What makes a piece of music tonal?
Tonal music is music in which the progression of the melody and harmony gives the strong feeling that the piece has a note and chord that are its “home base”, so to speak (the tonic of the key). Most Western tonal music is based on major and minor scales, both of which easily give that strongly tonal feeling.
Why is tonality important in music?
In general, tonal music works by establishing a tonic, moving away from it and then returning to it. Having a tonic is a simple concept but it affects the way we understand music as we hear it, it affects its sense of direction, and it affects the musical structure too.
What is Plagal cadence in music?
Definition of plagal cadence : a musical cadence in which subdominant harmony resolves to the tonic (see tonic entry 2 sense 2) — called also amen cadence. — compare authentic cadence.
How would you describe tonality?
Tonality is an organized system of tones (e.g., the tones of a major or minor scale) in which one tone (the tonic) becomes the central point for the remaining tones. The other tones in a tonal piece are all defined in terms of their relationship to the tonic. “Tonal music is music that is unified and dimensional.
What is major tonality?
Major Tonality Listen to the major scale. The major tonality is generally thought of as cheerful, bright, majestic or joyful sounding. Songs that give a happy idea or a positive message tend to be major.
What makes a scale happy or bright?
These scales have a major third (the note four that is four semitones above the root), which makes them feel happy or bright. Happy; can be majestic or sentimental when slow.
What if the scale changed to G major?
Remember, this is a movable relationship, so if the scale changed to G major, for example, the interval sequence would be built accordingly from there… This is how we’d get the chords for our modes G Ionian, A Dorian, B Phrygian, C Lydian, D Mixolydian, E Aeolian and F♯ Locrian.
What is the tonic of the mode of each degree?
In modal terms, if we were to isolate each degree as the “home” or tonic of our mode, that would be: C Ionian, D Dorian, E Phrygian, F Lydian, G Mixolydian, A Aeolian and B Locrian. Remember, this is a movable relationship, so if the scale changed to G major, for example, the interval sequence would be built accordingly from there…
What is the difference between a C minor and a blues scale?
C minor pentatonic with sharp fourth/flat fifth added. Use over a C7 chord to make it sound very intellectual and jazzy. Same pitches as C-sharp/D-flat melodic minor. Pentatonic scales have five notes. The blues scale is the minor pentatonic plus the flat fifth.