FFBk00Preface.fm.

2014-09-13, 14:47

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

11

Preface
Whythisbook?
Itwasin2005or2006thatFrancoFabbriaskedmetoproducea
bookbasedonsomeencyclopediaarticlesIdwrittenbetween1998
and 2000.1 I was slow to respond because I didnt then see how
repackagingthatworkcouldhavemuchpositiveimpactonmusic
studies.Twothingsmademechangemymind.
ThefirstwaswhenFrancoshowedmeanItalianmusictheorytext
book.Look,hesaid,thisisallmystudentshavetogoby.Skim
ming through its pages I realised that, like equivalents in other
languages,itdealtonlywithcertaintonalelementsof EUROCLASSI
CALmusic2andthatitpaidparticularattentiontoconventionalno
tions of harmony within that tradition. Glancing through that
textbook, I was reminded ofaproblem Id often had to confront
whenwritingtheoriginalencyclopediaarticles:howtotalkabout
commontonalpracticesthatdontconformtothesortoftonalthe
ory taught in many seats of musical learning. Explaining some
thingascommonandasostensiblysimpleastheLaBambachord
loop(asinLaBamba,Guantanamera,WildThing,PataPata,Twist&
Shoutetc.)intermsoftonic,subdominantanddominanthadfor
sometimestruckmeasaboutasproductiveasusingtheoriesof
combustiontoexplainelectricity.Andyetsomemusicscholarsstill
try to apply Schenkerian notions of harmonic directionality to
tonalconfigurationsinwhichnotionslikedominantandperfect
cadenceareatbestquestionable,ifnotaltogetherirrelevant.3
Ifrestrictednotionsoftonalityweretheonlyproblemwithinstitu
tionalisedtraditionsofmusicallearningintheWest,thingswould
not be so bad. Unfortunately the problems go much deeper be
causethatsametraditionhasfocussedalmostexclusivelyontonal
1.
2.
3.

SeeEPMOWEncyclopediaofPopularMusicoftheWorldvol.II(Tagg,2002).
ThroughoutthisbookIuseEUROCLASSICALtorefertoEuropeanclassicalmusic;
seep.16andGlossary(p.488)forexplanationofthisterm.
SeevideoDominantsandDominance(Tagg2009c).

12

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

issuesandtendedtosteerclearofparameterslikemetricity,perio
dicity,timbre,grooveandsonicstaging,whichsomescholarsstill
earnestlybelievetobeofsecondaryimportance.Theresnoroom
heretoexploreconventionalEuropeanmusictheoryspredilection
forharmonic,melodicandthematicparametersthatcan,atleastto
someextent,begraphicallyrepresentedonthepageasblobs,lines
andsquiggles,excepttosaythatWesternstaffnotationdeveloped
toscriballyencodeaspectsofmusicintheeuroclassicaltradition
thatweredifficulttomemorise,ratherthantorecordthespecifics
ofothermusiccultures.Thistonalfixationhaspromotedamindset
according to which monometric music, whose pitches can be ar
rangedinoctavesconsistingoftwelveequalintervalseach,isana
lysablebecauseitisnotatable;othertypesofmusicare,sotospeak,
neither. Indeed, even the downbeat anticipations and neutral
thirds often heard in Englishlanguage popular music from the
twentiethcenturylookincongruousinWesternnotation,whileas
pects of sound treatment essential to the expressive qualities of
music wehear on a daily basis echo, delay, reverb, saturation,
phasing, etc. are conspicuous by their absence.4 Conventional
approachestomusicanalysisintheWestmayservesomeusein
helping us appreciate how a sense of narrative works in sonata
form (diataxis, the extensional aesthetic), but they have done
verylittletohelpusunderstandotherequallyimportantaspectsof
form that exist inside the extended present (syncrisis, inten
sionalaesthetics).5
Thefirsteditionofthisbookwaspublishedin2009sincewhenI
mainlyworkedonMusicsMeanings:amodernmusicologyfornon
musos(Tagg,2013).InthatbookIalsotriedtorightafewofthe
graphocentric wrongs just mentioned, but I regret that so much
4.

5.

See,forexample,thesemanticcontortionofinverse(
)v.normal(
)
intheHarvardDictionaryofMusic(1958)entryfordotting,eventhough

(inversedotting)isidentifiedasusualincertaintypesofmusic.
Intensionalandextensionalaretwousefulconcepts,firstcoinedbyAndrew
Chester(1970).Forshortdefinitionoftheextendedpresent,seeGlossaryand
Tagg(2013:2523).Diataxisandsyncrisis,seeGlossaryandChapters11and12
inTagg(2013:383484).

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

13

moreneedstobedone.Itsataskthatwouldinvolveseverallife
timesofresearchandresultinseveralbooksofthissize.Still,at
leastonethingbecameclearwhenworkingonMusicsMeanings:I
wouldhavetorewriteandexpandEverydayTonality.

WhyEverydayTonalityII?
Thereareatleastsevenanswerstothatquestion.
[1]HalfthefirsteditionofEverydayTonalityconsistedofreworked
encyclopedia entries that were too short to allow for substantial
treatmentofseveralofthebookstopics.Thatiscertainlythecase
withtheexposaboutquartalharmonywhichhasincreasedinsize
fromadozenpagesinthe2009editiontoasixtypagechapterin
thisone.Quartalharmonyissimplyamuchmorewidespreadand
multifacetedphenomenonofeverydaytonalitythancouldreason
ablyfitintojustafewpages.
[2]Somecommonaspectsofeverydaytonalitywerenotcoveredat
allinthefirstedition,forexamplebasslinesandhexatonicmodes.
Whilebasslinesarentthefocusofmuchattentioninthiseditionei
ther its the topic of another book hexatonic modes are. I
wantedtounderstandwhytermsofstructuraldesignationexisted
forpentatonicandheptatonicbutnotforhexatonicmodes.Inever
foundoutwhy,butatleastImableinthiseditiontoproposeasys
tem for understanding the mechanics of some commonly used
hexatonicmodes.6
[3]Themodesdiscussedinthepreviouseditionweremainlydia
tonicandheptatonicthechurchmodes,includingtheionian
whileotherswereabsent.IfeltIhadlapsedintoatonallyethnocen
tricdefaultmode(punintended)thatneededcorrectionifmycri
tique of conventional music theorys ethnocentrism were to have
anycredibility.ThatswhythiseditionaddressessomenonEuro
pean modes, particularly those containing flat twos and/or aug
mentedseconds,inordertoexplainhowtheywork,includingtheir
roleastonalembodimentofanexoticOther.Duetothecorrection
6.

Thewholetonescaleisalsohexatonicandtonal(itcontainssixtones)butitis
nottonical:itcontainsnoperfectfifthandhasnohierarchyofscalesteps.Like
theoctatonicscale,itcanonlybetransposedtooneotherposition.

14

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

ofthisomission,tothetheorisationofhexatonicmodesandtothe
improvedtheorisationofpentaandheptatonicmodes,thesizeof
the chapters on (melodic) mode has increased from one twelve
pagechaptertotwochapterscoveringmorethanninetypages.
[4]The2009editioncontainedafewfactualerrorsandlacunaethat
havebeenputtorightinthisedition.7
[5]Duetorestrictionsofspace,timeandcopyrightlegislation,the
original encyclopedia entries included very few music examples.
Eventhoughthereweremoreexamplesinthe2009editionthanin
theencyclopediaarticles, Istillfelt therewasinsufficient musical
meatonthetheoreticalbone.ThatswhyIveradicallyincreasedthe
number of music examples and reset them using better notation
andimageprocessingsoftware.Thisexpansionofspacedevotedto
actual music will, I hope, make the book more convincing and
morefuntoread.Ivealsotriedtoinclude,whereverpermissible,
linkstoonlinerecordingsofthemusiccitedasnotation(seeMusi
calsourcereferences,p.28).
[6]The2009editioncontainedafewpassageswhereIfellintothe
trapofterminologicalinertiaandinexactitude.Particularlyembar
rassingwastheoccasionaluseofmodeintheabsurdlyrestricted
senseofanyheptatonicmodeexcepttheionian(whoops!),andthe
occasionalconfusionoftonical(havingatonalcentre)withtonal
(havingatoneortones).Suchterminologicallapseshavebeenrig
orouslyexpungedfromthisedition.
[7]Mostimportantly,theconceptsoftonalitycirculatinginWestern
academiesofmusic,whatevertheircanonicrepertoire,arestillall
tooofteninadequate,illogicalandethnocentric.Theysimplydont
domuchtohelpmusicstudentslivinginamulticultural,internet
linked,globalworldtogettogripswiththetonalnutsandboltsof
allthosemusicsthatdontfittheconceptualgridofcategoriesde
veloped to explain certain aspects of the euroclassical or classical
jazztraditions.
7.

