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Harmony and tonality key words
Key Term
Diatonic
Description
Notes of the harmony are
within the key
Chromatic
Notes of the harmony are
not constricted to the key
Recognition of the relative
importance of the notes in
the scale
Non
Ignoring the relative
functional
importance of the notes in
the scale
Consonant/ When the notes sound
Dissonant
pleasing to the ear / When
the notes clash
Example
In the song Hey Jude by
the Beatles the harmony is
diatonic
Bohemian Rhapsody by
Queen has a chromatic
harmony
Functional
Ornaments
Suspension
For example: acciaccatura,
appoggiatura, turns and
auxiliary notes. These are
embellishments that are
exempt from the time
signature and chord.
When a note from a chord is
held on to the next chord to
create dissonance
An example of a
consonant chord is a C
major triad. An example of
a dissonant chord is the
Tristan chord.
This is
acciaccatura
This is a
turn.
An example of suspension
is in bar 26 of Bach’s
prelude I, where the
middle C is held on from
the chord of C to the chord
of G7sus4.
Pedal/drone Note that is sustained over a
number of bars
Cadences
The chord progression at the
end of a phrase e.g perfect
cadence is V-I
Tierce da
Picardie
The note that makes the last
chord in a minor piece into a
major chord.
Chords
A group of more than two
notes.
Circle of
fifths
Open
/closed
harmony
Including: Seventh chords – a
triad with an added seventh
Inversions – changing the
order of notes in the chord
by changing what note is in
the bass
Cluster chords – a chord with
at least three notes adjacent
in the scale
A sequence of tones that are
all perfect fifths above each
other. C maj – no sharps. G
maj – one sharp. D maj –
two sharps etc.
Open is when the notes in a
chord are widely spaced –
often an octave or more.
An example of a drone is
in the beatles song
‘Tomorrow Never Knows’
Bach uses a tierce de
Picardie in the Prelude and
Fugue in C minor for
Organ.
Closed is when the notes are
within one octave generally.
Harmony
Tonal
Atonal
Music that is written in a
specific key
Music that isn’t written in a
specific key
Having music in two
different keys
Key / Key
Identifies the notes that a
signature
piece of music is written in
e.g major, minor, modal
Modulation When a piece changes key
Prelude I by Bach is a
piece of tonal music.
Peripertie by Arnold
Schoenberg is a piece of
atonal music.
Bitonal
Accidentals Sharps and flats - # and b
etc.
In Bach’s Gigue for solo
violin in D minor there is
a modulation to the
dominant major (Amaj).