In music theory, a leading-tone (also called a subsemitone, and a leading-note in the UK) is a

note Note, notes, or NOTE may refer to: Music and entertainment * Musical note, a pitched sound (or a symbol for a sound) in music * ''Notes'' (album), a 1987 album by Paul Bley and Paul Motian * ''Notes'', a common (yet unofficial) shortened version ...

or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one

semitone A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. Typically, ''the'' leading tone refers to the seventh scale degree of a

major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double ...

(), a

major seventh In music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as ''major'' because it i ...

above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the leading-tone is sung as ''ti''. A leading-tone triad is a triad built on the seventh scale degree in a major key (vii in Roman numeral analysis), while a leading-tone seventh chord is a

seventh chord A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a mi ...

built on the seventh scale degree (vii⁷).

Walter Piston Walter Hamor Piston, Jr. (January 20, 1894 – November 12, 1976), was an American composer of classical music, music theorist, and professor of music at Harvard University. Life Piston was born in Rockland, Maine at 15 Ocean Street to Walter Ha ...

considers and notates vii as V, an incomplete dominant seventh chord. (For the Roman numeral notation of these chords, see Roman numeral analysis.)

Note

Seventh scale degree (or lower leading tone)

Typically, when people speak of ''the'' leading tone, they mean the seventh scale degree () of the major scale, which has a strong affinity for and leads melodically to the tonic. It is sung as ''ti'' in movable-do solfège. For example, in the C major scale, the leading note is the note B. : As a diatonic function, the leading tone is the seventh scale degree of any diatonic scale when the distance between it and the tonic is a single

. In diatonic scales in which there is a

whole tone In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more det ...

between the seventh scale degree and the tonic, such as the Mixolydian mode, the seventh degree is called the ''

subtonic In music, the subtonic is the degree of a musical scale which is a whole step below the tonic note. In a major key, it is a lowered, or flattened, seventh scale degree (). It appears as the seventh scale degree in the natural minor and descendin ...

''. However, in modes without a leading tone, such as Dorian and Mixolydian, a raised seventh is often featured during cadences, such as in the

harmonic minor scale In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which al ...

. A leading tone outside of the current scale is called a '' secondary leading-tone'', leading to a ''secondary tonic''. It functions to briefly tonicize a scale tone (usually the 5th degree) as part of a secondary dominant chord. In the second measure of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's ''

Waldstein Sonata Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 21 in C major, Op. 53, known as the ', is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period (the other two being the ''Appassionata'', Op. 57, and ''Les Adieux'', Op. 81a). Completed in summer 1804 and sur ...

'' (shown below), the F's function as secondary leading-tones, which resolve to G in the next measure. :

Descending, or upper, leading-tone

By contrast, a descending, or upper, leading-tone is a leading tone that resolves ''down'', as opposed to the seventh scale degree (a ''lower'' leading-tone) which resolves up. The descending, or upper, leading-tone usually is a lowered second degree () resolving to the tonic, but the expression may at times refer to a resolving to the dominant. In German, the term ''Gegenleitton'' ("counter leading tone") is used by Hugo Riemann to denote the descending or upper leading-tone (), but

Heinrich Schenker Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully ex ...

uses ''abwärtssteigenden Leitton'' ("descending leading tone") to mean the descending diatonic

supertonic In music, the supertonic is the second degree () of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as ''re''. The triad built on the supertonic note is called the supertonic ch ...

().) The

tritone substitution The tritone substitution is a common chord substitution found in both jazz and classical music. Where jazz is concerned, it was the precursor to more complex substitution patterns like Coltrane changes. Tritone substitutions are sometimes used i ...

, chord progression ii-subV-I on C (Dm-Db7-C), results in an upper leading-note. :

Analysis

According to

Ernst Kurth Ernst Kurth (1 June 1886, in Vienna – 2 August 1946, in Bern) was a Swiss music theorist of Austrian origin. Career Kurth studied musicology with Guido Adler (a student of Bruckner and Hanslick) in Vienna, and earned his Ph.D. (1908) wit ...

, the major and

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

s contain "latent" tendencies towards the

perfect fourth A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth () is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to ...

and whole tone, respectively, and thus establish

tonality Tonality is the arrangement of pitches and/or chords of a musical work in a hierarchy of perceived relations, stabilities, attractions and directionality. In this hierarchy, the single pitch or triadic chord with the greatest stability is ca ...

. However,

Carl Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community * Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of te ...

contests Kurth's position, holding that this drive is in fact created through or with harmonic function, a root progression in another voice by a whole-tone or fifth, or melodically ( monophonically) by the context of the scale. For example, the leading tone of alternating C chord and F minor chords is either the note E leading to F (if F is tonic), or A leading to G (if C is tonic). In works from the 14th- and 15th-century Western tradition, the leading tone is created by the progression from imperfect to perfect consonances, such as a major third to a perfect fifth or minor third to a unison. The same pitch outside of the imperfect consonance is not a leading tone. Forte claims that the leading tone is only one example of a more general tendency: the strongest progressions, melodic and harmonic, are by

half step A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

. He suggests that one play a G major scale and stop on the seventh note (F) to personally experience the feeling of lack caused by the "particularly strong attraction" of the seventh note to the eighth (F→G'), thus its name.

Leading-tone triad

A leading-tone chord is a triad built on the seventh scale degree in major and the raised seventh-scale-degree in minor. The quality of the leading-tone triad is diminished in both major and minor keys. For example, in both C major and C minor, it is a B diminished triad (though it is usually written in

first inversion The first inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the third of the chord is the bass note and the root a sixth above it. Walter Piston, ''Harmony'', fifth edition, revised and expanded by Mark DeVo ...

