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13
1. pentatonic: five- note scale
a. African, Asian, Native American musics
2. tritonic: three- note pattern
a. music of some African cultures
3. microtones: intervals smaller than half step
a. inection: brief microtonal dip from original
pitch
V. The Major- Minor System
A. Western music: active chords seek resolution
B. Triads: three- note chords built on scale steps
1. tonic (I)
a. built on first scale step (do)
b. point of ultimate rest, home base
2. dominant (V)
a. built on fifth scale step (sol)
b. chief active chord
3. subdominant (IV)
a. built on fourth scale step (fa)
b. active chord
c. (IV to I), “Amen”
C. The key as a form- building ele ment
1. key provides musical unity
a. three main chords used: I, V, IV
b. home key: provides unity
c. foreign keys: add variety, contrast
2. modulation: shift to a dif fer ent key during a
composition
3. transposition: entire work set in new key
OVERVIEW
Chapter 4 highlights how melody and harmony interact
through a system of organ ization based on scales and chords
(called tonality). Although many kinds of tonalities occur in
OUTLINE
I. Western Music Based on Octave Equivalence
A. Pitches: letters of alphabet (A through G)
B. Twelve equal semitones, half steps
II. Chromatic Scale: Twelve Half Steps of the Octave
A. Sharps and ats
1. sharp: raises a tone by a half step
2. at: lowers a tone by a half step
3. whole step: two half steps
III. Major and Minor Scales
A. Specific pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps
B. Major scale (W- W- H- W- W- W- H)
1. cheerful, triumphant sound
2. solfège (do- re- me- fa- sol- la- ti- do)
3. thrust from seventh to eighth pitch:
tension- resolution
C. Minor scale (W- H- W- W- H- W- W)
1. darker, sadder sound
2. lowered (atted) third note of scale
D. Tonic- dominant- tonic: basic progression of harmony
1. tonic (do), first note of scale
2. dominant (sol), fifth note of scale
3. tonality (key): organ ization around a tonic
a. basic princi ple of musical structure in most
Western music from 1600 to 1900
IV. Diatonic vs. Chromatic
A. Diatonic: music clearly in major or minor key
1. melody and harmony firmly rooted in the key
2. centers on tonic and its related harmonies
3. Baroque- and Classical- era music largely diatonic
B. Chromatic music: full gamut of the twelve half
steps
1. Romantic- era composers explored chromaticism
C. Other scale types
CHAPTERfi4 The Organ ization of Musical Sounds
14 | Chapterfi4
scale pitches of the melody (C, B- at, A- at, G, F, E- at,
D, C) to illustrate further the difference in sound between
major and minor.
ASSIGNMENT SUGGESTIONS
1. Compare the tonalities of the following pieces. Can you
Schubert: Trout Quintet, IV
TEACHING CHALLENGES
As with previous chapters of the Materials of Music section,
students who have difficulty with pitch will pres ent a challenge
YOUR TURN TO EXPLORE
Test your knowledge of the major- minor system by catego-
rizing the following songs and pieces according to major or
minor tonalities:
music around the world, the diatonic major- minor system of
tonality has been central to Western music for the past 400
years.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the octave and its chromatic division
minor system, including distinctions between active and
resting chords
LECTURE SUGGESTIONS
1. Display on the board the chromatic scale and a piano
Piano at www . virtualpiano . net) are available. Play bro-
ken octaves slowly on the keyboard, and ask the class
what similarities and differences they hear in the two
dif fer ent pitches. Students should recognize the similar,
related frequencies of the pitches. At this point, you may
want to address the relationship of the frequencies to
