Musical Elements: Tonality

Musical Elements: Tonality

Understanding Tonality

Definition of Tonality

• Tonality refers to the system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based around a key “home note” or tonic.
• This system was developed in the Baroque period and is a fundamental aspect of Western music.

Major and Minor

• Major and Minor keys are the most common tonalities. Major keys sound happy or bright, while minor keys sound sad or dark.
• Key signatures, which consist of a series of sharps or flats at the beginning of each line, help identify the major or minor key of a piece.

Modes

• Aside from major and minor keys, Modal tonality, which uses scales other than major and minor, is also used in Western music.
• The seven modes are Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian, each with a distinct pattern of whole and half steps.

Key Changes: Modulation and Transposition

Modulation

• Modulation is the process of changing from one key to another within a composition.
• Types of modulation include direct, pivot chord, common tone, and sequential modulation.

Transposition

• Transposition involves shifting an entire piece of music to a different key while maintaining the same intervallic relationships.
• For instance, a theme could be first heard in a minor key, then transposed to a major key for a brighter, triumphant effect.

Importance of Tonality in Music

Tonality and Emotion

• Tonality is crucial in communicating the emotional content of music. For instance, minor keys often suggest sadness or despair, while modal keys can suggest an ethereal or otherworldly mood.

Tonality and Structure

• Changes in tonality can provide structure to a composition. For instance, a piece might open and close in the same key for cohesion, while dramatic modulations may be used for moments of tension or climax.

Tonality and Melody

• Tonality also influences the formation and perception of melodies. In a tonal context, certain notes of the scale - such as the tonic and dominant - are perceived as more stable or ‘at rest’, while others - such as the leading note - generate tension or expectation, leading the music forward.

Tonality and Harmony

• The rules of Tonality also outline how chords function within a key, creating harmonic progressions that provide the ‘journey’ and ‘destination’ sensed in much of Western music. This includes the common ‘perfect’ cadence progression (V-I or dominant-tonic) that provides a sense of resolution and completeness.