the harmonic mean of 2, 3, and 4 is 3( 1 ⁄ 2 + 1 ⁄ 3 + 1 ⁄ 4 ) –1 = 3 6 ⁄ 13
first harmonic
of, involving, producing, or characterized by harmony ; harmonious
harmonic motion
a periodic motion in which the displacement is symmetrical about a point or a periodic motion that is composed of such motions
harmonic series
a series whose terms are in harmonic progression , as in 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 + 1 ⁄ 3 + …
harmonic analysis
the representation of a periodic function by means of the summation and integration of simple trigonometric functions
harmonic distortion
distortion caused by nonlinear characteristics of electronic apparatus , esp of audio amplifiers , that generate unwanted harmonics of the input frequencies
harmonic progression
a sequence of numbers whose reciprocals form an arithmetic progression , as 1, 1 ⁄ 2 , 1 ⁄ 3 , …
harmonic minor scale
a minor scale modified from the state of being natural by the sharpening of the seventh degree
simple harmonic motion
a form of periodic motion of a particle, etc, in which the acceleration is always directed towards some equilibrium point and is proportional to the displacement from this point
SHM
simple harmonic motion
minor scale
any of the twelve diatonic scales distinguished from the major scale with the same keynote by a semitone after the second and seventh tones or after the second, fifth , and seventh tones