One may clarify between "the principle of tonality", "the requirement that all the events in a musical group should be co-ordinated by, and experienced in relation to, a central point of reference," and "tonality" as "the specific language of 'classical tonality' - the major-minor key system of the Classical and Romantic periods." (Samson 1977)
Functional tonality, or sometimes narrative tonality, is the use of chords and other features according to their functions or relationship with the tonic (so that they "go somewhere"). "Nonfunctional" tonality such as is the use of tonal characteristics in nontonal successions or without regard to their role (so that they "go nowhere"). Examples include the pandiatonicism of Aaron Copland or Steve Reich which often consists of tonal or tonal added tone chords (trouves or "finds" as Aaron Copland described some of his own nonfunctional tonality).
Extended tonality is "the incorporation of complex harmonic phenomena within a single tonal region, as in much of the music of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries." (Samson 1977)
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.
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.
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.
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 Portamento 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.
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.
| Function | Roman Numeral | Solfege |
| Tonic | I | Do/Ut |
| Supertonic | II | Re |
| Mediant | III | Mi |
| Sub-Dominant | IV | Fa |
| Dominant | V | Sol |
| Sub-Mediant | VI | La |
| Leading/Subtonic | VII | Si |
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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.
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.
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.
The techniques of accomplishing this process, are the subject of tonal Music theory and compositional practice.
David Cope (1997) considers key, Consonance or relaxation and Dissonance or tension, and hierarchical relationships to be the three most basic concepts in tonality.
The majority of tonal music assumes that notes spaced over several octaves are perceived the same way as if they were played in one octave or octave equivalency. Tonal music also assumes that scales have harmonic implication or diatonic functionality. This is generally held to imply that a note which has different places in a chord will be heard differently, and that therefore there is not enharmonic equivalency. In tonal music chords which are moved to different keys, or played with different root notes are not perceived as being the same, and thus transpositional equivalency and far less still inversional equivalency are not generally held to apply.
A successful tonal piece of music, or a successful performance of one, will give the listener a feeling that a particular chord - the tonic chord - is the most stable and final. It will then use musical materials to tell the musician and the listener how far the music is from that tonal center, most commonly, though not always, to heighten the sense of movement and drama as to how the music will resolve the tonic chord. The means for doing this are described by the rules of harmony and counterpoint, though some influential theorists prefer the term "thoroughbass" instead of harmony, the concept is the same. Counterpoint is the study of linear resolutions of music, while harmony encompasses the sequences of chords which form a Chord progression.
Though modulation may occur instantaneously without indication or preparation, the least ambiguous way to establish a new tonal center is through a Cadence, a succession of two or more chords which ends a section and/or gives a feeling of closure or finality, or series of cadences. Traditionally cadences act both harmonically to establish tonal centers and formally to articulate the end of sections, just as the tonic triad is harmonically central, a dominant-tonic cadence will be structurally central. The more powerful the cadence, the larger the section of music it can close. The strongest cadence is the perfect authentic cadence, which moves from the dominant to the tonic, most strongly establishes tonal center, and ends the most important sections of tonal pieces, including the final section. This is the basis of the "dominant-tonic" or "tonic-dominant" relationship. Common practice placed a great deal of emphasis on the correct use of cadences to structure music, and cadences were placed precisely to define the sections of a work. However, such strict use of cadences gradually gave way to more complex procedures where whole families of chords were used to imply particular distance from the tonal center. Composers, beginning in the late 18th century began using chords (such as the Neapolitan, French or Italian Sixth) which temporarily suspended a sense of key, and by freely changing between the major and minor voicing for the tonic chord, thereby making the listener unsure whether the music was major or minor. There was also a gradual increase in the use of notes which were not part of the basic 7 notes, called chromaticism, culminating in post-Wagnerian music such as that by Mahler and Strauss and trends such as impressionism and dodecaphony.
One area of disagreement, going back to the origin of the term tonality, is whether, and to what degree, tonality is "natural" or inherent in music, and whether, and to what degree, it is constructed by the composer, performer and listener. The arguments involved are too complex to summarize, and it is difficult to draw clear lines. There is also a disagreement as to how "natural" the practice of Western tonal harmony is versus other forms of harmony, and what grounds would prove or disprove this hypothesis. Since these arguments are often centered around what kind of music should be performed and taught, they often assume a vehemence or dogmatism which goes beyond the nominal issue of hearing and perception.
