Music temp Tues

What is a harmonic progression?

A series of chords or intervals that move from tension toward resolution

What is dissonance?

A quality of a pitch interval or chord that make it seem unstable

What happens as a sound becomes more dissonant?

The listener longs to hear a resolution

What is the opposite of dissonance?

Consonance

What is consonance?

The quality of a pitch, interval, or chord that makes it seem a suitable point of rest

True or False, dissonance is relative?

True

What makes a chord consonant?

Stress of the lower partials on the overtone series

Few things will sound more consonant than what?

An octave with a fifth added above the bass

What makes a major triad extremely consonant?

The root being doubled

A cluster of whole steps sound dissonant compared to what?

A C-E-G triad

CDEF# is more consonant than what?

C,Db,F,Gb

Who employes a multi octave cluster chord?

Charles Ives

Why does Ives employ a multi octave cluster chord?

To depict the falling horse in Charlie Rutlage

Ears accustomed to Western music expect what of dissonance?

Resolution

How is tension created?

As a listener waits for a tense interval or chord to come to resolution in something more restful

The tritone is made of what?

Two notes that are three whole steps apart

When are tritones augmented fourths?

When spelled with two note names a fourth apart

What is an example of a augmented fourth?

C-F#

When is a tritone a diminished fifth?

When spelled enharmonically with two note names a fifth apart

What is an example of a diminished fifth?

C-Gb

When an F and B are played together on the piano what are the two most natural sounding resolutions?

Gb and Bb or E and C

True or False, any chord with a tritone will sound more dissonant than a chord without one

True

What does diatonic mean?

Within the key

When is a chord or melody diatonic?

If no accidentals are needed other than those indicated in the key signature

What are the 4 qualities of diatonic triads?

Major, minor, dimnished, augmented

What does the quality of a diatonic triad depend on?

Which scale degree the root is on

When is a melody/chord chromatic?

When it borrows notes from outside the key

The pattern that connects diatonic chords is based on what?

The circle of fifths

What is the tonic triad built on?

The tonic pitch 1

What is the most stable chord in a key?

The tonic

What do nearly all peices of music end on?

The tonic

In a major key what would the tonic always be?

Major

What scale degree do major triads naturally occur in a major key?

4 and 5

The diatonic triads on 2 3 and 6 are in what key?

Minor

Why is the triad build on the 7th scale degree unique?

It consists of two minor thirds

The 7th scale degree is what kind of triad?

Diminished

What is characteristic of a diminished triad?

It is highly unstable

What do capitalized numerals indicate?

Major triads

What do lowercase numerals with no superscripted circle indicate?

Minor triads

Aside from the tonic chord which other chord is most important?

The dominant chord (V)

What does the dominant chord contain?

The leading tone 7 and 5th scale degree

The leading tone and fifth scale degree both want to do what?

Resolve to the tonic pitch

What are pre dominant harmonies?

Harmonies that pull to the dominant

What triads are most common in predominant harmonies?

Those built on the second and fourth scale degrees

Triads built on the second and fourth scale degrees are also called what?

supertonic (ii) and sub dominant (IV)

What is a chord progression?

A chain of triads each pulling to the next

What is the most common chord progression?

Predominant-dominant-tonic

What can the predominant dominant tonic be?

ii-V-I or IV-V-I

How is voice leading created?

By inverting some of the chords

Why are chords conjunct and easy to sing?

When western art music developed the vast majority was written for the voice

What is the lowest voice in a series of chords?

The bass line

What does the bass line provide?

The finishing touch

What does the bass line reinforce?

The forward pull of the progression

What do bass lines often play?

The root of the harmony

How are bass lines usually notated?

In bass clef

What is the most final sounding strongest kind of bass line?

One that descends a fifth

What is the most common bass motion at strong cadences?

5-1

What are cadences?

Pausing points

A 5-1 bass line supports what kind of progression?

V-1 harmonic progression

What are the most natural sounding chord progressions within a key?

A chain of descending fifths, such as moving counterclockwise through the circle of fifths

To intensify its pull to the tonic triad a dominant triad is turned into what?

A dominant seventh chord or V⁷

In the key of C what is the dominant triad?

G-B-D

The dominant seventh chord adds what?

A fourth pitch

The fourth pitch added by a dominant seventh chord is an interval of what?

A minor seventh from the root of the chord

No matter the key a dominant seventh chord will always consist of what scale degrees?

5-7-2- and 4

In C major the dominant seventh chord contains a tritone between what scale degrees?

7 and 4

The dominant seventh between 7 and 4 holds how much tension?

A great deal of tension

The urge for what harmonic resolution is powerful in a dominant seventh chord?

V-1 and 5-1

Where does the leading tone (7) pull strongly towards?

1

The additional pitch of 4 pulls just as strongly where?

Down a half step to 3

Where is the diminished triad usually built on?

7

Why does the diminished triad built on 7 usually function the same way as a dominant harmony?

It contains the 7-4 tritone that pulls so strongly to the tonic

Beyond what year did common practice harmony become more complex?

1750

How did common practice harmony become more complex after 1750?

Composers began to using additional pitches to embellish triads

What are the most common embellishing notes?

A sixth seventh and ninth above the root of the chord

As long as the root is on the bottom what position is the chord in?

Root position

What can make identification tricky?

Composers sometimes omit the fifth

How can other diatonic seventh chords be used to create complex sophisticated sounds?

By adding an interval above the root to any doatonic triad

How does the addition of the fourth pitch when it is diatonic change the function of the original triad?

It rarely does but it adds ritchness or atmosphere to the music

What is simple harmony?

Diatonic

What does simple harmony mostly use?

Triads

What does complex harmony use?

More chromatic pitches

How many pitches may sound at the same time in complex harmony?

4 or more

What is modal mixture?

One or two pitches of the basic triad are altered

When a basic triad is altered what keys does this occur between?

A major key and its parallel minor

True or False minor keys are more chromatic than major ones

True

What is the exception to minor keys being more chromatic than major keys?

Unless they adhere strictly to the natural minor scale

Unaltered how far below is 7 from 1?

A whole step

Unaltered 7 below 1 lacks what?

A strong pill to the tonic

Without a raised 7 what happens to the dominant seventh chord?

It is relatively weak

Why is a dominant 7th chord without a raised 7 relatively weak?

It contains no tritone

How else can harmony be made more complex?

Modulation

What happens when you modulate frequently?

You change keys frequently

What is the simplest way to modulate?

Use accidentals to create the dominant seventh chord of the new key and resolve it to the new tonic

If the composer wants a smooth transition when modulating what must they be sure of?

That it is done gradually and at the right time

Why is getting from C major to F major easy?

They are closely related keys, adjacent on the circle of fifths

To modulate smoothly from B maor to C, how owuld harmonies progress?

Through every intervening key in the cirlce of fifths

After modulation if the music remains in the new key for a long time what appears?

A double bar

When the double bar appears what is added?

A new key signature

If the new key signature is temporary then does the signature need to change?

No