Signata (Dec 2015)
On Tonal Dynamics and Musical Meaning
Abstract
In this paper, I explore the logic of tones, as it is expressed in tonal music, in the sense of music based on scales, chords, and phrases, all consisting of tones, that is, the musical sounds we now write as ‘notes’. In particular, I call attention to the force-dynamic relations that determine sequences of chords: ‘chord changes’. I propose a new model of conceptual tonal architecture and analyse some examples of the tonal dynamics to be found in standard and non-standard jazz themes, and which determine the patterns of modulation underlying jazz improvisation. The result is a novel conception of tonal dynamics that may prove useful to music theory and teaching more generally, and open a path to the elucidation of the rather opaque question of musical meaning as signified content. The paper finally presents a model of the semiotic functions that constitute a piece of performed music.
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