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8
Tonality
Much of the music we encounter is "tonal."
Tonality
(or key) refers to a relationship among the pitches in a composition
in which one pitch is
central or more important than the others. This
note is called the tonic
(or keynote or key center) and is the first note of the scale. Playing
a D major scale or a piece using this scale means playing in the
key of D major.
Among the other pitches there is a hierarchy
of of relationships. Therefore, it is helpful to know how a specific
pitch functions within a key by learning the following scale-degree
names:
| Scale-degree
name: |
| 1 |
tonic |
(first note of a scale)
the central
pitch that the other pitches
"gravitate" toward |
| 2 |
supertonic |
(second note of a scale)
the note
above ("super")
tonic; often moves down one step to tonic in melodies |
| 3 |
mediant |
(third note of a scale)
the note midway
between tonic and the dominant above |
| 4 |
subdominant |
(fourth note of a scale)
the note
below ("sub")
the dominant; often moves up to the dominant |
| 5 |
dominant |
(fifth note of a scale)
after tonic,
the most important pitch of a key; often moves directly
to
tonic |
| 6 |
submediant |
(sixth note of a scale)
the note midway
between tonic and the subdominant below |
| 7 |
leading
tone |
(seventh note of a scale)
the note
1/2 step below tonic; often
"leads" directly to tonic |
|
scale-degree
names for the major scale
|
