To know how to determine the tonality of a work, you first need to understand the concept of “tonality.” You are already familiar with this term, so I’ll just remind you without delving into the theory.
Tonality - in general, is the pitch of the sound, in this case - the pitch of the sound of any scale - for example, major or minor. A mode is the construction of a scale according to a certain scheme and, in addition, a mode is a specific sound coloring of a scale (major mode is associated with light tones, minor mode is associated with sad notes, shadow).
The height of each particular note depends on its tonic (the main sustained note). That is, the tonic is the note to which the fret is attached. The mode, in interaction with the tonic, gives tonality - that is, a set of sounds arranged in a certain order, located at a specific height.
How to determine the tonality of a piece by ear?
It is important to understand here that not at any moment of the sound you can say with accuracy what tone a given part of the work sounds in. Need to select individual moments and analyze them. What are these moments? This can be the very beginning or the very end of a work, as well as the end of a section of a work or even a separate phrase. Why? Because the beginnings and ends sound stable, they assert, and in the middle there is usually a movement away from the main key.
So, having chosen a fragment for yourself, pay attention to two things:
- what in the work general mood, which mood is major or minor?
- What sound is the most stable, what sound is suitable to complete the work?
When you determine this, you should have clarity. It depends on the type of inclination whether it is a major key or a minor key, that is, what mode the key has. Well, the tonic, that is, the stable sound that you heard, can simply be selected on the instrument. So, you know the tonic and you know the modal inclination. What else is needed? Nothing, just connect them together. For example, if you heard a minor mood and the tonic of F, then the key will be F minor.
How to determine the tonality of a piece of music in sheet music?
But how can you determine the tonality of a piece if you have sheet music in your hands? You probably already guessed that you should pay attention to the signs on the key. In most cases, using these signs and the tonic, you can accurately determine the key, because the key signs present you with a fact, offering only two specific keys: one major and one parallel minor. What exactly is the tonality in this work depends on the tonic. You can read more about key signs.
Finding tonic can be challenging. Often this is the last note of a piece of music or its logically completed phrase, a little less often it is also the first. If, for example, a piece begins with a beat (an incomplete measure preceding the first), then often the stable note is not the first, but the one that falls on the strong beat of the first normal full measure.
Take the time to look at the accompaniment part; from it you can guess which note is the tonic. Very often the accompaniment plays on the tonic triad, which, as the name implies, contains the tonic, and, by the way, the mode too. The final accompaniment chord almost always contains it.
To summarize the above, here are a few steps you should take if you want to determine the key of a piece:
- By ear - find out the general mood of the work (major or minor).
- Having notes in hand, look for signs of alteration (at the key or random in places where the key changes).
- Determine the tonic - conventionally this is the first or last sound of the melody, if it does not fit - determine the stable, “reference” note by ear.
It is hearing that is your main tool in solving the issue that this article is devoted to. By following these simple rules, you will be able to determine the tonality of a piece of music quickly and correctly, and later you will learn to determine the tonality at first sight. Good luck!
By the way, a good hint for you on initial stage may become a cheat sheet known to all musicians - . Try using it - it’s very convenient.
Let's take a closer look at the piano keyboard. It has white and black keys. The distance between adjacent keys is called a semitone. Two semitones make up a tone.
For example, between the keys “C” and “C sharp” there is a semitone, between the keys “C sharp” and “D” there is also a semitone. And between the “do” and “re” keys there is a tone. There is a semitone between the “E” and “F” keys, because they are the closest keys, there is no black key between them.
Major and minor
A certain structure of semitones and tones makes up musical mode. There are many modes in music. The most common of them are major and minor. You've probably heard these names.
Major mode is built according to the following system:
Tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone
For example, we need to build a major scale from sound C. This is what we get:
We built "C major". If you build a major scale using the same scheme from the sound “D”, you get “D major”. And by analogy, you can build a major scale from any sound.
Minor scale is built according to a different scheme:
Tone-semitone-tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone
For example, let's build a minor scale from the sound A, as you probably already guessed, A minor. Here's what it looks like:
Using the same principle, you can build minor scales from any other sounds.
It turns out that tonality is the pitch position of a major or minor scale. That is, building a scale from a specific sound (tonic). The sounds of a scale are called scale degrees. They are designated by Roman numerals.
One of the functions of the fret is the ratio of stable and unstable steps. I, III and V are stable stages. II, IV, VI, VII – unstable. Unstable sounds gravitate towards stable ones. Usually musical composition begins and ends in steady steps. Stage I (tonic) is of particular importance; it is the most important and most stable.
The tonic triad consists of stable degrees (I, III and IV). In C major these will be sounds (do-mi-sol). This is the basis of the mode, the most stable chord to which all other chords of the mode gravitate. In addition to the tonic, the main triads include the triad of the fourth degree (or subdominant), the triad of the fourth degree (dominant). The dominant (denoted by the Latin letter D) is unstable, always gravitating towards the tonic (denoted by the letter T). Subdominant (denoted by the letter S) – expresses mild instability, gravitates towards the tonic much less actively than the dominant.
The main triads (T, S, D) form the basis of mode tonality. When they say about a song that it is built on three chords, they usually mean these chords.
In addition to the main triads, there are also side triads. These include II, III, VI, VII stages. They do not have special names, except for the VII step, they are called by the number of the step, for example, the triad of the 2nd step. The triad of the 7th degree is called the diminished triad.
Exercise
To consolidate the material, I suggest completing this task.
Construct the following scales yourself according to the scheme for constructing major and minor: F major, G major, B minor, D minor. The task must be completed in writing in pencil on a sheet of music.
