Dominant (music)

Inmusic,thedominantis the fifthscale degree() of thediatonic scale.It is called thedominantbecause it is second in importance to the first scale degree, thetonic.^[1]^[2]In themovable do solfègesystem, the dominant note is sung as "So(l)".

${ \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \time 7/4 c4 d e f \once \override NoteHead.color = #red g a b \time 2/4 c2 \bar "||" \time 4/4 <g b d>1 \bar "||" } }$

C major scale and dominant triad

${ #(set-global-staff-size 16) \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c'' { \clef treble \time 4/4 <g b d>1_\markup{ \concat{ "V" \hspace #6 "V" \raise #1 "7" \hspace #5.5 "vii" \raise #1 "o" \hspace #4.5 "vii" \raise #1 "ø7" \hspace #3 "vii" \raise #1 "o7" \hspace #4 "V" \raise #1 "9" \hspace #4 "V" \raise #1 "7♭9" } } <g b d f> <b d f> <b d f a> <b d f aes> <g b d f a> <g b d f aes> } }$

Chords with a dominant function: dominant chords (seventh,ninth,anddominant ninth) andleading-tonechords (diminished,half-diminished seventh,anddiminished seventh).^[3]

Thetriadbuilt on the dominant note is called thedominant chord.This chord is said to have dominantfunction,which means that it creates an instability that requires thetonicforresolution.Dominant triads,seventh chords,andninth chordstypically have dominant function.Leading-tone triadsandleading-tone seventh chordsmay also have dominant function.

In very much conventionallytonal music,harmonic analysis will reveal a broad prevalence of theprimary(often triadic) harmonies: tonic, dominant, andsubdominant(i.e., I and its chief auxiliaries a 5th removed), and especially the first two of these.
— Wallace Berry(1976)^[4]

The scheme I-x-V-I symbolizes, though naturally in a very summarizing way, the harmonic course of any composition of theClassical period.Thisx,usually appearing as aprogression of chords,as a whole series, constitutes, as it were, the actual "music" within the scheme, which through the annexed formula V-I, is made into a unit, a group, or even a whole piece.
— Rudolph Reti,(1962)^[5]

Dominant chords

C minor scale and dominant triad, first with asubtonic(♭

) and then with aleading tone(♮

)

Inmusic theory,the dominanttriadis amajor chord,symbolized by theRoman numeral"V" in themajor scale.In thenatural minor scale,the triad is aminor chord,denoted by "v". However, in a minorkey,the seventh scale degree is often raised by ahalf step(♭to♮), creating amajor chord.

These chords may also appear asseventh chords:typically as adominant seventh chord,but occasionally in minor as aminor seventh chordv⁷withpassing function:^[6]

As defined by the 19th century musicologistJoseph Fétis,thedominantewas a seventh chord over the first note of a descending perfect fifth in thebasse fondamentaleor root progression, thecommon practice perioddominant seventh he named thedominante tonique.^[7]

Dominant chords are important tocadential progressions.In the strongest cadence, theauthentic cadence(example shown below), the dominant chord is followed by the tonic chord. A cadence that ends with a dominant chord is called ahalf cadenceor an "imperfect cadence".

Dominant key

The key immediately clockwise is the dominant key of the key immediately counterclockwise, and features either one more sharp or one less flat.

Thedominant keyis thekeywhose tonic is aperfect fifthabove (or aperfect fourthbelow) thetonicof the main key of the piece. Put another way, it is the key whose tonic is the dominant scale degree in the main key.^[8]If, for example, a piece is written in the key ofC major,then the tonic key is C major and the dominant key isG majorsince G is the dominant note in C major.^[9]

"Essentially, there are two harmonic directions: toward I and toward V. These primary diatonic triads form the harmonic axis of tonal music."^[10]

Insonata formin major keys, the second subject group is usually in the dominant key.

