In
Schenkerian theory, a scale-step () is a
triad (based on one of the
diatonic
Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are used to characterize scales. The terms are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a pair ...
scale degrees
In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic—the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals ...
) that is perceived as an organizing force for a passage of music (in accordance with the principle of
composing-out). In
''Harmony'',
Schenker gives the following example and asserts that
A scale-step triad is designated by an uppercase Roman numeral representing the scale degree of the
root
In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...
, much as in traditional "harmonic analysis" (see
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...
). Thus, in the above example (which is in
G major
G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
), the G major triad that Schenker claims we perceive through the first two measures would be labelled "I". However, unlike traditional harmonic analyses, Schenker's theory is not concerned with the mere labelling of such chords, but rather with discerning hierarchical relationships among tones. For Schenker, the chords occurring in a passage need not be of equal import. As he explains:
Furthermore, in terms of Schenker's mature theory, the question of whether a given triad possesses scale-step status depends on the
structural level
In Schenkerian analysis, a structural level is a representation of a musical composition, piece of music at a different level of abstraction, with levels typically including foreground, middleground, and background. According to Schenker musical ...
under discussion. Indeed, it follows from Schenker's concepts that, at the highest level, a tonal composition possesses only one scale step, since the entirety of the work may be understood as an elaboration of its tonic triad (i.e. scale-step I).
Oswald Jonas wrote that "the chief merit of Schenker's early work consists in having disentangled the concept of scale-step (which is part of the theory of harmony) from the concept of voice-leading (which belongs in the sphere of counterpoint). According to Robert Wason, Schenker's idea of the scale-step is a "development of the 'non essential' harmonies of Viennese fundamental bass theory."
[Robert Wason, "Schenker's Notion of Scale-Step in Historical Perpective: Non-Essential Harmonies in Viennese Fundamental Bass Theory," ''Journal of Music Theory'', Vol. 27, No. 1 (1983), p. 50.]
Notes
References
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{{Schenkerian analysis
Schenkerian analysis