In
music
Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...
, a common tone is a
pitch class
In music, a pitch class (p.c. or pc) is a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octaves apart; for example, the pitch class C consists of the Cs in all octaves. "The pitch class C stands for all possible Cs, in whatever octave positio ...
that is a member of, or common to (shared by) two or more
chords
Chord or chords may refer to:
Art and music
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord, a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* The Chords (British band), 1970s British mod ...
or
sets. Typically, it refers to 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 versi ...
shared between two chords in a
chord progression
In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural, or simply changes) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from ...
. According to H.E. Woodruff:
The example below shows the seven
diatonic triads of
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
. The common tones between the
tonic triad and the other six triads are highlighted in blue. As Woodruff describes, the tonic triad shares ''no'' common tones with either II and VII (consecutive to I), ''one'' common tone with IV and V (four and five degrees from I) each, and ''two'' common tones with III and VI (three and six degrees from I) each.
:
In voice leading
Common tones are a consideration in
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 cou ...
and
voicing.
Abbé Vogler (1749–1814),
Weber (1779–1839),
Hauptmann
() is an officer rank in the armies of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is usually translated as ''captain''.
Background
While in contemporary German means 'main', it also has, and originally had, the meaning of 'head', i.e. ' literall ...
(1792–1868),
A. B. Marx (1795–1866), and earlier theorists emphasized "common-tone retention and smooth voice leading in...
heir
Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
treatment
of harmonic succession
hord progressions . It may be considered a guideline or a rule .
The example below shows a
circle progression
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. The length of a line segment connecting ...
in C major, in which common tones are retained in the second voice (alto).
:
Common-tone diminished seventh chord
A
diminished seventh chord
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a Root (chord), root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the dim ...
may resolve to a chord whose root is common to both chords (e.g. ii
7 resolves to I
6). When this happens, the first chord is called a
common-tone diminished seventh chord.
:
See also
*
Approach chord
Approach may refer to:
Aviation
*Visual approach
*Instrument approach
* Final approach
Music
* ''Approach'' (album), by Von Hertzen Brothers
* ''The Approach'', an album by I:Scintilla
Other uses
*Approach Beach, a gazetted beach in Ting Kau, H ...
*
Common chord (music) Common chord may refer to:
* Common chord (geometry), the secant line that joins the intersection points of two curves
* Common chord (music), a chord shared by two musical keys
* '' The Common Chord'', a 1947 short story collection by Frank O'Co ...
*
Walkdown
References
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{{Voicing (music)
Voice leading