Functional Behaviours
From the viewpoint of musical behaviour or structure there are three essential functions:
| Chord | Inversion |
|---|---|
| Tonic | I |
| Dominant | V |
| vii | |
| Predominant | IV |
| ii |
Other functions serve to support the Tonic and Dominant functions listed above:
- Dominant preparation
- Tonic substitution or extension
The dominant, dominant preparation and the tonic substitution all involve more than one scale degree with only the tonic and subdominant containing only one scale degree. Several scale degrees exercise more than one function.
The tonic includes four separate activities or roles as the:
- Principal goal tone or event
- Initiating event
- Generator of other tones, and the
- Stable center neutralizing the tension between dominant and subdominant, while the dominant has only the role of creating instability that requires the tonic or goal-tone for release.
- The subdominant also acts as a dominant preparation. A tonic extension is an elaboration of an initiating event while substitution is an alteration of a cadential point or goal tone. Many of these functions may still be found in post-tonal music.
Read more about this topic: Diatonic Function
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