Closely related keyIn music, a closely related key (or close key) is one sharing many common tones with an original key, as opposed to a distantly related key (or distant key). In music harmony, there are six of them: four of them share all the pitches except one with a key with which it is being compared, one of them shares all the pitches, and one shares the same tonic.
Chord (music)A chord is the simultaneous sound of two or more musical notes. The most common chord has three notes and is known as a triad. Added tone chords, extended chords, and tone clusters can have more than three notes and are common in contemporary classical music and jazz. An arpeggio is a chord where notes are sounded separately. A series of chords is sometimes called a chord progression.
Diatonic and chromaticDiatonic 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, especially when applied to contrasting features of the common practice music of the period 1600–1900. These terms may mean different things in different contexts.
Tonic (music)In music, "tonic" refers to the originating note or chord of a particular key. Scales are based on their tonic pitch, or tonic note, which is why they begin and end with their tonic pitch. This is also why scales are named after their tonics: for instance, the tonic of the C major scale is the note C. In the movable do solfège system, the tonic note is sung as do.
TonicizationIn music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall tonic (the "home note" of a piece) as a temporary tonic in a composition. In tonal music, pieces (or sections) are in a key. This means that the tonic chord has a corresponding dominant chord (e.g., in the key of C major, the tonic chord is C major and the dominant chord is G major or G).Altered chordAn altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest example of altered chords is the use of borrowed chords, chords borrowed from the parallel key, and the most common is the use of secondary dominants.TonalityIn music theory, the tonality of a piece is its perceived key or mode. Tonality centers around a tonicnote and chord, where the piece is most stable, and may be indicated by clues such as a key signature or the function of the piece's chords. For example, in the key of Cmajor, the tonic note is C, and the tonic triad is Cmajor (consisting of notes C, E and G). Similarly, in B Lydian, the tonic note is B, and the tonic triad is Bmajor (consisting of notes B, D# and F#).
Key signatureIn Westernmusical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (♯), flat (♭), or rarely, natural (♮) symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the clef at the beginning of the first line. If the piece contains a section in a different key, the new key signature is placed at the beginning of that section.
Mode (music)In music theory, the term mode or modus is used in a number of distinct senses, depending on context. Its most common use may be described as a type of musical scale coupled with a set of characteristic melodic and harmonic behaviors. It is applied to major and minor keys as well as the seven diatonic modes (including the former as Ionian and Aeolian) which are defined by their starting note or tonic.
Phrase (music)In music theory, a phrase (Greek: φράση) is a unit of musical meter that has a complete musical sense of its own, built from figures, motifs, and cells, and combining to form melodies, periods and larger sections. A phrase is a substantial musical thought, which ends with a musical punctuation called a cadence.
MusicMusic is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of music vary widely in substance and approach. While scholars agree that music is defined by a small number of specific elements, there is no consensus as to what these necessary elements are.
Musical formStructure of a piece of music In music, form refers to the structure of a musical composition or performance.
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