OneerrorconcernsmyapparentmisunderstandingofGlareanstheoryabout
thehypomodes.Ihaveremovedthatshortsectionfromthiseditionbecause
itsquiteperipheraltotheissuesunderdiscussion(seeftnt.48,p.113).

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

15

Reasonnumber7isalsowhyItryinthisbooktobringsomeorder
into terms denoting important general aspects of tonal structura
tion.TodothatIhavetoexplainwidelyusedconceptsliketone,
melody,accompanimentandharmonyinwaysthatrelatethosephe
nomena,notjusttothemusicofcertainminoritieslivingincertain
partsofacertaincontinentduringacertainshortperiodofitshis
tory (the euroclassical tradition from c.1730 to c.1910;), but to a
muchwiderrangeofmusicsandpeople.Ofcourse,thattradition
is,alongwiththejazzcanon,anessentialingredientintheevery
daytonalityofmillions,anditsuniquecharacteristicsneedclear
explanationinabookdevotedtotheeveryday.Butsuchexplana
tionisalsoimpossibleifthespecificdynamicofthosecanonictra
ditions cannot be understood in relation to the panoply of other
tonalitiesineverydaycirculation.Thedifficultyisthatthevastma
jorityofthoseothermusicsisundertheorised,inthesensethatex
istingmusictheoryoftenseemstohaveeithermisleadingtermsor
notermsatalltodesignatetheirspecifictonaldynamics.
Thereformanddeethnocentrificationofmusictheoryisanuphill
battleinthecontextofinstitutionswhoseexistencereliesonmusi
caltraditionsthathavetobesociallydead,oratleastmoribund,in
orderforthemtobecomefixedascanonsforexample,theeuro
classical canon, the jazz canon, the academic safari canon and,
morerecently,therockcanon.Suchfixationofrepertoire,ofitsaes
theticsandstructuraltheory,ismoreoftenthannotunderstoodas
anecessityininstitutionsthatrepeatcoursecontentfromoneyear
tothenextinthenameofconsistencyorcostcutting,andthatare
subjectedtoleaguetablesofexcellencethathavetobeconcocted
onthebasisofaconsensusaboutwhateverybodydoesoralways
hasdonetofunctionatall.IfEXCELmeanstosurpass,tostandout,
etc.,excellencebasedonleaguetablesisablatantcontradictiointer
minis.Ihopethisbookcancontribute,atleastinasmallway,toex
posing excellence as the destructive oxymoron of mediocrity it
reallyis.8
8.

Oxymoron:anintentionalcontradictiointerminisusedforcomiceffect.

16

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Basicterms
BeforegoinganyfurtherIdbetterexplainwhatImeanbycertain
terms that recur throughout the book, right from the start, one
eveninitstitle.Thefollowinglistgivesnomorethanterse,tempo
rary definitions of terms explained in greater detail at various
pointsinthebookorintheGlossary(p.479,ff.).
NOTE:singlediscretesoundoffinitedurationinmusic;
TONE:NOTEwithdiscerniblefundamentalpitch;
TONAL:havingthepropertiesofaTONE;
TONALITY:systemaccordingtowhichTONEsareconfigured;
TONIC:musicalkeynoteorreferenceTONE;
TONICAL:havingaTONICorkeynote.
MODE:abstractionofTONALvocabularyreducedtosingleoccur
rencesofitsconstituentTONES.
MODAL:havingthecharacteristicsofaMODE;
POLYPHONY:musicinwhichatleasttwosoundsofdiffering
pitchortimbreareheardatthesametime;
POLYPHONIC:havingthecharacteristicsofPOLYPHONY;
CHORD:simultaneoussoundingofatleasttwodifferently
namedtones;
TRIAD:CHORDconsistingofthreedifferentlynamedtones;
THIRD:pitchintervalofthreeorfoursemitones(minor/major);
FOURTH:pitchintervaloffivesemitones(perfect);
TERTIAL(ofCHORDs):basedonthestackingofTHIRDs;
QUARTAL(ofCHORDs):basedonthestackingofFOURTHs;
SHUTTLE:repeatedtoandfromovementbetweentwochords;
LOOP:shortrepeatedsequenceoftypicallythreeorfourdiffer
entchords.
OtherrecurrenttermsrequiringinitialexplanationareEUROCLASSI
CALandKEYCLOCK.
IuseEUROCLASSICALwhenreferringtotheEuropeanclassicalmu
sictraditionbecausenotallclassicalmusicisEuropean(e.g.Tuni
siannouba,thergatraditionsofIndia,Cambodiancourtmusic,the
yyu ofimperialChina,etc;seealsoGlossary,p.488).I
avoid ART MUSIC labels because these tend to imply that musics
withoutthelabelinvolvenoart.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

17

Itendtousetheexpression KEY CLOCKmoreoftenthan CIRCLE OF

FIFTHSbecause(a)itsshorter;(b)itseasiertouseadjectivally,e.g.
keyclock distance rather than circleoffifths distance or dis
tanceroundthecircleoffifths(seeGlossary,p.493).
WordsandexpressionslikeHOMOPHONY,HETEROPHONY,COUNTER
POINT,COUNTERPOISE, RPENTATONIC,LAHEXATONIC,HIJAZ, MAJOR
ISEDPHRYGIANarealldefinedintheGLOSSARY.

Basicconventionsfortheabbreviatedindicationofscaledegrees
andchordsarepresentedunderTonaldenotation(pp.3037).

Whosthebookfor?
This book contains many short music examples, so its really for
anyone who can decipher Western staff notation in the G and F
clefs. Although not totally essential, some acquaintance withthe
rudimentsofmusictheory,includingconventionaleuroclassicalor
jazzharmony,isprobablyanadvantage.Infact,whenwritingthis
book,IvemainlyhadinmindthemusicstudentsIvemetsince
1971, and the conceptual problems theyve seemed to encounter
whentheyvemetmeforthesubjectsIvetaught(chieflyrelatedto
popular music, including music and the moving image). How
ever,thisbookshouldalsointerestanyonewho,withsomenota
tional literacy, wants to understand the tonal mechanisms of
severalwidelydisseminatedtypesofmusic.

