Tonal

tonality

"the musical system in which all twelve notes in the octave generate a system of interrelated major and minor keys in which modulation between keys is possible"

inversion

(of a triad: ) appearing without its root in the bass (lowest sounding voice) either as a 6/3 chord ("first inversion") or as a 6/4 chord ("second inversion"); cf. root position; (of a melody or motif: ) appearing in a transformation in which ascending horizontal intervals are replaced by descending, and vice versa

root position

(of a triad: ) with its root in the bass (lowest sounding voice), hence in the form of a 5/3; cf. inversion

vertical

(of intervals: ) sounding simultaneously; cf. horizontal, diagonal

horizontal

(of intervals: ) sounding successively as part of a single melodic line; cf. vertical, diagonal

diagonal

(of intervals: ) sounding successively but in different melodic lines; term introduced by Carl Dahlhaus, analogous to vertical and horizontal

diatonic

(of scales, scale-steps or textures: ) restricted to the 7 notes of a major or minor scale without alteration (i.e. without added accidentals)

chromatic

(of scales, scale-steps or textures: ) using added accidentals as well as the 7 diatonic notes of a major or minor scale: these tend to tonicize notes other than the tonic (cf. tonicization)

species counterpoint

counterpoint categorized by texture, in a fivefold system of two-voice counterpoint, adding a second voice to a cantus firmus in semibreves, devised by Johann Joseph Fux (Gradus ad Parnassum, 1725): first species comprises a note-against-note texture, adding only consonances; in the second species, two notes are added to each note of the cantus firmus (with alternating stressed and unstressed notes, admitting dissonant passing notes and neighbour notes on the unstressed notes); in the third species, four notes are added to each note of the cantus firmus; in the fourth species, suspended dissonances are admitted on the strong beats (see suspension (suspended dissonance)); fifth-species counterpoint is free from the rhythmic point of view

stem-and-slur notation

elementary analytical notation, introduced by Allen Forte, based on staff notation, but using only black notes with stems (i.e. crotchet shape) or without stems, and slurs to connect non-harmonic tones with harmonic tones; see explanation in the course text for Session 2

modulation

establishment (usually temporary) of a key other than the tonic (home) key within a composition, at some level of structure; cf. tonicization

tonicization

establishment (usually temporary) of a scale-step other than the tonic as the primary reference within a composition, at some level of structure; the term is sometimes regarded as a better alternative to "modulation", since its significance is more general

coda

final section of a composition or section following the achievement of overall closure

Neapolitan sixth

first-inversion chord of the flattened supertonic in a major or minor scale functioning as a pre-dominant

mode

in general, any arrangement within a single octave, as a scale constructed of tones and semitones, of the notes corresponding to the white notes of a keyboard (whether or not used in Gregorian chant or early music); more particularly, such scales when they correspond to distinctive keys (e.g. "major mode on E", "minor mode on C", Phrygian mode)

figured-bass notation

notation based on Baroque thoroughbass practice using Arabic numerals, with supplementary accidentals, to identify the vertical intervals over bass notes (and often the repetitive patterns that occur in short passages)

Roman-numeral notation

notation using Roman numerals I-VII to identify the scale-steps on which chords are based (upper-case, I-VII, for major triads, lower-case, i-vii, for minor or diminished triads)

harmonic tone

note belonging to the chord that prevails at any time (at some level of structure) in a composition; cf. non-harmonic tone

passing note

note in a melodic line forming a stepwise link between two relatively stable notes a third apart (American terminology: passing tone); in analysis, a P may denote a passing note

neighbour note

note in a melodic line produced by moving one step up or down from a relatively stable note and back again; "incomplete" neighbour notes precede or follow the stable note without the second occurrence of the stable note (alternative British terminology: auxiliary note; alternative American terminology: neighboring tone); in analysis, N may denote a neighbour note (IN for incomplete neighbour note)

non-harmonic tone

note not belonging to the chord that prevails at any time (at some level of structure) in a composition; such a note is generated contrapuntally, as an elaboration of a harmonic tone

consecutive octaves (parallel octaves)

octaves as vertical intervals between two voices in successive chords; like consecutive fifths (parallel fifths), forbidden in strict counterpoint

parallel major (minor)

parallel minor of a major key: the minor key with the same tonic; relative major of a minor key: the major key with the same tonic (cf. relative major (minor))

consecutive fifths (parallel fifths)

perfect fifths (as vertical intervals) between two voices in successive chords, where the fifths do not remain stationary; since perfect fifths are the only intervals capable of defining triadic roots, they have a strong resistance to forward momentum, and (perhaps partly for this reason) consecutive fifths are forbidden in strict counterpoint

scale-step

position of a note (in order, from 1 to 7) within the major or minor scale corresponding to a particular key; scale-steps are often notated in analysis using Arabic numerals 1-7 capped with the circumflex symbol ^ ; the diatonic chords of any key are constructed on the scale-steps and are capable of being used in root position or in their two inversions

cadence

progression of chords producing partial or full closure and a natural pause; often thought of as analogous to punctuation in language

relative major (minor)

relative minor of a major key: the minor key with the same key-signature; relative major of a minor key: the major key with the same key-signature (cf. parallel major (minor))

codetta

short appended section at the end of a larger section within a composition (not at the end of the work)

