Linked Questions
13 questions linked to/from What's the difference between "modal music" and "tonal music"?
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Is F Lydian mode in the "key" of C Major?
In most cases (if not all), a piece of music without sharps or flats in the key signature, would be considered in the key of C major or A minor. This question assumes the context of Western Music ...
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How do I know what key to write in?
I've recently become obsessed with Les Miserables and Miss Saigon. The music has inspired me tenfold to compose, write similar music.
I've posted on here before on how to compose, and I'm trying my ...
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What is the difference between C major and C Ionian?
To my understanding, C major is the same as C Ionian, because both consist of the notes C, D, E, F, G, A, B, (C) in this order.
Contrast this with D Dorian, which consists of the same notes, but in ...
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With modes, is 'tonic' still the appropriate term for naming the first note of the scale?
Or is it better to just call it 'first note' (eg: In D Dorian, is 'D' the tonic or just 'first note'). And I suppose same question for the the rest of the scale degrees too (super tonic, mediant etc.)....
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Can someone explain what a key is? [duplicate]
I feel like I shouldn't be asking this... ugh.
Every explanation I've encountered left me feeling like a key is the same as a scale. I've been using the word "key" to mean the primary scale the song ...
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What is the tonic of a musical mode?
Let's say I'm playing Dorian D mode. Is my tonic:
C, because Dorian mode is derived from the diatonic scale of C?
Or D, because my tonal center is in D?
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How are chord progressions built in a modal context vs traditional major/minor context?
This question is asked from the standpoint of popular music as it is today (2016). Let's confine the question to progressions that are 4 bars long, since that's the most generic pattern in pop music.
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Tonality and Modality together
Tonality and modality form a unit in most music, right? You are in F Major or in D minor etc...
Is there a name for the two entities together seen as a unity? I'm working on some musical software ...
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4
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Names of different definitions of key
If we read the Wikipedia page for musical key, or the question about the Definition of minor key, we might notice conflicting views regarding the definition of "key".
On one hand, we have a ...
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Difference between Modality, Tonality and Chord-naming conventions in a more practical way?
There is a lot of very valuable information about these terms that I have been reading lately - inline on SE and on other places on the web:
What's the difference between "modal music"...
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2
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Diminished key?
Why can't a song be in a half-diminished, diminished, augmented, or altered key? Or technically, why aren't songs in half-diminished, diminished, augmented, or altered keys?
I've asked one of my ...
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Can a musical mode have more than one note for a given degree?
I know there's an exception for "melodic minor" (M7 ascending, m7 descending), but does the framework of musical modes support the notion in general? Put another way, are there any modes ...
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Tonal hierarchy in non-diatonic music
There are two motivations for this question: I'm trying to distill the essence of what tonality in common-practice music really means, and I'd like as a compositional resource to port some aspects of ...
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