Caveatsaboutthetitleandcontents
TherepertoireIdrawonforillustrationandgeneralisationmust
invariably be music that Im in some way familiar with because
theresnopointinwritingaboutthingsofwhichIhavelittleorno
knowledge.Thatmeans,justasinvariably,thattheeverydayto
nalityinthebookstitlecanneverbeeveryoneseverydayevery
where at all times. The problem is that SOME TONAL ELEMENTS IN
WIDELY HEARD MUSIC DIFFUSED IN MAINLY, BUT BY NO MEANS EXCLUSIVELY,

ENGLISHLANGUAGE CULTURES IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY, i.e. MUSIC

THATPHILIPTAGGHASPLAYED,SUNGORHEARDisnotaverycatchybook

title.IthereforeapologisetoreaderswhofeelIhaveshortenedthe
bookstitleinanuntowardmanner.However,thatabbreviationis,

18

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Ithinkforseveralreasons,notentirelymisleading.[1]Significant
amountsoftheeverydaymusicalfareofindividualsinmanyparts
oftheworldinthelatetwentiethcenturywasofAngloUSorigin.9
[2]Mynotionofeverydaymusicisnotstylisticallyrestricted:Ire
fernotonlytoTheBeatlesbutalsotoBachandtopopularmusic
fromtheBalkans,LatinAmerica,etc.[3]Withsubstantialexperi
ence of nonanglophone cultures, Im probably able to refer to
morenonanglophonemusicthanmanyothernativespeakersof
mymothertongue.10
HereIhavetoincludeanothercaveataboutthisbookscontent.It
concerns the EVERYONES AN EXPERT AT SOMETHING syndrome. I
mentionthisbecausestudentswhoaredevoteesofaparticularart
ist,composerormusicalstylehavesometimesbeenoutragedby
thefactthatIdidntincludetheirareaofexpertiseorobjectsofen
thusiasminmyteaching,orthattheirmusicalinterestswereun
derrepresented. Confronted like that in teaching situations, I
wouldnormallyapologiseandexplainmychoiceswhileencour
aging their enthusiasm and learning from their expertise. Since
thatsortofinteractionisnotviableintheauthorreaderrelation
ship,Ihavetoapologiseinadvanceifyoufindmychoiceofmate
rial unsatisfactory. I can only suggest that you write me a short
emailsuggestingimprovementsthatcometomind.11Myonlyex
cuse for the omissions that may outrage you is that Ive had to
coveranextensiverangeofmusicandmusiciansinordertoavoid
the ethnocentric trap; and that meant investigating music about
whichIwaspreviouslylessfamiliar.Indeed,Ishouldclarifythat
beforerewritingthisbookIknewpreciouslittleabout,forexam
ple,Arabmaqamat,Greekdromoi,Coplandsfilmmusic,flamenco,
klezmer,thebanjo,alternateguitartuningsorextrememetal,and
9.

i.e.musicforfilms,teleproducts,videogames,andforrecordingsin,orinflu
encedby,jazz,blues,pop,rockandotherrelatedEnglishlanguagestyles.
10. Specialisinginpopularmusic,Ihavesince1971taughtmusic[ology]interti
aryeducationinSweden,theUKandFrancophoneCanada.Ihavealsosince
the1980shadfrequentcontactwithcolleaguesinItalyandLatinAmerica.
11. Tocontactme,goto tagg.org,clickContactunderPersonal,then,underEmail,
clicktosendmeashortmessage.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

19

thatIneededtoimproveonthatignorancetowriteanythingatall
coherent about, say, the phrygian mode or quartal harmony. Be
sidesthat,Ifeltobligedtotryandtranscriberelevantexcerptsby
artistslikeSokratisMlamas,Ermlak,KingCrimson,TheBothy
BandandJoniMitchell.ThesoundsItranscribedwerealwaysin
teresting(sometimesalsomoving)buttheprocessofinvestigation
andtranscriptionwastimeconsuming.ItsinthislightthatIask
readersoutragedbymyomissionoftheirfavouritemusictoun
derstandthatIvedonewhatIcouldtowidentherepertoireIve
qualifiedaseveryday.Besides,ImonlyonepersonandIhavent
hadanySupermanillusionssincesometimearound1962!

Basicstructureandcontents
Rationaleandreservations
Apartfromthisprefaceandthevariousappendices,whichIllex
plainshortly,thisbookconsistsoffifteenchapters,manyofwhich
deal with issues of harmony. That focus might seem odd, given
thatsomanyeuroclassicalscholarshavealreadywrittensomuch
aboutharmony.Thetroubleisthatharmonyasaninstitutional
isedbodyoflearningintheWestwasoftenunabletohelpwiththe
handsonmusicanalysisIhadtodotomakesenseofmyownev
erydaytonality:Ijustcouldntapplyitstheoreticalgridsandtax
onomiestoasignificantpartofwhatIveplayedandheardinmy
life. I had to grapple with preconceived notions about harmonic
impoverishment,withassumptionsaboutunitonicality (thatyou
canonlyhaveonekeynoteatatime),unidirectionality(thathar
monic motion normally proceeds anticlockwise round the key
clock), and with several valueladen and often misleading terms
liketonality,modality,dominant,subdominant,suspension
and perfect cadence. Of course, those notions can work well if
youwanttoexaminethetonalityofMozartquartets,parloursong,
Schlagerorjazzstandards,buttheycanbeseriousepistemicobsta
cleswhendealingwithLaBamba,SweetHomeAlabama,bluesbased
rock,folkrock,postbopjazz,newsjingles,Huayno,rebetiki,son,or
atwelvebarblues.

20

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Newtermsandcompromise
Ive tried to include as much as possible of useful preexisting
ideaswhenaddressingtheproblemsjustmentioned,forexample
CarlosVegasconcept ofbimodality (1944), Allan Mooresuseful
listsofharmonicdeparturesinrockandpop(1992),EsaLiljasthe
ory of power chords (2009), etc. Even so, Ive had to introduce
homegrowntermsandideasineffortstomakesometheoretical
senseofmyeverydaytonality.Thoseeffortsinevitablyledtoneo
logisms like tertial12 (as opposed to quartal), counterpoise (tonal
counterweighttoagiventonic)andbimodalreversibility(tonalse
quencesinonemodewhich,whenreversed,becomesequencesin
anothermode).Allsuchterms,includingthosecoveredinMusics
Meanings (e.g. anaphone, genre synecdoche, episodic marker, diataxis,
syncrisis,extensional,intensionalandtheextendedpresent;seeTagg,
2013)areexplainedatrelevantpointsinthisbookand/orgivena
shortdefinitioninitsGlossary.
Despitevaliantattemptstofuseusefulpreexistingideaswithmy
ownobservations,Iregretthatmuchremainstobedonebeforea
comprehensive theory of everyday tonality can be produced.
Readersarethereforeaskedtotakethisbookasworkinprogress
thatIhopeothers,reactingtoitsprobableinconsistenciesanddef
initelacunae,willbeabletoimproveon.
12. IintroducedTERTIALintomyteachingaround1997andhavebeenusingit
eversince.ItfeaturedinmaterialsaboutharmonythatIputonlinein1999
andwhicheventuallybecmetheharmonyarticleinEPMOW(Tagg,2002).In
2010Iwaspleasedtodiscoverthatothershadseentheneedtodesignate
chordscharacterisedbythestackingofthirds,butwastakenabacktosee
theydadoptedthewordtertian(sic)todothejob.Whychoosetheansuffix
whenthealinQUARTAL(notquartan!)alreadyexistedasthequalifierof
chordsbasedonstackedfourths.Adjectivesendingintianorcianareeither
geoethnicAlsatian,Croatian,Grecian,Hatian,Phoenician,Venetianetc.
orqualifybeliefsystemsChristian,Confucian,etc;[i]alendingssendno
suchsignals!Theresacleardifferencebetweenmartiallawormartialartson
theonehandandMartianlaworMartianartsontheother.Besides,businesses
arecommercial,notcommercianandmostgrownupshavefacial,not
facian,hair.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