A current viewpoint among many laypersons and scholars indicates tonal scales and tonality arise from natural overtones. Most of the archaeological evidence regarding this has been found only in the last several decades, and most of it, if not all, supports many earlier claims of the universal or "natural" evolution of the scales most widely found in human music. The evidence for this now includes the recent "Neanderthal Flute," 50,ooo years old; The world's oldestn known song (Assyrian cuniform artifacts) 4,ooo years old; and the recent find of many 9,ooo year-old flutes in China, one of them fully still playable with 8 notes, including the octave. The links below discuss these archaeological finds. The finds, by independent archaeologists, reveal similarlities to present day widespread musical scales. One published theory involved to which these finds provide support, originally published in 1958, is called the trio theory, claiming that influence from the most audible overtones of the three most nearly universal intervals (found across time & cultures), namely, a tone's octave, 4th and 5th, when placed within the range of that octave, will evolve into the most widespread of scales: Pentatonic, major & minor (depending how many of the audible overtones are so placed). The unequal audibile strengths of the overtones determine the role & power of each note in a scale (tonic, dominant or subdominant) -- i.e., tonality and tonal scales.
In 1821 Castil-Blaze used tonalité for what he called cordes tonales (today primary triads), the tonic, fourth (subdominant), and fifth (dominant). All other chords were cordes melodiques. Hugo Riemann (n.d.) defined tonality as, "the special meaning [functions] that chords receive through their relationship to a fundamental sonority, the tonic triad."
Fétis (1844) defined tonality, specifically tonalité moderne as the, "set of relationships, simultaneous or successive, among the tones of the scale," allowing for other types de tonalités among different cultures. Further he considered tonalité moderne as "trans-tonic order" and tonalité ancienne "uni-tonic order", trans-tonic meaning simply that the dominant seventh both establishes the key and allows for modulation to other keys. He described his earliest example of tonalité moderne: "In the passage quoted here from Monteverdi's madrigal [Cruda amarilli, mm.9-19 and 24-30], one sees a tonality determined by the accord parfait [root position major chord] on the tonic, by the sixth chord assigned to the third and seventh degrees, by the optional choice of the accord parfait or the sixth chord on the sixth degree, and finally, by the accord parfait and, above all, by the unprepared seventh chord (with major third) on the dominant." (p.171)
Fétis believed that tonality, tonalite moderne, was entirely cultural, "For the elements of music, nature provides nothing but a multitude of tones differing in pitch, duration, and intensity by the greater or least degree...The conception of the relationships that exist among them is awakened in the intellect, and, by the action of sensitivity on the one hand, and will on the other, the mind coordinates the tones into different series, each of which corresponds to a particular class of emotions, sentiments, and ideas. Hence these series become various types of tonalities." (p.11f) "But one will say, 'What is the principle behind these scales, and what, if not acoustic phenomena and the laws of mathematics, has set the order of their tones?' I respond that this principle is purely metaphysical [anthropological]. We conceive this order and the melodic and harmonic phenomena that spring from it out of our conformation and education." (p.249) In contrast, Hugo Riemann believed tonality, "affinites between tones" or tonverwandtshaften, was entirely natural and, following Moritz Hauptmann (1853), that the major third and perfect fifth where the only "directly intelligible" intervals, and that I, IV, and V, the tonic, subdominant, and dominant where related by the perfect fifths between their roots. (Dahlhaus 1990, p.101-2)
By the 1840's the practice of harmony had expanded to include more chromatic notes, a wider chord vocabulary, particularly the more frequent used of the diminished seventh chord - a four note chord of all minor triads which could lead to any other chord. It is in this era that the word "tonality" becomes more commonly used. At the same time the elaboration of both the Fugue and the Sonata form in terms of key relationships becomes more rigorous, and the study of harmonic progressions, voice leading and ambiguity of key becomes more precise.
Theorists such as Edward Lowinsky, Hugo Riemann, and others pushed the date at which modern tonality began, and the cadence began to be seen as the definitive way that a tonality is established in a work of music (Judd, 1998).
In response Bernhard Meier instead used a "tonality" and "modality", modern vs ancient, dichotomy, with Renaissance music being modal. The term modality has been criticized by Harold Powers, among others. However, it is widely used to describe music whose harmonic function centers on notes rather than on chords, including some of the music of Bartok, Stravinsky, Vaughan Williams, Charles Ives and composers of minimalist music. This and other modal music is, broadly, often considered tonal.
