One branch of musicology is known as music theory. This refers to the scholarly analysis of a given musical tradition. Music theorists study how the technical aspects of music--pitch, harmony, rhythm, and more--come together to create music....
This grinding interval is what gives the dominant seventh such a strong sense of tension. In C major, you’ll hear these notes naturally want to resolve to the chord tones of the tonic—that’s the magic offunctional harmony! But if the tritone is where the chord’s sense of tension com...
62K Learn about the tonic, dominant, and subdominant chords in music. Discover how tonic music theory works, and identify different kinds of triads in music. Related to this QuestionWhat is a dominant chord? What is diminuendo in music? What kind of music does Ojibwa have? What are the ...
If it does, it creates either a major or perfect interval above the tonic note. If the note is not in the scale, determine the quality of the interval. It is a minor interval if it is a half step smaller than a major interval, and it is called a diminished interval if it is a...
Phrase Structure in Music Music has a three-part structure: phrases, sections, and parts. A phrase is a group of two or more measures that contains one or more cadences and usually ends on the tonic. A section is a group of phrases that usually moves from one key to another and ...
Roman numerals in music If you’re just seeing music theory concepts for the first time, you may be confused by Roman numerals. Theorists use them to analyze chords by their scale degree and function. For example, the chord beginning on the tonic, or first note of the musical scale is wr...
diatonic scaleandminor diatonic scale. The name “diatonic” means “to move by the tonic”. Whenever we use the term “diatonic” or “diatonic note”, we are saying that this note belongs to thenatural tonality(ornatural key); that is, the note is part of a major or minor natural ...
In tonal music, there are three categories that chords fall into, based on their function in a song:tonic,dominant, andpredominant. Tonic A tonic chord is a chord that is stable and one that feels like you don’t have to move anywhere from it. ...
You are first supposed to think of the lower note of an interval as the tonic in the first method. On a major scale, all the notes above the tonic are either perfect or major. If it is not the case, then you have to determine if the interval is half a step smaller than the major...
Each piece of music, be it a song, symphony or concerto, is written in a specific ‘key’. But what do we mean when we refer to a musical key, why are there 24 of them, and how do composers choose which key to write in?