21

Restrictionofsubjectarea
Ivealsohadtorestrict,forreasonsofspaceandclarity,thetonal
areas I deal with, especially concerning questions of harmony. I
chosetoomitdiscussionofmediumandlongtermtonalnarrative
(diataxis)andtoconcentrateonharmonicprocessescontainablewithin
the extended present (syncrisis), more particularly on onechord
changes, chord shuttles (two chords) and chord loops (three or
four).13Therearethreeotherreasonsforthisfocusonnowsound.
[1] Since these phenomena are, thanks to their alleged harmonic
simplicity,unlikelytoprovokemuchinterestamongconvention
allytrainedmusos,theyreingreaterneedoftheorisation.[2]Since
thesamephenomenaarewidelydiffused,theirpopularitymaybe
comelesspuzzlingiftheyareviewedfromalessconventionalmu
sicological angle. [3] Since shuttles and loops are phenomena
relating to the extended present, they highlight shortterm tonal
processes less commonly studied in conventional music scholar
ship. Theorising these issues of intensional structuration (Chester
1970;Glossaryp.492)bringstolightstructuraldetailofimportance
intheunderstandingofgrooveandintheidentificationofunits
ofmusicalmeaning(musemestacks;Glossary,p.496).
Now,thissortofattentiontointensionaldetailis,Ibelieve,neces
sarybutitdoesmeanthatIvenotbeenabletopursuemymain
musicologicalinterest(semioticmusicanalysis)becauseandits
a vicious circle I think that better structural theory relevant to
the issue needs to be developed. I admit lapsing into semiotic
mode on several occasions but Ive exercised some restraint and
triedtofocusotherwiseonstructuraltheory.14
This focus means that Ive been unable to consider in any detail
longerdurationalunits(MATRICES;seeGlossary,p.494)likethe12
barblues,the32barjazzstandard,oreventhe8and16bartonal
unitssocommoninpopularmusic.Ialsohadtoabandonmyorig
inalrashideatoincludeanoverviewofwhatisprobablythemost
13. Foradiscussionofdiataxisandsyncrisis,seeChapters11and12inMusics
Meanings(Tagg,2013).
14. ItriedtoconfrontsemioticissuesinMusicsMeanings(Tagg,2013).

22

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

widelyheardsourceofeverydaytonality:film,TVandgamesmu
sic. Finally, Ive not been able to include discussion of the CON
JUNCTLINE TROPES(Glossary,p.483)atthebasisofmanypopular
chordsequences;ImafraidIhavetopostponethattopicforan
otherpublication.
Alltheseomissionsareinmyviewregrettableandunsatisfactory
but I hope readers will agree with 10cc (1975) that 4% of some
thingsbetterthan10%ofnothing.
Surprisingdiscoveries
When rewriting this book I came across a lot of music Id either
never heard before or which Id forgotten from way back when.
Mostofthismusicnevermadeitintothebookbutitkeptmebusy
and was always interesting. Here are some more personal sur
prisesthatmay(ormaynot)beofinterest.
Ifoundnexttonosystematictheoryofhexatonicmodes,even
thoughthebasicallydohhexatonictuneItsNotUnusual(Tom
Jones,1965)isitselfdecidedlynotunusual.
SinceBartkisoneofmyfavouritecomposers,Iwasdelighted
tofindouthowmanycelebratedjazzandprogmusicianswere
alsofansofhiswork.
Iwassurprisedtodiscoverandsaddenedtorealisehowcon
servativejazztheorycanbeinitsterminology,andhowmuch
itseemsstuckinthetimewarpofbebopandII-V-Ithinking.
Iwasgobsmackedtodiscoverhowconservative,ethnocentric
andnotationfixatedmusictheoryteachingcanstillbe.15

Overviewofchapters
Chapter 1 (pp. 4564). There is much confusion about very basic
terms in music theory. NOTE, PITCH and TONE are three of them.
Thischapterdiscussesanddefinesthoseterms.Extraattentionis
paidtocleaninguptheconceptualchaosofthewords TONALand
TONALITYastheyareusedinconventionalWesternmusictheory.
15. Ievenheardofstudentschidedforreferringtothephrygianminorsecondin
Eas (flattwo)because (flattwoinE)hasno whennotated!SeeTrou
bleswithTonalTerminology(Tagg,2013b:)formore.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

23

CHAPTER2(pp.6584)continueswithnotionsof PITCH,focussing
onquestionsof TUNINGandthe OCTAVE.Thischapteristhemost
acousticphysicsorientatedofthemallandprovidesatheoretical
basisforunderstandinghowtones(asintonality)work.
CHAPTER3HEPTATONIC MODES(pp.85149)isthefirstoftwo
aboutthemainlymelodicaspectofmodes.Itstartswithadefini
tionof MODE,raisestheissueof IONIANISATION,critiquesconven
tional notions of MODALITY and explains why 7 is such a magic
numberinmodaltheory.Thefirsthalfofthechapteristhenen
tirelydevotedtotheheptatonicchurchmodesandincludesnumer
ous music examples, as well as a critique of the majorminor
happysaddualism.Thesecondhalfdealswithnondiatonichep
tatonicmodes,inparticularthosecontaining FLAT TWOand/oran
augmentedsecond.SomerudimentsofMAQAMtheory,includingthe
theoreticalcentralityoftetrachords,arepresentedasusefultools
intheunderstandingofmodalrichnessoutsidetheeuroclassical,
jazzandrelatedrepertoires.ThereisparticularfocusonthePHRY
GIANand HIJAZmodesinflamencoandBalkanmusic,aswellason
Bartk modes, including the lydian flat seven and its similarity to
bluesmodes.Thechapterconcludeswitha14pointsummaryand
ashortWHATIF?thoughtexperiment.
CHAPTER4(pp.151178)isabout NONHEPTATONIC MODES.Aftera
shortsectionontriandtetratonicmelody,thewidespreadpractice
ofPENTATONICISM,especiallyitsanhemitonicvariants,isdiscussed
insomedetail.Thissectionalsoexplainstheworkingsofthedoh
and lapentatonic BLUES MODES. A systematic theory of tonical
HEXATONIC MODES comes next, followed by an overview of non
tonicalhexatonicmodes(wholetoneandoctatonic).Thechapter
endswithreflexionsontheperceptionofmodes.
CHAPTER5(pp.179203)isonMELODY.Afteranexpositionofitsde
finingcharacteristics,melodyispresentedaccordingtotwotypol
ogies,onebasedoncontour(patternsofupanddown),theotheron
connotation.Melodicidentityisdiscussedintermsoftonalvocabu
lary,bodilymovement,spokenlanguage,varyingpatternsofrepe
tition and, using concepts from rhetoric, its varying modes of
presentation.Thechapterendswithbriefsectiononmelisma.

24

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

CHAPTER 6(pp.205217)isashortchapteron POLYPHONY.Itstarts

bytryingtoclearuptheconceptualmessinconventionalWestern
musictheoryaboutwhatpolyphonyactuallymeans.Afterthat,var
iouscategoriesofpolyphonyaredefinedandexplained,including
droneaccompaniedmusic,heterophony,homophonyandcounterpoint.
CHAPTER 7 (pp. 219244) is called CHORDS. After the customary
definitionsection,thischapterenumerates,describesandexplains
howawidevarietyoftertialchordscanbereferredtointwocom
plementary and useful ways: ROMAN NUMERAL designation and
LEADSHEET CHORD shorthand.Thechapterincludesseveralexten
sivetables,including:[1]atableofallromannumeraltriadsinall
churchmodes;[2]achordrecognitionchartandakeytooverfifty
leadsheet chords, all with the same root note. The principles of
both romannumeral and leadsheet chord designation are ex
plainedindetail,completewithanomaliesandexceptions.
CHAPTER 8(pp.245271)isthefirstofseveralon HARMONY.Abrief
definitionandhistoryoftheconceptisfollowedbyapresentation
of(European)CLASSICALHARMONY.Aftertidyingupanothercon
ceptualmessrelatingtonotionslikefunctionalandtriadic,thees
sentialtermTERTIALisintroduced.Thebasicrulesandmechanisms
ofclassicalharmony,centraltomanypopularstyles,arealsopre
sented.Furthermore,thechapteraddressesnotionsofharmonicdi
rectionality,aswellastheprinciplesofthecircleoffifthsorkeyclock.
CHAPTER9(pp.273292)isaboutNONCLASSICALTERTIALHARMONY,
i.e.thirdbasedharmonythatdoesnotfollowtheeuroclassicalhar
monyrulebook.Afteradiscussionofnonclassicalionianharmony,
itexplainsthingsliketheimportanceofmajorcommontriadsines
tablishingtheidentityofthechurchmodes,theoptionofperma
nentPicardythirdsinthetonictriadofminorkeymodes,andthe
linkbetweenlapentatonicsanddorianrockharmony.Theresalsoa
useful chart of typical progressions in each mode and of some
wellknownrecordingsinwhichtheyoccur.
CHAPTER10(pp.293351)isdevotedentirelytoQUARTALHARMONY.
Afterinitialdefinitionsitsetsoutthebasicsofquartaltriads,how
theycanbedesignatedandhowtheydifferfromtertialtriads.The
notionof TONICAL NEIGHBOURHOODisintroducedasawayofun

