The easiest way to understand what tonal music reallymeans is to listen and, whenever possible, follow the score. Here are 2melodies from Beethoven – the second one is pretty much … See more

The tonic, also known as the tonal centre, is thatparticular note (and the chord built on it) on which the music is stable and atrest – it feels like home. … See more

In tonal music, the dominant chord is just as important as the tonic because it’s the chord that makes us want the tonic. Even if we’re not aware of it, hea… See more

In the example from Beethoven’s 6thsymphony theme, we hear that there is something very satisfying … See more

Is ‘tonality’ the same as ‘key’?The concept of tonality refers to music that works around a tonic. The term ‘key’ refers to the particular set of notes (the … See more

Having a tonic normally means that the music is based on a major or minor scale. As you know from music theory, a scale is a set of notes with a specific pattern of half steps and whole steps. The major scale, for example, is a 7-note sc… See more

So our picture of tonality is now getting clearer: tonalmusic is music that has a tonic and it normally works within the major/minor keyssystem and functional harmony. Our exploration of tonality cannot stop here,however, … See more

So far we’ve learned that tonal music works byestablishing a tonic, leaving the tonic and then returning to it. But how isthe tonic established in the firs… See more