What is tonic in music? And besides the tonic, what else is there in the fret?

What is tonic in music? The answer is quite simple: tonic – this is the first step of a major or minor mode, its most stable sound, which, like a magnet, attracts all other steps. It must be said that “all other steps” also behave quite interestingly.

As you know, the major and minor scales have only 7 steps, which in the name of general harmony must somehow “get along” with each other. This is helped by dividing into: firstly, stable and unstable steps; Secondly, main and side stages.

Stable and unstable steps

The stable degrees of the mode are the first, third and fifth (I, III, V), and the unstable ones are the second, fourth, sixth and seventh (II, IV, VI, VII).

Unstable steps always tend to resolve into stable ones. For example, the seventh and second steps “want” to go to the first step, the second and fourth – to the third, and the fourth and sixth – to the fifth. For example, consider the gravity of the foundations in the foundations in C major:

Main stages and side stages

Each step in the scale performs a specific function (role) and is called in its own way. For example, dominant, subdominant, leading tone, etc. In this regard, questions naturally arise: “What is a dominant and what is a subdominant???”

Dominant – this is the fifth degree of the mode, subdominant – fourth. Tonic (I), subdominant (IV) and dominant (V) are main steps of the fret. Why are these steps called the main ones? Yes, because it is on these steps that triads are built that best characterize a given mode. In major they are major, in minor they are minor:

Of course, there is another reason why these steps stand out from all the others. It is associated with certain acoustic patterns. But we won’t go into the details of physics now. It is enough to know that it is on steps I, IV and V that triads-identifiers of the mode are built (that is, triads that detect or determine the mode – whether it is major or minor).

The functions of each of the main stages are very interesting; they are closely related to the logic of musical development. Thus, in music it is the main pillar, the bearer of balance, a sign of completeness, appears in moments of peace, and also, being the first step, determines the actual tonality, that is, the pitch position of the mode. – this is always a departure, an evasion from the tonic, a moment of development, a movement towards greater instability. expresses an extreme degree of instability and tends to resolve into tonic.

Oh, by the way, I almost forgot. The tonic, dominant and subdominant in all numbers are denoted by Latin letters: T, D and S respectively. If the key is major, then these letters are written in capitals (T, S, D), but if the key is minor, then in small letters (t, s, d).

In addition to the main fret steps, there are also side steps – these are mediants and leading tones. Mediants are intermediate steps (middle). The mediant is the third (third) stage, which is intermediate on the path from tonic to dominant. There is also a submediant – this is the VI (sixth) stage, an intermediate link on the path from tonic to subdominant. The introductory degrees are those that surround the tonic, that is, the seventh (VII) and second (II).

Let’s now put all the steps together and see what comes of it all. What emerges is a beautiful symmetrical picture-diagram that simply wonderfully demonstrates the functions of all the steps in the scale.

We see that in the center we have the tonic, along the edges: on the right is the dominant, and on the left is the subdominant. The path from the tonic to the dominants lies through the mediants (middles), and the closest to the tonic are the introductory steps surrounding it.

Well, the information, strictly speaking, is extremely useful and relevant (maybe, of course, not for those who are just on their first day in music, but for those who are on their second day, it is already necessary to have such knowledge). If anything is unclear, don’t hesitate to ask. You can write your question directly in the comments.

Let me remind you that today you learned about what tonic is, what subdominant and dominant are, and we examined stable and unstable steps. In the end, perhaps, I would like to emphasize that main steps and stable steps are not the same thing! The main steps are I (T), IV (S) and V (D), and the stable steps are I, III and V steps. So please don’t be confused!