In the early 20th century the vocabulary of tonal theory is decisively influenced by two theorists: composer Arnold Schoenberg whose work "Harmonielehre" describes in detail chords, chord progressions, vagrant chords, creation of tonal areas, voice leading in terms of harmony. To Schoenberg, every note has "structural function" to assert or deny a tonality, based on its tendency to establish or undermine a single tonic triad as central. At the same time Heinrich Schenker is evolving a theory based on expansion of horizontal relationships. To Schenker the background of every successful tonal piece is based on a simple cadence, which is then elaborated and elongated in the middle ground and the background. Though adherents of the two theorists argued back and forth, in the mid-century a synthesis of their ideas was widely taught as "tonal theory", most particularly Schenker's use of graphical analysis, and Schoenberg's emphasis on tonal distance.
The practice of jazz developed its own theory of tonality, stating that while the cadence is not central to establishing a tonality - the presence of the I and V chords and either the IV or ii chord in progression is. This theory emphasized the play of modal elements against tonal elements, in an effort to allow improvisation, and inflection of standard melodies. Among theorists influenced by this view are Meier, Schillinger and the be-bop school of Jazz.
While many regard the works of Schoenberg post 1911 as "atonal", see Atonality, one influential school of thought, to which Schoenberg himself belonged, argued that chromatic composition lead to a "new tonality", this view is argued by George Perle in his works on "post diatonic tonality". The central idea of this theory is that music is always perceived as having a center, and even in a fully chromatic work, composers establish and disintegrate centers in a manner analogous to traditional harmony. This view is highly controversial, and remains a topic of intense debate.
However, tonality may be considered generally with no restrictions as to the date or place at which the music was produced, or (very little) restriction as to the materials and methods used. This definition includes much non-western music and western music before 17th century. In fact, many people, including Anton Webern, consider all music to be tonal in that music is always perceived as having a center. Centric is sometimes used to describe music which is not traditionally tonal in that it used triads of a diatonic scale but which nevertheless has relatively strong tonal center. Other terms which have been used in an attempt to clarify are tonical and tonicality, as in "possessing a tonic," and Igor Stravinsky used the term polar. See: pitch center.
In the early 20th century, the definition of tonality which was held to have prevailed since the 1600's was felt to reach a crisis or break down point. The belief was that tonality had "snapped" because of expansion of vocabulary, decreased functionality, increased use of leading tones, alterations, modulations, Tonicization, the increased importance of subsidiary key areas, use of non-diatonic hierarchical methods, and/or Symmetry in interval cycles. This "crisis" lead to a series of responses, many of which were considered irreconcilable with tonal theory or tonality at all. At the same time, other composers and theorists maintained that tonality had been stretched but not broken. This led to more technical vocabularies to describe tonality, including pitch classes, pitch sets, graphical analysis, and describing works in terms, not of their notes, but of their dominant intervals.
While tonality is the most common form of organizing Western music, it is not universal, nor is the seven note scale universal, much folk music and the art music of many cultures focus on a pentatonic, or five note scale, including Beijing Opera, the folk music of Hungary, and the musical traditions of Japan. (But see another perspective on this: The 7-Note Solution -- Why so many 5 and 7 scales are consistently unearthed from the ancient world). Pre-classical concert music was largely modal, as is much folk and some popular music. In the early 20th century many techniques were developed and applied to tonal music, such as non-tertian Secundal or Quartal music. Some, such as Benjamin Boretz, consider tonal theory a specific part of atonal theory or Musical set theory, which is in turn part of a more general theory of music. Many composers such as Darius Milhaud and Philip Glass have been interested in bitonality. While at one point in the middle of the 20th century classical composers interested in the twelve tone technique and Serialism declared tonality dead, many composers have since returned to tonality, including many minimalists and older composers such as George Rochberg. Other composers never abandoned tonality entirely such as Lou Harrison who says he has "always composed both modally and chromatically." (Harrison, 1992) Much music today that is described as tonal is nonfunctional tonality such as in that of Claude Debussy, Steve Reich, Aaron Copland and many others.
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Audio example Which may be compared with Media:MOZART1.mp3 in which the melody returns to the tonic after the first circle, and Media:MOZART2.mp3 which returns after the second.
Consequently, he argues, melodically tonal melodies resist harmonization and only reemerge in western music after, "harmonic tonality was abandoned," as in the music of Claude Debussy: "melodic tonality plus modulation is [Debussy's] modern tonality." (page 23)