Tertian Harmony
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Tertian Harmony
In music theory, ''tertian'' ( la, tertianus, "of or concerning thirds") describes any piece, chord, counterpoint etc. constructed from the intervals of (major and minor) thirds. An interval such as that between the notes A and C encompasses 3 semitone intervals (A-B-B-C) and is termed a minor third while one such as that between C and E encompasses 4 semitones (C-D-D-E-E) and is called a major third. Tertian harmony (also called tertiary harmony ) principally uses chords based on thirds; the term is typically used to contrast with quartal and quintal harmony which uses chords based on fourths or fifths. A common triad chord can be regarded as consisting of a "stack" of two consecutive thirds. This allows for four permutations, each producing a chord with distinct quality: A musical scale may also be analyzed as a succession of thirds. The meantone temperament, a system of tuning that emphasizes pure thirds, may be called "tertian". Chords built from sixths may also be ...
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Ladder Of Thirds
A modal frame in music is "a number of types permeating and unifying African, European, and American song" and melody., quoted in Richard Middleton (1990/2002). ''Studying Popular Music'', p. 203. Philadelphia: Open University Press. . It may also be called a melodic mode. "Mode" and "frame" are used interchangeably in this context without reference to scalar or rhythmic modes. Melodic modes define and generate melodies that are not determined by harmony, but purely by melody. A note frame, is a melodic mode that is atonic (without a tonic), or has an unstable tonic. Modal frames may be defined by their: *floor note: the bottom of the frame, felt to be the lowest note, though isolated notes may go lower, *ceiling note: the top of the frame, *central note: the center around which other notes cluster or gravitate, *upper or lower focus: portion of the mode on which the melody temporarily dwells, and can also defined by melody types, such as: ** chant tunes: (Bob Dylan's "Subte ...
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Polychord
In music and music theory, a polychord consists of two or more chords, one on top of the other. In shorthand they are written with the top chord above a line and the bottom chord below,Policastro, Michael A. (1999). ''Understanding How to Build Guitar Chords and Arpeggios'', p. 168. . for example F upon C: . The use of polychords may suggest bitonality or polytonality. Harmonic parallelism may suggest bichords. Examples may be found in Igor Stravinsky's ''Petrushka'', p. 15, and '' Rite of Spring'', "Dance of the Adolescents" (1921) (see Petrushka chord). In the polychords in the image above, the first might suggest a thirteenth chord, the second may suggest a D minor ninth chord with upper extensions, but the octave separation of the 3rd makes the suggestion of two independent triads a minor ninth apart even more likely, and the fourth is a split-third chord. Extended chords contain more than one triad, and so can be regarded as a type of polychord: For example ...
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Quartal And Quintal Harmony
In music, quartal harmony is the building of harmonic structures built from the intervals of the perfect fourth, the augmented fourth and the diminished fourth. For instance, a three-note quartal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fourths, C–F–B. : Quintal harmony is harmonic structure preferring the perfect fifth, the augmented fifth and the diminished fifth. For instance, a three-note quintal chord on C can be built by stacking perfect fifths, C–G–D. : Properties Use of the terms ''quartal'' and ''quintal'' arises from a contrast, compositional or perceptual, with traditional tertian harmonic constructions. Listeners familiar with music of the European common practice period perceive tonal music as that which uses major and minor chords and scales, wherein both the major third and minor third constitute the basic ''structural elements'' of the harmony. Regarding chords built from perfect fourths alone, composer Vincent Persichetti writes that: '' ...
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Secundal
In music or music theory, secundal is the quality of a chord made from seconds, and anything related to things constructed from seconds such as counterpoint. Secundal chords are often called tone clusters more generally, especially when non-diatonic. " nythree or more pitches in secundal relationship may correctly be referred to as a tone cluster."Kostka & Payne (1995). Tonal Harmony, p. 499. Third Edition. . Chords which may be considered as built from sevenths, because of musical inversion, are secundal. Polychords may create secundal chords. The secundal harmony in Ross Lee Finney's "Playing Tag" provides "accentuation and forward motion", as well as the basis for the "fragmentary melody": See also * Tertian * Quartal * Polychord In music and music theory, a polychord consists of two or more chords, one on top of the other. In shorthand they are written with the top chord above a line and the bottom chord below,Policastro, Michael A. (1999). ''Understanding How to Bui ...
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Submediant
In music, the submediant is the sixth degree () of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between tonic and subdominant ("lower dominant") or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to that of the mediant above. (See the figure in the Degree (music) article.) In the movable do solfège system, the submediant is sung as ''la'' in a major mode and ''fa'' in a minor mode. It is occasionally called superdominant, as the degree above the dominant. This is its normal name (''sus-dominante'') in French. In Roman numeral analysis, the triad formed on the submediant is typically symbolized by "VI" if it is a major triad (the default in a minor mode) and by "vi" if it is a minor triad (the default in a major mode). The term ''submediant'' may also refer to a relationship of musical keys. For example, relative to the key of C major, the key of A minor is the submediant. In a major key, the submediant key is the relative mino ...