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

25

derstandingthefluidtonalcentralityofquartalharmonyandhow
that fluidity can be used to generate harmonic movement. The
blurringofbordersbetweenquartalandtertialharmonyasmore
fourths are added to quartal chords is used as a way of under
standingchordsoftheeleventhandtheirimportanceinNorthAmer
icanmusic.Distinctionismadebetweenquartalharmonyandthe
quartalvoicingsofpostwarjazz.Numerousexamplesillustratein
stancesofquartaleverydaytonality,fromBartktobanjotuning,
from Debussy to Stravinsky to corporate jingles, from McCoy
Tyner to Joni Mitchell and King Crimson, etc. The chapter ends
withdemonstrationsofthelinkbetweendronedaccompaniment
patterns and quartal harmony, plus an 18point summary of the
chaptersmainideas.
CHAPTER11(pp.353369)iscalledONECHORDCHANGESbecauseit
showshowonesinglechordis,inmanytypesofpopularmusic,
rarelyjustonechord.Afterrefutingprejudicesaboutharmonicim
poverishmentinpopularmusicanddescribingthetheoreticalru
diments of the extended present, one single common chord G
major is examined in sixteen different popular recordings and
foundtoconsistofbetweentwoandfourchordsoneachoccasion.
Iarguethatthetonalelaborationofsinglechordsisanintrinsic
partofthemusiciansauralworkandessentialtothegrooveiden
tifyingbothaparticularpieceandaparticularstyle.
CHAPTER 12 CHORD SHUTTLES (pp. 371400) increases the
numberofchordsfromonetotwo.DrawingmainlyonEnglish
language popular song, a TYPOLOGY OF CHORD SHUTTLES is pre
sented (supertonic, dorian, plagal, quintal, submediantal, aeolian and
subtonic). Examination of shuttles in several songs, including a
trackfromPinkFloydsDarkSideoftheMoon(1973)andtheHu
manLeaguehitDontYouWantMeBaby(1981),showsthatchord
shuttlesofteninvolveambiguoustonicsandthatnooverridingkey
notescanbeestablished.Iarguethatchordshuttlesaredynamic
ongoingtonalstates,notnarrativeprocesses.Theyarebydefinition
nontransitional and constitute building blocks in the harmonic
constructionofdiataxisinmanytypesofpopularsong.

26

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

CHAPTER13CHORDLOOPS1(pp.401420)expandsthenumber
of chords from two to three and four. After defining LOOP, the
VAMP,oneofthemostfamousloopsinanglophonepopularsong,
isexamined.Distinctionismadebetweenloopandturnaround.The
chapterendswithanexplanationofthegradualbutradicalhistor
icalshift from thevamps V-Idirectionalitytoother, less ionian,
typesofharmonyinrock,soulandfolkinfluencedstyles.
CHAPTER 14 CHORD LOOPS AND BIMODALITY (pp. 421450) at
tackstheproblemofunderstandinghownonclassicaltertialhar
monyworks,withhowthesamechordsequencecanbeheardin
twodifferentmodes,etc.Startingwithdistinctionandconfusion
betweenionianandmixolydian,thischaptersetsoutwaysofestab
lishing,whererelevant,asingletonicforparticularsequences,the
roleofindividualchordswithinloops,etc.Itthenexaminesaeolian
andphrygianloops,andproposesamodelofBIMODALREVERSIBILITY
ineffortstoconceptualiseharmonicpracticesquiteforeigntowhat
is generally taught to music theory students. The chapters final
section distinguishes between various mediantal loops like the
rockdorian,thefolkdorian,thenarrativeionianmediantal.
CHAPTER15THEYESWECANCHORDS(pp.451478)focuseson
thechordloopusedintheonlinevideosupportingObamas2008
presidentialcampaign.Itdiscussestheconnotativevalueoftheloop
anditscontributiontocreatingthesortofcrossculturalunitythat
theObamacampaignwantedtoforge.Themainpointisthatana
lysingmusicstonalparametersshouldnotbeanarcanetechnical
exercisefoistedonmusicstudentsbutinsteadacontributiontoan
sweringthebasicquestionofmusicsemiotics:whyandhowdoes
whocommunicatewhattowhomandwithwhateffect?.

Appendices
Glossary
TheGLOSSARY(pp.479504)includesexplanationsofabbreviations
and definitions of terms whose meaning may need clarification.
Thedefinitionsoftenrefertopagesinthemaintextforamorede
tailed explanation. It also contains a few substantial entries that
shouldhavebeenfootnotesbutdidnotfitontherelevantpage.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

27

Referenceappendix
To save space and to avoid confusion about which appendix to
consultwhencheckingsourcereferences,thisbookhasonly ONE
REFERENCEAPPENDIX(p.505,ff).Reasonsforincludingeverything
inoneappendixaregiveninGuidelinesforProducingaReferenceAp
pendixforStudiesofMusicinthe21stCentury( tagg.org/xpdfs/RefAppxs.pdf).Thatdocumentalsoexplainsthereferencingsystemused
inthisbook.
Internetreferences
TosavespaceintheReferenceAppendixandfootnotes,URLsare
shortenedbyreplacingtheinternetaddressprefixeshttp://,https://,
http://www.etc.withthedownloadicon .Datesofaccesstointernet
sitesaresixdigitstringsinsidesquarebrackets.Thus, tagg.org
[140704]meansavisittohttp://www.tagg.orgonthe4thofJuly,2014.
YouTubereferencesarereducedinlengthfrom42to13characters
byusingthe11charactercodeappearingintheirabsoluteURLad
dresses,precededbytheYouTubeicon .Forexample:
http://www.youtube.com/watch-v=msM28q6MyfY(42chars.)
becomesjust msM28q6MyfY.16
Indexsection
The INDEX SECTIONconsistsof:[1]an ALPHABETICAL INDEX(p.561);
[2]NUMERICALINDEXESlisting:[a]scaledegreesequences(
,
,etc.,p.595);[b]chordabbreviations(e.g.,m7L5,p.598);
[c]chordsequences(I-vi-ii/IV-V,$VII-IV-I,etc.,p.599).The
ALPHABETICALINDEXgivespagereferencestoallpropernamesap
pearinginthebook,andtotitlesofmusicalworks,songs,tracks,
albums,films,TVproductions,etc.Italsoincludespagereferences
to all major topics and concepts covered in the books preface,
chaptersandglossary.Footnotetextisalsoincludedintheindexes.
Symbolsusedintheindexesareexplainedonpage561.
16. Ifyoucopythe11charactersofauniqueYouTubefileidentity(e.g.
msM28q6MyfY)andpasteitintoYouTubessearchbox,youwillbetakentothat
videoandnoneother.Youwillnotbetoldwhatelseyoumightenjoy.