If anything is unclear, write your questions in the comments.
Major And minor are the two main modes of music. Harmony is a relationship, a combination between each other musical sounds, which are united by a root tone or chord. Let's return to major and minor. These two modes are the absolute opposite of each other. Thus, music written in a minor mode sounds sad, melancholy, and mournful. And major music is distinguished by its joyful character, light sound, and bright musical colors.
What is the difference between major and minor?
If you remember how a triad (a chord of three sounds) is built, you will easily understand the difference between a minor and a major. A minor triad is constructed as follows: major third + minor third. If you take this chord on an instrument, let's say you build a chord from the note "C". It turns out that the chord will look like this: “Do / Mi / Sol”. By pressing these three keys, we will hear a major triad. The chord will be light, joyful and bright.
A minor triad consists of the following intervals: minor third + major third. On the keyboard of the instrument, press the notes “C / E flat / G”. This chord sounds sad, dreary, dark.
What is the musical mode for?
The musical mode serves to express the character of the music. If a composer wants to show feelings, anxiety, sadness, or cry, he uses the minor scale. Joyful, bright, playful moods are conveyed in a major key. A change in the nature of the music is always accompanied by a change in mode. Large works, consisting of several parts, contain both major and minor parts.
IN folk music There are a variety of modes. IN classical music(Russian and foreign) to one degree or another reflected folk art, and therefore the inherent variety of modes, but still the most widely used modes are the major and minor modes.
Major(major, in the literal sense of the word, means b O major) is called a mode, the stable sounds of which (in sequential or simultaneous sound) form a major or major triad - a consonance consisting of three sounds. The sounds of a major triad are arranged in thirds: the major third is between the lower and middle sounds, and the minor third is between the middle and upper sounds. Between the extreme sounds of a triad, an interval of a perfect fifth is formed.
For example:
A major triad built on the tonic is called a tonic triad.
Unstable sounds in this mode are located between stable ones.
The major mode consists of seven sounds, or, as they are commonly called, degrees.
A sequential series of sounds of a mode (starting from the tonic to the tonic of the next octave) is called a scale of a mode or scale.
The sounds that make up a scale are called steps because the scale itself is quite clearly associated with a ladder.
Scale levels are indicated by Roman numerals:
They form a sequence of second intervals. The order of steps and seconds is as follows: b.2, b.2, m.2, b.2, b.2, b.2, m.2 (that is, two tones, a semitone, three tones, a semitone).
Do you remember the piano keyboard? There you can clearly see where in the major scale there is a tone and where there is a semitone. Let's take a more specific look.
Where there are black keys between white ones, there is a tone, and where there are not, then the distance between the sounds is equal to a semitone. Why, one might ask, do you need to know this? Here you try to play (by pressing alternately) first from the note Before to note Before the next octave (try to remember the result by ear). And then the same from all other notes, without resorting to the help of derivative (“black”) keys. Something will turn out wrong. In order to bring everything into an equally decent form, you need to follow the scheme tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone. Let's try to create a major scale from the note D. Remember that you first need to build two tones. So, Re-Mi- this is the tone. Very good. And here Mi-Fa... stop! There is no “black” key between them. The distance between sounds is half a tone, but we need a tone. What to do? The answer is simple - raise the note F up a semitone (we get F sharp). Let's repeat: Re - E - F sharp. That is, if we required that there be an intermediate key between the steps, but there was no black one between them, then let the white key perform this intermediate role - and the step itself “moves” to the black one. Next we need a semitone, and we got it ourselves (between F sharp And salt baker just the half-tone distance), it turned out Re - Mi - F sharp - Sol. Continuing to strictly adhere to the scheme of the major scale (let me remind you once again: tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone) we get D major scale, sounding exactly the same as the scale from BEFORE:
A scale with the above order of steps is called natural major scale, and the mode expressed by this order is natural major. Major can be not only natural, so such a clarification is useful. In addition to the digital designation, each fret step has its own name:
Stage I - tonic (T),
Stage II - descending introductory sound,
III stage - mediant (middle),
IV stage - subdominant (S),
V stage - dominant (D),
VI stage - submediant (lower mediant),
VII stage - ascending introductory sound.
The tonic, subdominant and dominant are called the main degrees, the rest are called secondary degrees. Please remember these three numbers: I, IV and V - the main steps. Don’t let it bother you that they are arranged in the scale so whimsically, without visible symmetry. There are fundamental justifications for this, the nature of which you will learn from the lessons on harmony on our website.
The dominant (in translation - dominant) is located a perfect fifth above the tonic. Between them there is a third step, which is why it is called medianta (middle). The subdominant (lower dominant) is located a fifth below the tonic, which is where its name comes from, and the submediant is located between the subdominant and the tonic. Below is a diagram of the location of these steps:
The introductory sounds got their name due to their attraction to the tonic. The lower input sound gravitates in the ascending direction, and the upper one in the descending direction.
It was said above that in major there are three stable sounds - these are the I, III and V degrees. Their degree of stability is not the same. The first stage - tonic - is the main supporting sound and therefore the most stable. Stages III and V are less stable. II, IV, VI and VII degrees of the major mode are unstable. The degree of their instability varies. It depends: 1) on the distance between unstable and stable sounds; 2) on the degree of stability of the sound towards which gravity is directed. Less acute gravity is manifested at the stages: VI to V, II to III and IV to V.
For an example of gravity, let's listen to two options for resolving sounds. First- for major keys, and second for minors. We will study the minor in future lessons, but for now try to understand it by ear. Now, doing practical lessons, try to find stable and unstable steps and their resolutions.
