Once upon a time there was a continent called Europe that used something called modes to make music. But, as time went by, one of them became the favorite, the favorite of the muses and their disciples, and he eclipsed the rest, and transfigured some into his likeness, and reigned in Western music for more than 300 years. years. He was born on tonal system.
From modes to tonality
The Gregorian or ecclesiastical modes, in fact, were victims, so to speak, of one of them, the ionic mode. But what was it about that particular mode that made it succeed so resoundingly? Well, the Ionic was a mode that had a unique characteristic, something that made it especially effective when concluding musical sections or complete works. The harmonization of the notes of its scale resulted in a fifth harmonic degree, that is, a fifth chord, with very special characteristics. On the one hand, that chord contained a tritone between two of them, the third and the seventh, that is, one of the most dissonant intervals possible. This characteristic earned it the name dominantbecause of the tension and instability that listening to it produced. Furthermore, those two notes reached the first chord of the key, the so-called chord tonicwith just the small movement of a semitone each, became the first and third notes of that first chord and provided a strong sonic sensation of rest, of resolution, of returning home after an intense trip. This final movement was called authentic cadence.
The Major scale and the tonal system
In this context, the ionic scale began to be considered the major scalethe major mode par excellence, although there were other major scales and modes, and it began to be used melodically and harmonically as we know it today, as the Tonality or the tonal system. The first note and its chord were the reference for the rest, the center of that particular sound universe. When melodies are played using the notes of the major scale, that first note, even if it does not sound until the end of the piece or a musical section, is always implicit, we will always have a feeling of tension of some kind, of an incomplete story, until that sounds effectively and resolves all the twists and accumulated energies. The harmonization of the Major scale and the dominant-tonic model that gave so much satisfaction to composers and listeners, became the recurring system for writing all types of music and composers of periods and aesthetic trends such as the Baroque, Classicism and Romanticism used it as a sound structural basis to compose their works. The tonal context was so efficient for expressing musical discourse and so easy for the public to digest that, for centuries, it was simply used with just a handful of additions that followed the same dual idea of tension and rest. Podcast episode dedicated to the Tonal System
The tonal functions
But, in addition to the tension of the dominant and the rest of the tonic, the tonal system offered even more degrees of intensity in the harmonization of the notes of the major scale. The fourth harmonic degree or fourth chord of the major key, for example, produced in that context an intermediate sensation, neither completely placid and consonant, nor completely tense and dissonant. This new role completed what we know as tonal functions main. If the first chord of the key, the one that gave it its name, played the role or function tonicand the fifth, the function dominantthe fourth chord served a function subdominant. To understand this well, you just have to listen to these chords in the context of any tone and feel how, in effect, the subdominant chord causes an effect of moderate tension, the dominant one a stronger instability or suspension, and the tonic chord a stronger effect. rest or feeling of end, conclusion and rest.
The minor key
This entire idyllic Major world clashed with the minor modes since they did not have a structure that could imitate the major scale with that tense tritone resolving to the peace of the tonic. The solution for the minor mode to have a tonal character was to modify the scale windwhich was one of the minors, and raise its seventh note half a step. The new scale was called harmonic minor and were followed by others that were somewhat different but with that tonal quality intact. With this, it was achieved that, melodically, the new scale had that seventh note just one semitone below the tonic, the so-called sensitive note. Furthermore, when harmonizing this new scale, the long-awaited dominant fifth chord appeared that could resolve, like the major scale, its strong tension to the tonic of the key, in this case, a minor tonic.
The extended tonal system
The dominant-tonic model that gave so much satisfaction to composers and listeners also served to include other notes that did not belong to the tonality scale in the melodies and harmonies of the compositions. Imitating this movement of the major scale in its authentic cadence, each of the other chords of the scale was made available with its own dominant in an artificial way but with that characteristic sound movement. A harmonious resource that we know as secondary dominants. And so, other musical solutions followed that exploited that same idea until making it possible that a song written in a specific key with its seven original notes could admit any of the other five without completely abandoning that tonal center, with the variety and wealth that this brought to the works.
Conclusions
The enormous popularity of the tonal system, which still persists today, comes, on the one hand, from the clarity of its approach and how easy it is to listen to and understand by ears that are not particularly educated or attentive. Also, of musical theory, of course, of the teaching of all those compositions generation after generation. The tonal functions offered different and very characteristic sound environments, a kind of basic colors, if you will, with which familiar sensations could be generated and a quite varied representation of musical discourses. Much of the best music in history, of all genres, has been composed using this model, this type of organization of musical sounds. Whether we like it more or less, we must understand that it has been in our ears for many generations and is a very important part, at least, of the history of Western music. Knowing the tonality, the tonal system or whatever you want to call it, is to better understand and perhaps enjoy a little more many music and songs, both new and old. And, if you want to write your own songs or perhaps organize your songs better, for example, you must know this system, either to use it and connect with that baggage that we all carry in our brains or to use other different compositional paths and create music with other parameters and different results. Use the tonal system or any other way, explore the possibilities and, above all, sing and write your songs. #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_column_with_background { padding: 10px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph { line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_segment_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_radio_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_list_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_label { display: block; font-weight: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_month, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_day, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_year, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date { display: block; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea { width: 200px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_submit { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_divider { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading { width: 30px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading > span { width: 5px; height: 5px; background-color: #5b5b5b; }#mailpoet_form_3{border: 1px solid #fcb900;border-radius: 40px;text-align: center;}#mailpoet_form_3 form.mailpoet_form {padding: 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3{width: 70%;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message {margin : 0; padding: 0 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph.last {margin-bottom: 0} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 {background-image: none;}} @media (min-width: 500px) { #mailpoet_form_3 .last .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:last-child .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} Please leave this field emptyDo you write songs or would you like to?
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