28

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Formalandpractical
Crossreferencingandorderoftopics
Some parts of this book are based on encyclopedia articles. This
means that insights readers might gain from some parts of this
bookaremorelikelytoderivefromconceptualratherthanpercep
tuallearning.Thatinitsturnrequiresquickaccesstothemeaning
oftermsotherthanthoseundercurrentdiscussion.Thatsonerea
sonwhythisbookincludesmanycrossreferences.
Another reason is that its impossible to introduce all terms and
ideasintherightorderforallreaders.Forexample,althoughro
mannumeralchordshorthandmakesashortappearanceonpages
36and72,itisntfullyexplaineduntilpage220,inthechapteron
chords. That will cause no problems for familiar with the rudi
mentsofconventionalharmonybutothersmaywanttoreadpages
220225andtoconsultTable14(p.222)beforetheygoon.Similarly,
readers with no knowledge of leadsheet chord shorthand (E7,
F#m7L5etc.)shouldperhapsreadtherelevantsection(pp.229244)
iftheyhavetroublefollowingthosesymbolsearlierinthebook.

Musicalsourcereferences
Referencesystem
Musicalsourcereferencesfollowthesamebasicsystemasbiblio
graphical source references. For example, Beatles (1967b) refers
uniquely to publishing details, located on page 510 in the Refer
enceAppendix,fortheSergeantPepperalbum.
Sometimesitsnecessarytorefertoawholestringoftunesinthe
text.Forexample,insteadofwritingintuneslikeJingleBells(Pier
point,1857),LaMarseillaise(RougetdeLisle,n.d.)andSatisfaction
(RollingStones,1965),Iwouldtendtolightenupthetextbyjust
writingintuneslikeJingleBells,theMarseillaiseandSatisfaction.In
suchcasesthetitleofeachtunewillbefound,listedinalphabetical
order,intheReferenceAppendix,eithercompleteorwithatleast
crossreferencetothecompletepublishingdetailselsewhereinthe
appendix.Completepublishingdetailsareprovidedsothatread
erswillknow,incaseswheremorethanonerecordingexistsofthe

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

29

samework,towhichversionIamreferring.Suchinformationis
important when I provide timings pinpointing musical events
withinrecordedworks.
Accessingandusingmusicalsources
Onlinerecordings
Themajorityofmusicalworksreferredtohaveatonetimeoran
other been published as recordings. In the early 1990s it would
havebeenabsurdtoexpectreaderstohaveaccesstomorethana
verysmallproportionofthoserecordings.In2014,however,itis
usuallyasimplematter.Fearingprosecutionforinducementtoil
legalacts,Icantbemorepreciseherethantosaythatyoucanhear
onlinerecordingsofthemajorityofmusicIrefertointhisbook.
Forexample,usingGoogletosearchfor|Police "Dont Stand So Close
To Me"|(withtheinvertedcommas)produced3,180,000hyperlinks
[2014-08-05],severalofwhichtookmetoactualonlinerecordingsof
theoriginalissueofDontStandSoCloseToMe(Police,1980).Using
theonscreendigitaltimerprovidedbythesitehostingtherecord
ing,IwasabletopinpointthesongschangefromtheE$\Gmto
theD\Ashuttleat1:48.Thewholeprocessofcheckingaprecise
musicaleventinjustoneofinnumerablesongstookmeafewsec
onds.Ofcourse,itshouldberememberedthatwhileitisnotillegal
tolistentomusicpostedontheinternet,downloadingcopyrighted
musicwithoutpaymentorpermissionmaywellbe.17
Ivecheckedmanyoftherecordingsreferredtointhebooktosee
iftheycouldbeheardonline.SomeIdidntcheckatallbecauseIm
certaintheydbeeasytofindbutothersIhadtoputonlinemyself.
These others include: [1] short extracts from recordings under
copyrightthatseemedtobeunavailableonline;[2]rudimentary
audiorecordingsIproducedusingmyownequipmenttoillustrate
particularpointsdiscussedinthetext.Alltheseotherexamples
canbeaccessedviamywebsiteat |tagg.org|.ClickAudio,bottom
rightunderAudiovisual,thenMusicexamplesinEverydayTonal
17. ThankstoBobClaridaforclarifyingthesesimplelegalpoints.Claridais
mediaandcopyrightattorneyatReitler,Kailas&Rosenblatt(NewYork)and
coauthorofTenLittleTitleTunes(Tagg&Clarida,2003).

30

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

ity. Thenyoullseealistofthe relevantaudioexamplesonmy

site. Click on the relevant title to hear the example you need
(mostlyinMP3format,afewasMIDIfiles).Ifyouobjecttoanypost
ingongroundsofcopyrightownership,pleasecontactmeandI
willremovetheoffendingitemorcontactmylawyerforadvice.18
Onlinenotation
Inordertominimisehardcopyproductioncosts,musicexamples
appearinpocketscoresizeonthepage.Theimageresolutionof
notationimagesismostly300d.p.iandthemaximumwidthofthe
printedpageis10.3cm,allowingforanimagewidthof1220pixels.
Somereadersmayfindtheminiaturescoreformatproblematic.If
so,almosteverymusicexampleinthisbookcanbeviewedat,or
downloaded fullsize from, tagg.org/pix/MusExx/MusExxIdx.htm. If
yourereadingthiselectronicallyyoucanofcoursejustuseyour
deviceszoomfunctiontomakethenotationlarger.
Cit.mem.
Somenotatedmusicexamplesaremarkedcit.mem.,meaningthat
theyarecitedfrom(my)memory.Iusecit.mem.ifnosingledefin
itive,authoritativeororiginalrecordingofthepieceexists,andif
myownmemorydoesnotdivergetooradicallyfromtheessence
ofhowothershearit.

Tonaldenotation
As mentioned briefly on page 16, the everyday tonality of this
bookcoversamuchwiderrangeoftonalpracticesthanthosenor
mallyconsideredinstandardWesternmusictheory.Theproblem
is that terms and concepts developed to denote and explain the
tonal workings ofthe euroclassical repertoire cannot realistically
beexpectedtodothesameforallothertypesoftonality.Toclaim
otherwisewouldbe likeinsistingthatconceptsdevelopedto ex
plain rules of the English language automatically apply to, say,
ChineseorFinnish.Theobviousconsequenceforthisbookisthat
18. Youcancontactmebyvisiting |tagg.organdclickingContactunderPer
sonal.MycopyrightlawyerisBobClarida(seefootnote17).

31

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

conventionsoftonaldenotationcannotonlybethoseofstandard
Westernmusictheory.Itmeansthatsomeofthattheorysterminol
ogyneedsadaptationorredefinition,whilesomeisbestavoided
altogether.ItalsomeansthatIhavetointroducetermsandabbre
viationsunfamiliartothoseraisedonSchenkerorRiemann.19This
sectionofthePrefacedoeslittlemorethansummarise,withmini
maldiscussion,thebasicconventionsoftonaldenotationandab
breviationinthisbook.
Notenames
To distinguish between, for example, E as the note E, E as lead
sheetchordshorthandforatertialmajortriadwiththenoteEasits
root,andEasthekeyormodeinwhichthenoteEistonic,thefol
lowingtypographicalconventionsareused.Forextraclarityanat
uralsign(@)issometimesaddedafteranotename,e.g.
,b@
insteadofjust
.
Table1. Basictypographicalconventionsforpitchspecificnoteandchordnames
Denotationtype

Typography

Example

note

lower-case sans-serif

isamajorthirdabove

leadsheetchord

upper-case sans-serif

fromB7to

upper-case serif

isaV-IcadenceinE.

key(Tonart)

Symbol

Namesof OPEN STRINGSaregivenaccordingtoinstrumentalcon

vention,e.g.EADGBEforstandardguitartuningandDADGAD
forDADGAD,g'dgbd'forbanjoopenGtuning,etc.
PleasenotethatTONICSOLFANOTENAMES(dohrmifasollati)are,
accordingtoanglophoneconvention,alwaysrelativeormovable,
e.g.Doh=B ,Doh=E,rpentatonicmodeinG.20Romanletter
note names (e.g. a b$ b@ c# d e f# g) designate pitch in absolute
(fixed)terms.Forfurtherexplanationseep.45,ff.
19. SeeauthoritativeWikipediaentriesforHeinrichSchenkerandHugoRie
mann.Seealsoftnt.25,p.35,forinfluentialSchenkerianFelixSalzer.
20. RisusedinpreferencetoREsoastoavoideventualmisreadingsinvolving
thecommonprefixRErepentant,repentatonic,repetitive,remode,remodel,etc.

