Tonicization Through Secondary Leading Tone Chords: AP Music Theory Study Guide
Introduction
Hello, future Mozarts and Beethovens! Welcome to the world of tonicization through secondary leading tone chords. If that sounds like a mouthful, don’t worry. Imagine your music is a Netflix series, and occasionally, a side plot comes in to make things more exciting. That’s tonicization for you! 🎬🎶
What is Tonicization?
Tonicization is like borrowing some flair from another key to make your music more interesting, kind of like adding sprinkles to your ice cream. You take a few notes (or chords) from a "secondary key" and make them the star of the show for a brief moment. This secondary key's tonic is called the "temporary tonic."
For instance, if you’re playing in C major and you decide to give a nod to G major, you might throw in some G major chords or progressions like I-V-vi-IV, before snapping back to C major. Think of it as a musical cameo appearance. 🎤
Spotting Tonicizations
The best detectives use special clues, and in music, those clues are accidentals. If you see accidentals popping up (that aren’t just leading tones in minor), chances are, you're witnessing a tonicization. These borrowed notes often resolve upward by step, creating a "leading tone relationship," which is your cue that a temporary tonic is landing nearby. 🎩🕵️♀️
Once you spot the temporary tonic, you can figure out which chord led into this little side journey. A chord with a dominant function (either a V or vii chord in the secondary key) usually does the honors of introducing the temporary tonic.
The Limits of Tonicization
You can’t tonicize just any triad. Major and minor triads are fair game, but diminished or augmented triads are off the menu. In other words, in a major key, you can’t tonicize vii°, and in a minor key, ii° is out. Keep an eye out for accidentals, and you'll spot these tonicizations easily!
Popular Tonicization Targets
It's most common to tonicize the dominant (V), subdominant (IV), or supertonic (ii) of the primary key. If you're in A major, you might feel the pull towards E major (the dominant), making B major the secondary dominant. So, if you see II chords popping up in A major, grab your magnifying glass, detective—you’ve got a tonicization on your hands!
The reason dominant chords lead into the temporary tonic is to firmly establish it as a tonic. Dominant chords have strong tendencies, like the leading tone itching to resolve to the tonic. Apply this concept to your temporary targets, and you get chord magnetism in action! 🧲
Secondary Leading Tone Chords
Remember from our previous melodic escapades that vii° operates similarly to the V chord—they both serve dominant functions. Just like a V chord, a secondary leading tone sets up a mini-cadence. These chords often come as seventh chords: vii°⁷ and viiø⁷. In a major key, use both, but in minor keys, stick to vii°⁷.
Example Time!
To write vii°/IV, vii°⁷/IV, and viiø⁷/IV in B major, the root of our IV chord (E) becomes our new tonic. The leading tone is now D#. So, our secondary leading tone chords are:
- vii°/IV = D#-F#-A♮
- vii°⁷/IV = D#-F#-A♮-C♮
- viiø⁷/IV = D#-F#-A♮-C#
Voilà, a little slice of musical magic! ✨
Identification of Secondary Leading Tone Chords
Spotting these is a lot like finding secondary dominants. Look for accidentals—your musical breadcrumbs. If you've got a diminished or half-diminished chord with accidentals, you're probably gazing at a secondary leading tone chord. Remember, College Board mostly tests secondary dominants and secondary leading tones, so use this to your advantage during exams!
Here’s a fun analysis challenge: Check out Brahms' Intermezzo, Op. 119, No. 3 in C major. In measure 1, you’ll find a V⁷ chord on beat 1, which is followed by a passing I⁶₄ chord. Move to measure 2, and bingo—we spot a ii°⁶₅ chord and a diminished seventh chord with accidentals! That’s your cue: F# is leading to G (which is V of C), so we've got a vii°⁷/V.
Part-Writing Secondary Leading Tone Chords
When you’re writing these chords, follow your voice-leading rules like they’re gospel. Keep in mind the temporary leading tone, chordal seventh, and tonic. In C major, for instance, the chordal seventh won’t be F but the fourth scale degree of your temporary key.
Avoid half-diminished 7th chords in minor; raise that leading tone to give it proper dominant function. Also, steer clear of building vii°/III and viiø⁷/III in minor keys because they’d sound identical to ii° and iiø⁷. Root position vii°⁷ chords aren’t cool in 18th-century voice leading, so avoid them unless you want to raise a few Baroque eyebrows!
Always raise the leading tone when writing secondary leading tone chords. The goal is to create tension that resolves to a temporary tonic, like a good plot twist that keeps listeners hooked. 📚
Tonicizing Deceptive Motion
Sometimes, you might come across a deceptive cadence that gets tonicized to resolve the tension. For example, going from V to vii/vi to a vi chord in Major. Why? Because the vii/vi chord shares many tones with the V chord, serving as a sly musical trick.
This makes V-vii/vi mostly stepwise and unresolved but much more conclusive when vii/vi moves to vi, thanks to the vii-i motion in the secondary key. Let's see this in action with “Mag da draussen senhee” by Josephine Lang. Here, a V7 chord leads sneakily into a viio7 chord in the secondary key, resolving in Db major.
Key Terms to Review
- Augmented Triad: Three notes stacked with two major thirds, bright and unstable.
- Chordal Seventh: Adding the seventh note above a triad, creating a four-note chord.
- Deceptive Cadence: Unexpected V (dominant) to vi (relative minor) resolution.
- Dominant Function: The role of V chord creating tension and leading back to the tonic.
- Figured Bass Notation: Musical shorthand from the Baroque era indicating chords.
- Fully Diminished Seventh Chords: Four-note chord creating tension and resolution.
- Leading Tone Relationship: Strong pull between the seventh and tonic scale degrees.
- Major Triad: Three-note chord with the root, major third, and perfect fifth.
- Part Writing: Crafting individual melodic lines within a composition.
- Secondary Dominant: Non-diatonic chord tonicizing another diatonic chord.
- Secondary Leading Tone Chords: Temporary dominant chords built on a different key’s leading tone.
- Tonicization: Temporarily treating another scale degree as tonic.
- V Chord: Dominant chord built on the fifth scale degree with a strong tension-resolution pull.
- Vii Chord: Leading tone triad or seventh chord resolving to tonic.
- Voice-Leading Rules: Guidelines for smooth and pleasing chord transitions.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You’ve just navigated the maze of secondary leading tone chords. Remember, tonicization is like seasoning; it adds flavor to your music, making it richer and more engaging. So go on, sprinkle those secondary chords like a master chef of harmony! 🍲🎶
Use this guide as your compass, and soon, you’ll be tonicizing with the best of them. Happy composing, and may your chords always resolve smoothly!