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Mediant
In music, the mediant (''Latin'': to be in the middle) is the third scale degree () of a diatonic scale, being the note halfway between the tonic and the dominant.Benward & Saker (2003), p.32. In the movable do solfège system, the mediant note is sung as ''mi''. While the fifth scale degree is almost always a perfect fifth, the mediant can be a major or minor third. Schenkerian analysts consider this scale degree as expansion of the tonic since they have two common tones. On the other hand, in German theory derived from Hugo Riemann the mediant in major is considered the dominant parallel, Dp, and in minor the tonic parallel, tP. In Roman numeral analysis, the mediant chord can take several forms. In major scales, the mediant chord is a minor triad and is symbolized with the Roman numeral iii. In natural minor scales, the mediant is a major triad and is symbolized with the Roman numeral III. In harmonic minor scales and ascending melodic minor scales, the seventh scale d ...
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Major And Minor
In Western music, the adjectives major and minor may describe a chord, scale, or key. As such, composition, movement, section, or phrase may be referred to by its key, including whether that key is major or minor. Intervals Some intervals may be referred to as ''major'' and ''minor''. A major interval is one semitone larger than a minor interval. The words ''perfect'', ''diminished'', and ''augmented'' are also used to describe the quality of an interval. Only the intervals of a second, third, sixth, and seventh (and the compound intervals based on them) may be major or minor (or, rarely, diminished or augmented). Unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves and their compound interval must be perfect (or, rarely, diminished or augmented). In Western music, a minor chord "sounds darker than a major chord". Kamien, Roger (2008). ''Music: An Appreciation'', 6th Brief Edition, p. 46. . Scales and chords The other uses of ''major'' and ''minor'' generally refer to scales and ...
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Nicolas Slonimsky
Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Сло́нимский), was a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer. Best known for his writing and musical reference work, he wrote the ''Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns'' and the ''Lexicon of Musical Invective'', and edited ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians''. His life Early life in Russia and Europe Slonimsky was born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy in Saint Petersburg. He was of Jewish origin; his grandfather was Rabbi Chaim Zelig Slonimsky. His parents adopted the Orthodox faith after the birth of his older brother, and Nicolas was baptized in the Russian Orthodox Church. His maternal aunt, Isabelle Vengerova, later a founder of Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music, was his first piano teacher. He grew up in the intelligentsia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, he moved ...
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Coltrane Changes
Coltrane changes (Coltrane Matrix or cycle, also known as chromatic third relations and multi-tonic changes) are a harmonic progression variation using substitute chords over common jazz chord progressions. These substitution patterns were first demonstrated by jazz musician John Coltrane on the albums ''Bags & Trane'' (on the track "Three Little Words") and '' Cannonball Adderley Quintet in Chicago'' (on "Limehouse Blues"). Coltrane continued his explorations on the 1960 album ''Giant Steps'' and expanded on the substitution cycle in his compositions "Giant Steps" and "Countdown", the latter of which is a reharmonized version of Eddie Vinson's "Tune Up". The Coltrane changes are a standard advanced harmonic substitution used in jazz improvisation. Function The changes serve as a pattern of chord substitutions for the ii–V–I progression (supertonic– dominant– tonic) and are noted for the tonally unusual root movement by major thirds (either up or down by a major third int ...
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Chord Progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice era of Classical music to the 21st century. Chord progressions are the foundation of Western popular music styles (e.g., pop music, rock music), traditional music, as well as genres such as blues and jazz. In these genres, chord progressions are the defining feature on which melody and rhythm are built. In tonal music, chord progressions have the function of either establishing or otherwise contradicting a tonality, the technical name for what is commonly understood as the "key" of a song or piece. Chord progressions, such as the common chord progression I–vi–ii–V, are usually expressed by Roman numerals in Classical music theory. In many styles of popular and traditional music, chord progressions are expressed using the name and " ...
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Inversion (interval)
In music theory, an inversion is a type of change to intervals, chords, voices (in counterpoint), and melodies. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in musical set theory. Intervals An interval is inverted by raising or lowering either of the notes by one or more octaves so that the positions of the notes reverse (i.e. the higher note becomes the lower note and vice versa). For example, the inversion of an interval consisting of a C with an E above it (the third measure below) is an E with a C above it – to work this out, the C may be moved up, the E may be lowered, or both may be moved. : The tables to the right show the changes in interval quality and interval number under inversion. Thus, perfect intervals remain perfect, major intervals become minor and vice versa, and augmented intervals become diminished and vice versa. (Doubly diminished intervals become doubly augmented ...
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