MUSM 112 Music Theory II Week 1

Tonic (I): The first scale degree of a key, serving as the home or resolution point. It provides a sense of stability and finality in tonal music.

Dominant (V): The fifth scale degree, often leading to the tonic due to its strong harmonic pull. The dominant chord (V) commonly includes a leading tone, which resolves to the tonic.

Basic Phrase Structure: Consists of a beginning (often tonic), a middle (dominant or other chords), and an ending (cadence). Common structures include antecedent-consequent phrases.

Half Cadence: A cadence that ends on the dominant (V) chord, creating a sense of pause rather than finality.

Authentic Cadence: A cadence moving from the dominant (V) to the tonic (I). It provides strong harmonic resolution.

Neighboring V Chord: A dominant chord that acts as a neighboring harmony to another chord, often used for embellishment.

Imperfect Authentic Cadence: An authentic cadence that does not fulfill all the requirements of a perfect authentic cadence, such as missing the tonic in the soprano or using an inverted V chord.

Perfect Authentic Cadence: A V-I cadence where both chords are in root position, and the tonic is in the soprano, creating a strong sense of resolution.

Alberti Bass: A left-hand accompaniment pattern in keyboard music featuring an arpeggiated chord structure (low-high-middle-high).

Order of 3rds: The sequence in which diatonic chords are built by stacking thirds within a key.

Circle of 5ths: A diagram showing the relationship between key signatures, where each step moves by a perfect fifth.

Roman Numeral for Root Position Triad: A capital letter numeral (e.g., I, IV, V for major chords, ii, iii, vi for minor chords) indicating a triad in its root position.

Roman Numeral for 1st Inversion Triad: The numeral with a superscript 6 (e.g., I6, ii6) indicating the third is in the bass.

Roman Numeral for 2nd Inversion Triad: The numeral with a superscript 6/4 (e.g., I6/4, V6/4) indicating the fifth is in the bass.

Tendency Tones: Notes that have a strong inclination to resolve in a particular direction, such as the leading tone (7) resolving to the tonic (1).

Chordal 7ths: The seventh of a chord, which must resolve downward by step when appearing in a dominant 7th chord.

Chordal 3rds: The third of a chord, which determines its quality (major, minor, diminished, augmented).

V7 - I Progression: A strong harmonic motion from the dominant 7th chord (V7) to the tonic (I), resolving tension and reinforcing tonality.

4ths and 7ths in Voice Leading:

• 4ths should generally be treated as consonances unless part of a suspension.

• 7ths should resolve downward by step when appearing in dominant 7th chords.

Voice Leading Rules:

1. Avoid parallel 5ths and octaves.

2. Maintain smooth melodic motion.

3. Resolve tendency tones correctly.

4. Avoid awkward leaps larger than a 6th.

5. Keep common tones where possible.

Order of Flat Key Signatures: B, E, A, D, G, C, F (Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father).

Order of Sharp Key Signatures: F, C, G, D, A, E, B (Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle).

Parallel 5ths/Octaves: The movement of two voices in the same direction by a perfect fifth or octave, which weakens voice independence and should be avoided.

Rules for Voicing V7 Chords:

1. Resolve the 7th downward by step.

2. Avoid doubling the leading tone.

3. Keep common tones between V7 and I where possible.

4. Use proper spacing to prevent voice crossing.

What Do You Triple in Voice Leading When the 5th is Omitted? The root is typically tripled to maintain harmonic stability.

Frustrated Leading Tone: When the leading tone does not resolve to the tonic as expected, often moving to a chordal third instead, which should be used carefully to maintain harmonic clarity.