, as described below). According to John Bunyan Herbert, (who uses the term "

", which later came to usually refer to a seventh scale degree pitched a whole tone below the tonic note),

Function

The leading-tone triad is used in several functions. It is commonly used as a

passing chord In music, a passing chord is a chord that connects, or passes between, the notes of two diatonic chords. "Any chord that moves between one diatonic chord and another one nearby may be loosely termed a passing chord. A diatonic passing chord ma ...

between a

root position The root position of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the root of the chord is the bass note and the other chord factors are above it. In the root position, uninverted, of a C-major triad, the bass is ...

tonic triad and a first inversion tonic triad: that is, "In addition to its basic function of passing between I and I, VII has another important function: it can form a neighboring chord to I or I." In that instance, the leading-tone triad prolongs tonic through neighbor and passing motion. The example below shows two measures from the fourth movement of

's Piano Sonata No. 3 in C major, Op. 2 in which a leading-tone triad functions as a passing chord between I and I. : \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c'' \new Voice \relative c' >> \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c,, >> >> : The leading-tone triad may also be regarded as an incomplete dominant seventh chord: "A chord is called 'Incomplete' when its root is omitted. This omission occurs, occasionally, in the chord of the dom.-seventh, and the result is a triad upon the leading-tone." : Some sources say the chord is not a chord; some argue it is an incomplete dominant seventh chord, especially when the diminished triad is written in its first inversion (resembling a

second inversion The second inversion of a chord is the voicing of a triad, seventh chord, or ninth chord in which the fifth of the chord is the bass note. In this inversion, the bass note and the root of the chord are a fourth apart which traditionally quali ...

dominant seventh without a root): For example, vii often substitutes for V, which it closely resembles, and its use may be required in situations by

voice leading Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counte ...

: "In a strict four-voice texture, if the bass is doubled by the soprano, the VII iiis required as a substitute for the V".

Voice-leading

Since the leading-tone triad is a diminished triad, it is usually found in its

: According to Carl Edward Gardner, "The first inversion of the triad is considered, by many, preferable to

. The second inversion of the triad is unusual. Some theorists forbid its use." In a four-part chorale texture, the third of the leading-tone triad is doubled in order to avoid adding emphasis on the

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adj ...

created by the root and the fifth. Unlike a dominant chord where the leading-tone can be frustrated and not resolve to the tonic if it is in an inner voice, the leading-tone in a leading-tone triad must resolve to the tonic. Commonly, the fifth of the triad resolves down since it is phenomenologically similar to the seventh in a dominant seventh chord. All in all, the tritone resolves ''inward'' if it is written as a

diminished fifth Diminished may refer to: *Diminution In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which ...

(m. 1 below) and ''outward'' if it is written as an augmented fourth (m. 2). : \new Voice \relative c'

Leading-tone seventh chord

The leading-tone seventh chords are vii⁷ and vii⁷, the half-diminished and

diminished seventh chord The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the diminished seve ...

s on the seventh scale degree () of the major and

harmonic minor In music theory, the minor scale is three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending) – rather than just two as with the major scale, which also ...

. For example, in C major and C minor, the leading-tone seventh chords are B half-diminished (BDFA) and B diminished (B()DFA), respectively. Leading-tone seventh chords were not characteristic of Renaissance music but are typical of the Baroque and Classical period. They are used more freely in Romantic music but began to be used less in classical music as conventions of tonality broke down. They are integral to ragtime and contemporary popular and jazz music genres. Composers throughout the

common practice period In European art music, the common-practice period is the era of the tonal system. Most of its features persisted from the mid-Baroque period through the Classical and Romantic periods, roughly from 1650 to 1900. There was much stylistic evoluti ...

often employed modal mixture when using the leading-tone seventh chord in a major key, allowing for the substitution of the half-diminished seventh chord with the fully diminished seventh chord (by lowering its seventh). This mixture is commonly used when the leading-tone seventh chord is functioning as a

secondary leading-tone chord A secondary chord is an analytical label for a specific harmonic device that is prevalent in the tonal idiom of Western music beginning in the common practice period: the use of diatonic functions for tonicization. Secondary chords are a typ ...

. The example below shows fully diminished seventh chords in the right hand in the third movement of Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 5 in the key of D major. : \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' >> \new Staff << \new Voice \relative c' >> >> :

Function

The leading-tone seventh chord has a dominant

function Function or functionality may refer to: Computing * Function key, a type of key on computer keyboards * Function model, a structured representation of processes in a system * Function object or functor or functionoid, a concept of object-oriente ...

and may be used in place of V or V. Just as vii is sometimes considered an incomplete dominant seventh chord, a leading-tone seventh chord is often considered a "

dominant ninth chord In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass. Heinrich Schenker and also Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov allowed the substitution of the dominant sev ...

without root".) : For variety, leading-tone seventh chords are frequently substituted for

dominant chords Domination or dominant may refer to: Society * World domination, which is mainly a conspiracy theory * Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition * Chauvinism in which ...

, with which they have three common tones: "The seventh chord founded upon the subtonic n major.. is occasionally used. It resolves directly to the tonic... This chord may be employed without preparation."

Voice-leading

In contrast to leading-tone triads, leading-tone seventh chords appear in

. The example below shows leading-tone seventh chords (in root position) functioning as dominants in a reduction of Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'', K. 527, act 1, scene 13. :

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...

tunes the leading-tone seventh in major 5:6:7:9.

References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Note

Seventh scale degree (or lower leading tone)

Descending, or upper, leading-tone

Analysis

Leading-tone triad

Function

Voice-leading

Leading-tone seventh chord

Function

Voice-leading

See also

References

Further reading