The movement to the dominant was part of musical grammar, not an element of form. Almost all music in the eighteenth century went to the dominant: before 1750 it was not something to be emphasized; afterward, it was something that the composer could take advantage of. This means that every eighteenth-century listener expected the movement to the dominant in the sense that [one] would have been puzzled if [one] did not get it; it was a necessary condition of intelligibility.
— Charles Rosen(1972)^[11]

Music whichmodulates(changes key) often modulates to the dominant key. Modulation to the dominant often creates a sense of increased tension; as opposed to modulation to thesubdominant(fourth note of the scale), which creates a sense of musical relaxation.

The vast majority of harmonies designated as "essential" in the basic frame of structure must be I and V–the latter,when tonal music is viewed in broadest terms,an auxiliary support and embellishment of the former, for which it is the principal medium oftonicization.
— Berry (1976)^[4]

In non-Western music

The dominant is an important concept inMiddle Eastern music.In thePersian Dastgah,Arabic maqamand theTurkish makam,scales are made up oftrichords,tetrachords,andpentachords(each called ajinsinArabic) with the tonic of a maqam being the lowest note of the lower jins and the dominant being that of the upper jins. The dominant of a maqam is not always the fifth, however; for example, inKurdish musicandBayati,the dominant is the fourth, and inmaqam Saba,the dominant is the minor third. A maqam may have more than one dominant.

References

^Benward & Saker (2003).Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I,p. 33. Seventh Edition.ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0."So called because its function is next in importance to the tonic."
^Forte, Allen(1979).Tonal Harmony(3rd ed.). Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. p. 118.ISBN 0-03-020756-8.V serves to establish the tonic triad...particularly evident at the cadence.
^Berry, Wallace(1987) [1976].Structural Functions in Music.p. 54.ISBN 0-486-25384-8.
^^a ^bBerry 1987,p. 62
^Reti, Rudolph(1962).Tonality in Modern Music,p. 28, quoted inKostka& Payne (1995).Tonal Harmony,p. 458.ISBN 0-07-035874-5.
^Kostka, Stefan;Payne, Dorothy (2004).Tonal Harmony(5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. pp.197.ISBN 0072852607.OCLC 51613969.
^Dahlhaus, Carl. Gjerdingen, Robert O. trans. (1990).Studies in the Origin of Harmonic Tonality,p. 143. Princeton University Press.ISBN 0-691-09135-8.
^"Dominant",Grove Music Online^{[full citation needed]}
^DeVoto, Mark."Dominant".Encyclopædia Britannica.Retrieved22 May2013.
^Forte 1979,p. 103.
^Rosen, Charles(1972).The Classical Style.W. W. Norton. Cited in White, John D. (1976).The Analysis of Music,p. 56.ISBN 0-13-033233-X.

[1] Benward & Saker (2003).Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I,p. 33. Seventh Edition.ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0."So called because its function is next in importance to the tonic."

[2] Forte, Allen(1979).Tonal Harmony(3rd ed.). Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. p. 118.ISBN 0-03-020756-8.V serves to establish the tonic triad...particularly evident at the cadence.

[3] Berry, Wallace(1987) [1976].Structural Functions in Music.p. 54.ISBN 0-486-25384-8.

[Berry-4] Berry 1987,p. 62

[5] Reti, Rudolph(1962).Tonality in Modern Music,p. 28, quoted inKostka& Payne (1995).Tonal Harmony,p. 458.ISBN 0-07-035874-5.

[K&P_2463-6] Kostka, Stefan;Payne, Dorothy (2004).Tonal Harmony(5th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. pp.197.ISBN 0072852607.OCLC 51613969.

[7] Dahlhaus, Carl. Gjerdingen, Robert O. trans. (1990).Studies in the Origin of Harmonic Tonality,p. 143. Princeton University Press.ISBN 0-691-09135-8.

[8] "Dominant",Grove Music Online^{[full citation needed]}

[9] DeVoto, Mark."Dominant".Encyclopædia Britannica.Retrieved22 May2013.

[FOOTNOTEForte1979103-10] Forte 1979,p. 103.

[11] Rosen, Charles(1972).The Classical Style.W. W. Norton. Cited in White, John D. (1976).The Analysis of Music,p. 56.ISBN 0-13-033233-X.

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Dominant (music)

Contents

Dominant chords

Dominant key

In non-Western music

See also

References