Workshop 87 — Harmonic Rhythm as Narrative: Accelerating, Decelerating, Delaying, and Reframing Chord Changes to Shape Form

Workshop 86 focused on through-composed continuity—making sections feel like transformations rather than resets.

Now we zoom into one of the strongest structural tools for controlling that continuity:

harmonic rhythm — not which chords you use, but when they change.

We touched harmonic rhythm earlier, but now we will treat it as a full narrative device across an arrangement.

The central lesson is:

A chord progression is not only a sequence of harmonies. Its emotional meaning changes dramatically depending on how much time each harmony is allowed to occupy.