32

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Scaledegrees,scalestepsandintervals
When dealing with tonality inside and outside the euroclassical
sphereoftertialionian,majorminormusic,comparisonoftonalvo
cabularyisanabsolutenecessity.Suchcomparisoninvolvesreason
ing based on the placement of SCALE DEGREES within the octave,
which,initsturn,requiresaconcisewayofreferringrelativelyto
notesandchords.(SeealsoINTERVALS,p.34andTable5,p.70).
AsshownintheleftcolumnofTable2(p.33),theheptatonicSCALE
DEGREES OF INDIVIDUAL NOTEScanbeexpressedassimplearabic

numeralstoppedwithacircumflexaccent
[
].
Scaledegreenumberingrequirestheidentificationofatonic(key
note)asscaledegree1( ).Sincepitchdifferencesbetween and
theothersixscaledegrees(
)arevariable(seeTable2,p.
33; Fig.16, p. 97), scale degree numbering follows the following
conventions(19).
[1]Tosavespaceandtoavoidconfusingreadersrearedonanio
niandiet,CIRCUMFLEXEDNUMERALSWITHOUTPREFIXwillprincipally
designateSCALEDEGREESPECULIARTOTHEIONIANMODE.Inthisway
and designatetheionianmodesMAJORsecond,third,sixth
andseventhrespectively, and thePERFECTfourthandfifth;e.g.
inC=
,inA=a b c# d e f# g#(bothionian).
Divergencefromthisdefaultionianmodeprincipleisindicatedbythe
appropriateaccidentalprefix$, W, #, K(24;seealso5,p.33).
[2]$precedesscaledegreespitchedASEMITONELOWERthantheir
ioniandefaultvalue(1). (flattwo), (flatthree), (flatsix)
and (flatseven)designateaminorsecond,third,sixthandsev
enthrespectively,e.g.
inC=c d e$ f g a$ b$,inA=a
b c d e f g(bothaeolian). (flatfive)designatesadiminished
fifth,e.g.
=g$ f e$ cinC(bluespentatonic(pp.161163)).
[3]WindicatesthatthedesignatedscaledegreeispitchedONEQUAR
TERTONEBELOWthedefaultionianvalue,asinneutralrenderingsof

).
thebluesthird(),orasinmaqamRast(ascends
[4]#qualifiesonly AUGMENTEDINTERVAL SCALEDEGREEnumbers,
=g#.
forexample,inC, =d#, =

33

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Table2. Scaledegreeabbreviationswithcande[@]astonic().21
SCALEDEGREE

=c

Scale degree

TERTIALCOMMONTRIAD

=e

=c

=e

=c

=e

MAJOR

d$
d@
d#

f@
f#
f!

$II
II

D$
D

F
F#

$ii
ii

C#m
Dm

Fm
F#m

flat two
[major] two
sharp two

e$
e@

g@
g#

$III
III

E$
E

G
G

$iii
iii

E$m
Em

Gm
G#m

flat three
[major] three

f
f#

a
a#

IV
#IV

F
F#

A
B$

iv
#iv

Fm
F#m

Am
B$m

four
sharp four

g$
g@
g#

b$
b@
b#

$V
V

G$
G

B$
B

$iv
v

F#m
Gm

B$m
Bm

flat five
five
sharp five

(= )

a$
a@

c@
c#

$VI
VI

A$
A

C
C#

$vi
vi

A$m
Am

Cm
C#m

flat six
[major] six

(= )

b$
b@

d@
d#

$VII
VII

B$
B

D
D#

$vii
vii

B$m
Bm

Dm
D#m

flat seven
major seven

(= )

(= )

(=

MINOR

as spoken
popularly

notename

[5] The simple circumflexed numeral without prefix (e.g. ) occa

sionallyrefersnottoaspecificallyionianscaledegreebuttoa GE
NERICHEPTATONICSCALEDEGREE;e.g.a thatcouldbe , ,W or
. To avoid confusion in such instances, specifically ionianmode
scale degrees (1) are preceded by the facultative MAJORINTERVAL
and areCLARIFICATORYALTER
PREFIXK.Inthesecases
NATIVESHORTHANDforIONIAN
and (e.g.d@ e@ a@ b@inC).
[6]Ifprecededbytheexpressionscaledegree,orifthecontextis
otherwiseunambiguous,thescaledegree[s]inquestionmaylack
(e.g.
inHijazC)isin
thecircumflex Scaledegrees
otherwordsthesameasjust
.Thelatterissimplyshorter.22
21. Pleasenotethatmanyofthetertialcommontriadsinthistablecontainnotes
outsidetheeuroclassicalkeysofCandEmajorandminor,e.g.$II contains
twonotesforeigntotheionianormajorkey(
),and$iicontainstwofor
eigntotheeuroclassicalminorkey(
).Ontheotherhand,$IIisthe
fullycompatiblecommontriadon$inthephrygianandHijazmodes.

34

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

[7]Sincescaledegrees1,2,4and5
:thetonic,themajorsec
ond,perfectfourthandperfectfifth)arethoseleastpronetoaltera
tioninthetonaltraditionscoveredinthisbook,theyare,asarule,
precededbyanaccidentalonlyiftherelevantscaledegreediverges
fromthosedefaultvalues,forexample (flattwo)fortheHijaz
minorsecond, (sharpfour)forthelydianaugmentedfourth,
(flatfive)forthediminishedfifthoccurringintheotherwisebasi
callylapentatonic(minor)bluesmode.
[8]Thepropertiesofscaledegrees
and varymuchmorefre
and .Thatswhy
and aremore
quentlythanthoseof
and areverycom
likelytobeprefixedbyanaccidental(
and as
mon)andwhyyouaremorelikelytosee specifying
and .23
clarificatoryionianmajorintervalscaledegrees
[9] Like , the augmented fifth, the rare augmented third and
sixthareprecededby .Forexample,an (not )inFwouldbe
,thusallowingfordistinctionbetween
(
in
F)and
(
inlydianF).
SCALESTEPS,theintervalsbetweenadjacentscalarnotesinamode,
areexpressedintones:meansaquartertone,asemitone,
threequartersofatone,1awholetone(literally1tone),and
either1oneandahalftonesorthreesemitones,
i.e.anaugmentedsecondorminorthird.24
INTERVALS(differencesofpitch),aremainlydesignatedasordinals,
qualified where necessary, for example second, third, minor third,
augmentedfourth,diminishedfifth,octave.Intervalsandscaledegrees
specifictotheeuroclassicalandrelatedtonalidiomsaresometimes
22. Fontsusedherearedownloadableat tagg.org/zmisc/FontKeys.html[140308].
23. Theaccidentalsarenotthoseofnotation.Forexample,$ inEphrygianis
justasits inAphrygian,d@inC#phrygian,g$inFphrygian,etc.
24. Theuseof,1,1,etc.replacesthreeotherconventions:[1]T=tone,S=
semitone;[2]W=wholetone,H=halftone;[3]1=semitone,2=wholetone,
3=threesemitones.[3]isnotasanglocentricasalternatives[1]or[2],butitis
counterintuitivetoequateahalftone(,semi,50%)withtheinteger1anda
wholetone(1tone)with2(2,200%of1).Besides,isavailableoncompu
terkeyboards(UnicodeU+00bd,ASCII171).Formoreinformation,see
tagg.org/zmisc/FontKeys.html[140906].

