HARMONY & TONALITY

Music contains notes in succession (melody) or notes in combination. When

notes are played at the same time it is called harmony. The type of harmony
created in a piece of music or a song is the tonality of the music.
Chords
Two or more notes sounding together are known as a chord.
Triads
A triad is a chord of three notes. For example, C - E - G is the C major triad. C
is the root note, E is the third - an interval of a third above the root - and G is
the fifth - an interval of a fifth above the root.
Dominant and subdominant
In any major key, the chords built on the first, fourth and fifth degrees of the
scale are all major. In the key of C, these are the chords of C, F and G. They are
also sometimes called I, IV and V (for first, fourth and fifth in Roman
numerals), or primary triads.

The chord built on the first note of the scale, I, is called the tonic. The chord
built on the fourth, IV, is called the subdominant and the V is called the
dominant.
All the chords built on other notes in the scale of C are minor, except chord VII
- the notes B – D – F, which is diminished.
Sevenths
When a seventh is added to a chord this is known as a seventh chord. The
dominant seventh of a V chord can be shown by the symbol V7.
For example, G7 is made by taking the major triad of G (G - B - D) and adding
an F (G - B - D - F).
Types of chord
A concord is a chord where all the notes seem to 'agree' with each other. It
feels at rest and complete in itself.
A discord is a chord where some notes seem to 'disagree' or clash giving an
unsettled feel.
Diatonic harmony uses notes that belong to the key.
Chromatic harmony uses notes from outside the key to give the chords more
'colour'.
Cadences
A cadence is formed by two chords at the end of a passage of music.
Perfect cadences sound as though the music has come to an end. A perfect
cadence is formed by the chords V - I.
Interrupted cadences are 'surprise' cadences. You think you're going to
hear a perfect cadence, but you get a minor chord instead.
Imperfect cadences sound unfinished. They sound as though they want to
carry on to complete the music properly. An imperfect cadence ends on chord
V.
Plagal cadences sound finished. Plagal cadences are often used at the end of
hymns and sung to “Amen”. A plagal cadence is formed by the chords IV - I.
Sometimes the final cadence of a piece in a minor key ends with a major chord
instead of the expected minor. This effect is known as a Tierce de Picardie.
Tonality
The character of a piece of music is related to its key centre or tonality:
tonal music is in a major or minor key
atonal music is not related to a tonic note and therefore has no sense of key
modal music is in a mode
Two common modes are the Dorian mode and the Mixolydian mode. Modes
are often found in folk music, pop music and jazz.

Modulation
When a piece of music changes key, it is said to modulate. It is most likely to
modulate to a closely related key.
The keys most closely related to the tonic are the dominant, the
subdominant or the relative minor or major keys.
Drone, pedal and ground bass
A drone is a held or repeated chord, usually a bare fifth, throughout a passage
of music.
A pedal is a single note that is held on or repeated in, the bass. An inverted
pedal note is a sustained or repeated note in a high register.
The chords above the bass may change, but the bass note stays the same.
In the example, the pedal note is C, which you can see in the bass part.

Ground bass is the term used in Baroque music where a bass part is repeated
throughout the piece. Whereas an ostinato pattern might be very short, a
ground bass can last many bars before it is repeated.