As soon as a musician begins to learn a new piece of music, the first thing he determines is the tonality. And it doesn’t matter which instrument a musician plays, does vocals, or simply teaches a solfeggio number. Without a clear understanding of tonality, learning a new work is very difficult. And if it comes to harmony ... The ability to build chords is entirely based on an understanding of tonality.
Key
What is tonality? The definitions of this word are different, it depends on the stage of training, and on the author of the textbook. The following definitions of the word "tonality" are possible:
- Key is the name of the fret.
- Key - the height of the fret.
- Key - the high-altitude position of the fret ("Elementary theory of music", Methodin).
- The key (classical) is a centralized, functionally differentiated, based on the diatonic two-part major-minor system of the chord type, in which the chord is the main object of development, and the general laws are determined by the principle of gravity-resolution ("Harmony in West European music of the 9th – early 20th century) ", L. Dyachkova).
The keys are major and minor, it depends on the fret that underlies. Also, tones are parallel, of the same name, and also anharmonically equal. Let's try to figure out what all this means.
Parallel, eponymous, enharmonically equal keys
The main criteria by which tonality is determined are fret (major or minor), key signs of alteration (sharps or flats, their number) and tonic (the most stable tonality, stage I).
If we talk about parallel and eponymous tonalities, then the mood always differs here. That is, if the keys are parallel, this is major and minor, if they are of the same name, it is similar.
Major and minor keys, which have the same key signs and different tonics, are called parallel . For example, these are C major (C-dur) and A minor (a-moll).
You can see that in the natural major and minor in these keys the same notes are used, but the first step and fret are different. It is easy to find parallel keys; they are located at a distance of a small third. To find a parallel minor, it is necessary to build a small third down from the first step , and to find a parallel major, you need to build a small third up.
You can also remember that the tonic of the parallel minor is at the VI stage of the natural major, and the tonic of the parallel major is at the III stage of the minor.
Below is a table of parallel keys.
C major - in A minor
Sharp keys
G major G-dur | D major D-dur | A major A-dur | E major E-dur | B major H-dur | F Sharp Major Fis-dur | C sharp major Cis-dur |
in E minor e-moll | in B minor h-moll | F Sharp Minor fis-moll | C sharp minor cis-moll | G sharp minor gis-moll | D Sharp Minor dis-moll | A sharp minor ais-moll |
Flat keys
F major F-dur | B Flat Major B-dur | E flat major Es-dur | A flat major As-dur | D flat major Des dur | G flat major Ges-dur | E flat major Ces dur |
D minor d-moll | in G minor g-moll | C minor c-moll | in F minor f-moll | B Flat Minor b-moll | in E flat minor es-moll | A flat minor as-moll |
Major and minor keys, which have different key signs and the same tonics, are called homonymous. For example, this is C major (C-dur) and C minor (c-moll).
You can even understand the essence of the same tonality from the name, they have one name, one tonic. The keys of the same name (in kind) differ in stages III, VI and VII.
Anharmonically equal keys are called keys, the sounds of which, all the steps and harmonies of which are anharmonically equal, that is, they sound the same, have the same pitch, and are recorded in different ways.
For example, if you play C sharp and D flat, they will sound the same, these sounds are enharmonically equal.
Examples of anharmonically equal keys
Theoretically, for any key, an enharmonic replacement can be found, however, in most cases, unused keys will be obtained. The main goal of enharmonically equal keys is to simplify the life of the performer.
There are two main reasons for replacing tonality:
- Keys are replaced to reduce the number of characters. For example, in C sharp major there are 7 sharps, and in D flat major 5 flats. Keys with fewer characters are simpler, more convenient, therefore, D flat major is more often used.
- For different types of instruments, one or another key is better suited. For example, for a group of stringed bowed instruments (violin, viola, cello), sharp keys are better suited, and for wind instruments, flat keys are more convenient.
There are 6 pairs of keys that are replaced by anharmonic, 3 major and 3 minor.
Examples of Major Keys
C sharp major - 7 sharp Cis-dur | F Sharp Major - 6 Sharp Fis-dur | C major - 5 sharp H-dur |
D flat major - 5 flat Des dur | G flat major - 6 flat Ges-dur | E flat major - 7 flat Ces dur |
Examples of minor keys
A-Sharp Minor - 7 Sharp ais-moll | D Sharp Minor - 6 Sharp dis-moll | G Sharp Minor - 5 Sharp gis-moll |
B flat minor - 5 flat b-moll | in E flat minor - 6 flat es-moll | A flat minor - 7 flat as-moll |
If we talk about unnecessary enharmonic substitutions, we can cite as an example such a tonality as C major (no signs) and C-sharp major (12 sharps). It will be anharmonically equal to C major and D-double-flat major (12 flat).
Keys play an important role in the work of composers, some are assigned certain images, for example, from the time of JS Bach in B minor is considered a “black” key, and in the work of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov D flat major is considered a key of love. It is amazing that cycles of works written in all keys are created: 2 volumes of the well-tempered clavier by I.S.Bach, 24 preludes by F. Chopin, 24 preludes by A. Scriabin, 24 preludes and fugues by D. Shostakovich. And one of the keys to the competent, successful performance of such works is the knowledge of keys.