Tonality

Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a "center" or tonic. The term tonalité was borrowed from Castil-Blaze (1821, François Henri Joseph Blaze) by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840 (Reti, 1958; Judd, 1998; Dahlhaus). The term is often used synonymously with major/minor tonality; however, in more recent theory, the term is used more broadly to encompass a number of systems of musical organization.

Vocabulary of tonal analysis

Many of the terms and symbols necessary to analyze tonal organization follow below.

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Scales

:Main article: Scale (music).

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Since the mid-18th century, tonal music has been increasingly composed of a 12-note chromatic scale in a system of equal temperament. Tonal music makes reference to "scales" of notes selected as a series of steps from the chromatic scale. Most of these scales are of 5, 6 or 7 notes with the vast majority of tonal music pitches conforming to one of four specific seven-note scales: major, natural minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor. These scales are referred to as "diatonic" because it is felt that there are two fundamental centers of attraction: the tonic note and the dominant note.

Related Topics:
Chromatic scale - Equal temperament - Scale - Major - Natural minor - Melodic minor - Harmonic minor

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C major scale:

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A natural minor scale:

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Other scales or modes are often introduced for variety within the context of a major-minor tonal system without disturbing the diatonic nature of the work. The major scale predominates and the melodic minor contains nine pitches (seven with two alterable). The seven basic notes of a scale are notated in the key signature, and whether the piece is in the major or minor key is either stated in the title or implied in the piece (there is a major and minor key for each key signature). While other scales and modes are used in tonal music, particularly after 1890, these two scales are the reference point for most tonal music and its vocabulary.

Related Topics:
Diatonic - Key signature

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Other important scales include the other church modes, the blues scale, the magic scale used by many Russian composers, pentatonic scales and the semitone scale.

Related Topics:
Church modes - Blues scale - Magic scale - Pentatonic scales - Semitone scale

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Tonal music composed in other scale systems is referred to as microtonal, and while microtonal music draws from tonal theory, it is generally treated separately in text books and other works on music. However, within the tonal system, notes "between" the chromatic system are used in various contexts, including quarter tones and various effects such as portmanteau or glissando, where the instrumentalist moves between established notes of the chromatic scale. These are usually thought of as being for "colour" rather than harmonic function, and do not disturb the fundamental scale being used.

Related Topics:
Microtonal - Quarter tones - Portmanteau - Glissando

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Chords are built from notes on a scale or on chromatic notes, which are supposed to be heard as variations of the basic scale. The identity of the scale is important in that the scale's steps number the system of chord relationships. At any given time one scale is heard as the most important, and the chord, almost always the major or minor triad, is heard as the most forceful closure.

Related Topics:
Chromatic notes - Triad

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Roman numerals

:Main article: Scale degree.

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In notation, each note or degree of the scale is often designated by a Roman numeral, or, less commonly, solfege:

Related Topics:
Notation - Degree - Solfege

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Chords

:Main article: Chord (music).

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These numerals also may indicate chords which are built upon the indicated degree. This degree is then known as the root of that chord. Thus "I" describes the tonic chord, the chord built on the tonic note, at a given time. These chords are generally all triads (having three notes, built from thirds, and having a diatonic function).

Related Topics:
Root - Triad

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The degree of a scale is both the pitch (frequency) of that note and that pitch's diatonic function (role), which is why chords are named by scale degree. Thus the notes of a chord do not have to be sounded simultaneously, and one to two notes may function as, or imply, a three (or more) note chord. Thus a chord described as "V" is based on the fifth note of the prevailing tonic scale (V-VII-II). In C Major, that would be a triad based on G, and would be the G Major triad (G-B-D). To describe a chord progression, the Roman numerals of the chords are listed. Thus IV-V-I describes a chord progression of a chord based on the fourth note of a scale, then one based on the fifth note of the scale, and then one on the first note of the scale.

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Chords are then further named according to their quality or makeup, determined by the scale notes which lie a third and fifth (two thirds) above the degree a chord is built upon. Capital Roman numerals refer to the major chord, and lower-case Roman numerals refer to the minor chord. Quality is generally not as important as the chord's root.

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This means that in the traditional major scale, the ii, iii and vi are minor chords, where as I, IV, V are major. The chord on the seventh note is a diminished triad and is written vii with a degree sign. Numbers attached to a chord indicate additional notes, and one of the most important chords in tonal harmony is the V7 chord, which is a four note chord that includes the fourth note of the tonic scale. The "7" refers to a note seven diatonic steps up from the fundamental note of the chord, not the seventh note of the tonic scale.

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Inversion

:Main article: Inversion (music).

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A chord's root is determined by which note establishes the chord's relationship to the tonic and not which is in the bass, or the lowest played note. Thus chords are said to be "inverted" when this root note is not sounded as the lowest. For example in C Major C-E-G is the tonic chord. If C is not the lowest note played, it is said to be in "inversion". The first inversion would be E-G-C, and the second inversion would be G-C-E.

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Form

:Main article: form.

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The traditional form of tonal music begins and ends on the tonic of the piece, and many tonal works move to a closely related key, such as the dominant of the main tonality (for example sonata form). Establishing a tonality is traditionally accomplished through a cadence which is two chords in succession which give a feeling of completion or rest - the most common being V7-I cadence. Other cadences are considered to be less powerful. The cadences determines the form of a tonal piece of music, and the placement of cadences, their preparation and establishment as cadences, as opposed to simply chord progressions, is central to the theory and practice of tonal music.

Related Topics:
Form - Dominant - Sonata form - Cadence

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Harmony

:Main article: Harmony.

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Most tonality uses "functional harmony", which is a term used to describe music where changes in the predominate scale or additional notes to chords are explainable by their place in stabilizing or destabilizing a tonality. This is a complex way of saying that it is possible to explain why a particular note was included, and what that note means in relation to the tonic chord. Harmony with a large number of notes which do not have clear structural function is called "nonfunctional" harmony, which is not to imply "dysfunctional", but merely that the additional notes are not to be played or heard as restricting or advancing the harmonic progression.

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Consonance and dissonance

:Main article: Consonance and dissonance.

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In the context of tonal organization a chord or a note is said to be "consonant" when it implies stability, and "dissonant" when it implies instability. This is not the same as the ordinary use of the words consonant and dissonant. A dissonant chord is in tension against the tonic, and implies that the music is distant from that tonic chord. "Resolution" is the process by which the harmonic progression moves from dissonant chords to consonant chords and follows counterpoint or voice leading. Voice leading is a description of the "horizontal" movement of the music, as opposed to chords which are considered the "vertical".

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Summary

To summarize, traditional tonal music is described in terms of a scale of notes. On the notes of that scale are built chords. Chords in order form a progression. Progressions establish or deny a particular chord as being the tonic chord. The cadence is held to be the sequence of chords which establishes one chord as being the tonic chord; more powerful cadences create a greater sense of closure and a stronger sense of key. Chords have a function when it can be explained how they lead the music towards or away from a particular tonic chord. When the sense of which tonic chord is changed, the music is said to have "changed key" or "modulated". Roman numerals and numbers are used to describe the relationship of a particular chord to the tonic chord.

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The techniques of accomplishing this process, are the subject of tonal music theory and compositional practice.

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