sequence

technique involving the repetition of a short fragment at more than one pitch level, usually proceeding by step upwards or downwards, preserving the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic features of the fragment at each repetition; a special case of a linear intervallic pattern

linear intervallic pattern

technique involving the repetition of one or more vertical intervals at more than one pitch level, usually proceeding by step upwards or downwards, and usually conferring a sense of goal-direction on passages in which they occur; if melodic, harmonic and rhythmic features are maintained at each repetition, a sequence results

common-practice tonality

term often found for the tonal musical language of the music of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods assumed to be a homogeneous system based on a system of major and minor scales and keys [this assumption will generally be accepted as valid for the purposes of this course although it is in the end theoretically problematic]

harmony

the construction of polyphonic music through interrelated chords; cf. counterpoint

counterpoint

the construction of polyphonic music through simultaneous, independent melodic voices (parts); cf. harmony

part-writing

the disposition of voices within a polyphonic texture; equivalent to German Stimmführung, but usually the term refers to the arrangement of the voices as written rather than as sounding (cf. voice-leading), and it is not generally used as an analytical term

voice-leading

the disposition of voices within a polyphonic texture; like part-writing, equivalent to German Stimmführung, but "voice-leading" usually refers to the voices as sounding rather than as written, when it is used (as it frequently is) as an analytical term

dominant

the fifth scale-step in a major or minor scale, essential in constructing a perfect cadence in the key corresponding to that scale, and hence in creating eventual closure

tonic

the first (and central) scale-step in a major or minor scale

subdominant

the fourth scale-step in a major or minor scale

supertonic

the second scale-step in a major or minor scale

leading-note

the seventh scale-step in a major or minor scale (American terminology: leading tone)

submediant

the sixth scale-step in a major or minor scale

mediant

the third scale-step in a major or minor scale, essential in defining the mode as major or minor (cf. mixture (modal mixture))

mixture (modal mixture)

the use of elements from parallel major (minor) keys in close proximity in a composition (especially in the use of both the major and minor third above the tonic as variants of the mediant)

triad

three-note chord built up with superimposed thirds (major, minor, diminished or augmented)

diminution

two quite distinct procedures, separate in sense and definition: decoration of a melodic or contrapuntal model by interpolating subsidiary material, without disturbing the basic rhythm of the model; (in fugue, the opposite of augmentation: ) the alteration of a theme by reducing all its note values by some proportion, with the theme remaining without decoration but played faster than before

dyad

two-note chord

thoroughbass

a bass line with figures indicating the vertical intervals to be constructed over them, producing chords, and customarily used by continuo players in the 17th and 18th centuries in accompanying ensembles, etc

homophony

a musical texture comprising two or more constituent voices which act as one, in which their contrapuntal independence from one another is minimized (especially when used in opposition to polyphony)

polyphony

a musical texture comprising two or more constituent voices; if used in opposition to homophony, one in which their contrapuntal independence from one another is emphasized

oblique motion

a succession of two simultaneities in which one of the constituent voices remains at the same pitch while the other moves up or down; cf. contrary motion, parallel motion

contrary motion

a succession of two simultaneities in which the constituent voices move in opposite directions; cf. oblique motion, parallel motion

parallel motion

a succession of two simultaneities in which the constituent voices move in the same direction and maintain the same (vertical) interval; cf. contrary motion, oblique motion

simultaneity

any combination of notes sounding together (less specific than "chord", a term implying that a simultaneity has some specifiable identity)

model

any simple melodic or contrapuntal passage that serves as the basis for elaboration through diminution (in the first sense defined in this glossary)

interrupted cadence

cadence concluding with a chord other than I (often vi) following V

plagal cadence

cadence concluding with chords IV-I (or iv-i, iv-I in the minor); often a feature of a coda

perfect cadence

cadence producing closure and concluding with chords V-I (or V-i in the minor)

Phrygian cadence

cadence resembling an imperfect cadence (ivb-V) in the minor, in which the final bass note is approached by descending step fom the penultimate chord; frequent in Baroque music

imperfect cadence

cadence stopping short of closure, on chord V

Phrygian mode

characteristic scale (corresponding to the white-note scale on a keyboard based on E) in which scale-step 2 is a semitone distant from scale-step 1 and functions as a descending leading-note to it; cf. mode

augmented sixth chord

chord constructed with (vertical) intervals of a major third and an augmented sixth over the bass; if no other note is added, this is termed an "Italian sixth"; if an augmented fourth over the bass is added, this is termed a "French sixth"; if a perfect fifth over the bass is added, this is termed a "German sixth"; an augmented-sixth chord on the flattened submediant is a powerful pre-dominant

pre-dominant

chord or scale-step used to prepare the dominant in the approach to a perfect cadence; frequently built on supertonic, subdominant or submediant; when chromatic, may often be the Neapolitan sixth or augmented sixth chords

consonant skip

consonant (horizontal) interval in a melody used to generate a note which elaborates, and is subordinate to, a harmonic tone; in Allen Forte's stem-and-slur notation, often designated with the abbreviation CS

suspension (suspended dissonance)

contrapuntal technique involving the use of three successive elements: the central one is a dissonant (vertical) interval within a chord, where the dissonant note is sounded on a relatively strong beat: it is preceded by a preparation by being sounded as a consonant note on the preceding weak beat, and it is followed by a resolution in which the dissonant note falls one step (or exceptionally rises a step) to a consonant note on the following weak beat