MUSIC 271 - Music Theory 2

Karen Sunabacka

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Table of contents

• § 12: Tonic Confirmation
  • Voice Leading
  • Chords by function
  • Steps to complete Tonal Homophony
• § 14: Tonicization
  • Melodic Analysis
  • Composing a Tonicized Homophony
  • Harmonic Elision
• § 15: Elaborating the Lower Voices
  • Accented Dissonance
  • Diminished Seventh
  • Ways to Decorate
• § 16: Chorale
  • Phrase Cadences
  • The Half-Diminished Seventh Chord
• § 17: Quadruple Paraphrase

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§ 12: Tonic Confirmation

Review from music 270.

Voice Leading

V or V⁷ or vii⁶ (chord of dominant function) → I (tonic)

• 2 → 1, 7 → 8, 4 → 3 (NOT with 5 → 3)
• 5 → 1 or 8 (In bass at final cadence)
• 5 → 3, 5 → 5, 2 → 3, 2 → 5

Root position of vii is not allowed (because it is diminished), but first inversion vii⁶ is a chord of dominant function.

Chords by function

• Within music
  • Elaborative Chords (Pre-Dominant) = II, IV, VI, III
  • Chords of Dom FUnction = V, VII⁶
• At Cadence
  • Pre-Cadenttial-Dominants: II, IV, VI
  • Cadential 6/4: I64 but over V
  • Dominant = V or V⁷

Steps to complete Tonal Homophony

1. Analyze the Soprano
2. Sketch the Bass
3. Complete the Bass
4. Complete the Cadence
5. Add inner voices

§ 14: Tonicization

Tonicization: Music shifts (momentarily) from its primary tonic to another key

Modulation: Music shifts keys for a complete section of music

A Tonicization can be slightly longer by establishing a new key of a phrase Cadence.

The process of tonicization enables us to explore the tonality of a particular key, to enter more fully into it. Any consonant chord of the key can lay claim to the music’s tonal focus as a temporary center, or local tonic.

Melodic Analysis

We would need to analyze the soprano to find any tonicizing patterns. See Example 14.15 in textbook. For example, half step ascending can be viewed as 7 → 8 in the context of tonicizing major or minor chord. After analysis, we get the chart like Example 14.16.

Also we can have prolongation patterns, given in Example 14.22.

Conjunctive chords play a limited role in note-against-note tonicized settings, usually only one at a time. They coordinate conjunctions in the chordal grammar. See Example 14.24.

Composing a Tonicized Homophony

1. Analyze the Soprano - Finding tonicizing patterns (above) and prolongation Patterns (below)
2. Choose harmonic Path from chart
3. Sketch the bass (through cadence)
4. Complete bass (through cadence)
5. Add tenor and alto

Avoid P5 → P5

Harmonic Elision

Compress the normal syntax, such omissions (called ellipses) serve to accelerate and intensify our language. When applied to music, it is called harmonic elision.

The bass plays the primary role in harmonic elision and will move through the paired dominant-function chords by step. (move in and out…)

§ 15: Elaborating the Lower Voices

Accented Dissonance

• Whole notes are consonant
• Half-notes between chords can be dissonant IF approached by step
• Half-notes between chords MUST be consonant if jumped or leapt to a chord tone.
• Decorating with Diss
  • SUS
    • 4 - 3 and 7 - 6 and 9 - 8 in Alto or tenor
    • 9 - 10 in Bass

Diminished Seventh

In D major:

In D minor:

Ways to Decorate

1. Melodic Figures
   • If leaping (SS, BC, Arp…) Must be a chord tone.
   • Passing (P) and Neighbor (N) Can be dissonant (Non-chord tone)
2. Accented Dissonance
   • Suspensions (SUS) 4 - 3, 7 - 6, 9 - 8, 9 - 10
   • Rhythmic Displacement (RD)
     • 3 or 4-note passing
     • 3 or 4-note neighbor
3. Weak beat chords
   1. Extend Strong-beat chord (V⁷ - vii^o7)
   2. Add an elaborative chord
   3. Add a tonicizing chord

Between Cadential Predominant (\(\text{C} _ 4^6 \) or V) and Dom, can use II (major only), II⁶, II⁷, \(\text{II} _ 5^6 \), IV, IV⁶, IV⁷

From Final V to I

1. a 4-3 SUS
2. A descending octave leap in bass
3. Create V⁷ on weak-beat

§ 16: Chorale

The chorale originated in sixteenth-century Germany as a product of the Reformation. The reformers undertook to provide sacred songs in the vernacular for unison singing as a means of actively involving the people in the church’s liturgy.

Phrase Cadences

Perfect Authentic Cadence

Sop ends on 1. Root V - Root I.

Primary tonic at FINAL CADENCE. Local Tonic at any Internal Cadence.

• Sop: 2 - 1 or 7 - 8
• Bass: 5 - 1 (8)
• Chord: V⁽⁷⁾ - I

Imperfect Authentic Cadence

Sop ends on 3 or 5. Root V - Root I.

Both Primary & Local Tonics

• Sop: 2 - 3, 5 - 3, 4 - 3, 5 - 5
• Bass: 5 - 1 (8)
• Chord: V⁽⁷⁾ - I

Half Cadence

I or IV - Root V (triad)

Both Primary and Local Tonics

• Sop: ? - 2 or 7, (5) - 5
• Bass: ? - 5
• Chord: I or IV - V

Note that in minor, we need to \(\sharp \hat 7 \)

Phrygian Cadence

A type of Half cadence. IV⁶ - V Root

Any minor key - can both primary tonic or local tonic

• Soprano: 4 - 5 (M2)
• Bass: 6 - 5 (m2)
• Chord: IV⁶ - V

Plagal Cadence

Root IV - Root I

Primary tonic only

• Sop: 6 - 5, 4 - 5, 4 - 3, 1 - 1
• Bass: 4 - 1
• Chord: IV - I

Deceptive Cadence

Root V⁷ - Root VI

Both Primary or Local tonics

• Sop: 5 - 3, 4 - 3, 2 - 1, 7 - 8 (no 2 - 3)
• Bass: 5 - 6
• Chord: V⁷ - VI

Tonicization

or End of prolongation (minimizing the closure)

Chord of Dominant function - Root I. Both Primary or Local tonics

• Sop: Any tonicizing pattern
• Bass: 2 - 1 or 7 - 8. (No 5 - 1)

The Half-Diminished Seventh Chord

Unlike VII^o7, which occurs in both major and minor keys, VII^ø7 is restricted to major keys: its chordal seventh in a minor key would sound a raised \( \hat 6 \), a tone that relates upward to the leading tone, not downward \( \hat 5 \).

§ 17: Quadruple Paraphrase

Created in 2 steps:

1. Decorate to a Duple Paraphrase
2. Decorate Again