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

35

referred to using the vocabulary of conventional Western music

theory(supertonic,mediant,etc.).Thoselabelsandtheirequivalents
asnumericscaledegreesaresetoutinTable5onpage70.
Octavedesignationandregister
WhenreferringtoREGISTERitissometimesnecessarytoindicatein
whichoctavenotesarepitched.InsuchcasesIveusedtheMIDI
conventionofnumberingoctavesfroma0atthebottomofan88
notepianokeyboard(27.5Hz)tocw(4186Hz)(seep.68,ff.).Octave
numerals are subscripted to avoid confusion with the super
scriptedcharactersusedinchordshorthand,footnoteflags,etc.).
Scaledegreechordshorthand
SCALEDEGREECHORDSHORTHAND(ROMANNUMERALS)followsprin
ciplessimilartothoseusedforscaledegrees(p.32,ff.).Aswillbe
come evident, concepts like dominant, subdominant, perfect
cadence,functionalharmony,etc.areirrelevanttomuchofwhat
mostpeoplehearonadailybasis.ThatswhySalzerseuroclassi
cally focussed Structural Hearing (1952) is absent from this book.
Nor are readersforcedtoendurehieroglyphicslikeSp,Dp or
DDY9.25Nevertheless,theromannumeraldenotationofchordsis
usedextensively(seeTable2,p.33and3,below).

Chords
Three systems are used for the concise denotation of chords: [1]
leadsheetshorthand, [2]quartal chorddesignation and[3]the roman
numeralsystem.
25. FelixSalzerislargelyresponsibleforestablishingtheteachingsofAustrian
musicologistHeinrichSchenker(d.1935)intheUSAwhereitisstillanobliga
torypartofmusictheoryintheacademy.Itcanbeusefulforunderstanding
structuralnarrativeinaMozartsymphonybutisquiteuselessifyouwantto
knowhowthetonalitiesofrebetikoorredneckrock(andcountlessothernon
euroclassicalidioms)work.AttheGteborg(Sweden)CollegeofMusic
(Musikhgskolan,197191),IhadtoteachharmonyfromaRiemanninspired
manual(Sderholm,1959)inwhichSpandDpwereabbreviationsofSub
dominantandDominantParallelrespectively(e.g.DmasSpandEmasDp
inC).DDY9wasthethebooksweirdesthieroglyphic:itwasadoubledomi
nantminorninthchordwithitsrootnotedeleted,forexample,inC,thenotes
d f# a c e$(withoutthed),i.e.abogstandardF#J(#iv7).

36

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

1.Leadsheetchordshorthand
A LEAD SHEET isapieceofpaperdisplayingthebasicinformation
necessaryforperformanceofapieceofpopularmusic(seepp.229
230). LEADSHEET CHORD SHORTHAND is the system of chord sym
bols used on lead sheets. Leadsheet chord shorthand for tertial
harmony(A, Bm7$5, E$m^9,etc.)isexplainedindetailinChapter7
(pp.229244)andpresentedintabularformonpages232233.

Allchordsymbolrootnamesareinsansserifcapitalswhilenames
ofkeys(tonalit,Tonart)are,asshowninTable1(p.31),inupper
caseserif,forexample,[1]MozartsSymphonyn41isinC:itsfi
nalchordisC;[2]thevocallineofSteeleyeSpans1970recording
ofTheLowlandsOfHolland(ex.84,p.157)isinlahexatonicC :its
finalchordisC#2.
2.Quartalchorddesignationsymbols
QUARTAL CHORD DESIGNATION symbols (C, F4, B$2, etc.) are ex
plainedseparatelyinChapter10(p.294,ff;p.302,ff.).

3.Romannumeralchordshorthand
The ROMANNUMERAL CHORD SHORTHAND system is explained in
Chapter7(pp.220225)andsetoutinTable14(p.223).AHEWNIN-STONE font is used to make these chord symbols easier to
spotinthetext,eveniftheresnotmuchdifferencebetweenI(me)
andI(romann1).
Unlikeleadsheetchordshorthand,butlikescaledegreeabbrevia
tions, ROMANNUMERAL CHORD DESIGNATION IS RELATIVE, in that
eachromannumberdesignates,inanykeyormode,THESCALEDE
GREE ON WHICH THE CHORD IS BUILT(seeTable2,p.33).Thesuper
scripted arabic numerals indicate alterations to the basic tertial
triadbuiltonthatscaledegree,e.g.I, ii, $III5, IV, V, V7, $VI.
LOWERCASEROMANNUMBERSindicateaMINORCOMMONTRIAD.
Forexample,iiinC,asaminortriadbasedonthesecond
degree(on ),isaDminortriad(Dm,containingd-f-a).
UPPERCASEROMANNUMERALSindicateeitheraMAJORCOMMON
TRIADoraPOWERCHORD.Forexample,VinC,asamajortriad
on ,isasimpleG,containingg-b@-d,while,stillwithCas

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

37

tonic,$III5,asachordbasedontheflatthirdscaledegree( ),
isthedyadE$5,containinge$andb$.
I, ii, iii,etc. DESIGNATECHORDSONTHESCALEDEGREEPOSITIONS
ofWesternmusictheorysDEFAULTMODEtheIONIAN.
ChordsbasedonANYSCALEDEGREEOTHERTHANTHOSEINTRIN
SICTOTHEIONIANMODEMUSTBEPRECEDEDBYTHEREQUISITE
ACCIDENTAL,mostcommonly$,forexample$VI-$VII-I/i
(aeoliancadence)or$II-I/i(or$vii-I/i)(phrygiancadence).
Anasideabouttheionianasdefaultmode
Euroclassicalmusictheoryspreoccupationwiththeionianishis
toricallyexplicablebuthardlylogical.Takingthesevenwhitenotes
ofapianokeyboardoctavec d e f g a bandrearrangingthem
inclockwiseorderroundthecircleoffifthsf c g d a e b,its
clearthatthetwoextremesareseparatedinsidetheoctavebyatri
tone(f@-b@)and,moreimportantly,thatcissituatednexttotheleft
handextreme(f c g d a e b),notinthecentralpositionoccupiedby
d(f c g d a e b).WiththedorianDmodeasdefaultforthescale
degreeandromannumeralshorthandsystems,therewouldhave
been three modes sharpwards (aeolian, phrygian, locrian) and
threeflatwards(mixolydian,ionian,lydian);andtheassignmentof
appositeaccidentalswouldhavebeenmoreequitable.26

Musicexamples(notated)
Thisbookcontainshundredsofnotatedmusicexamplesandfig
urescontainingmusicalnotation.Asexplainedearlier,manymu
sicexamplescitedasnotationinthisbookcanalsobebothheard
asaudioandviewedinbetterresolutiononline(seep.29).
Im not a guitarist. Sometimes I transcribe as a typical keyboard
player.Iapologiseifmyvoicingsofguitarchordsarewrong.How
ever, guitarists Diego Garca Peinazo, Jacopo Conti and Franco
Fabbrihavehelpedwiththetranscriptionofseveralguitarbased
examples.27
26. Itwouldalsohavebeeninlinewithnotionsofmodusprotusplagalisand
authenticus.Thishistoricalanomalymayexplaintheproliferationof sandthe
paucityof sinfrontofromannumeralchorddesignationsbutitdoesnt
explainwhyWesternmusictheorybecamesoionianisedinthefirstplace.

38
8vaand15mabassa

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Fig.1. 8vabassa

The TENOR CLEF, familiar to guitarists, is a G

clef ( )with an 8 underneath. Its USED FRE
QUENTLY in music examples covering the MID
REGISTER.Theideaistosavespace,cutdown
onlegerlines,andtoavoidswitchingbetweenGandFclefs.Please
lookforthelittle8(8vabassa=octavebelow):thetwonotesshown
inFigure1soundatexactlythesamepitch.28Onafewoccasions
15mabassaisusedtoindicatenotessoundedtwooctaveslower.
Progressionsandsections
Notenamesorchorddesignationsoccurringinsequenceareusu
allyseparatedbyHYPHENSorbyasimplespace(e.g.
or
;C Am F GorD-Bm-G-A;I vi ii VorI-vi-IV-V).
TohighlighttheunidirectionalaspectofTONALPROGRESSIONS,aright
pointing arrowis sometimes used, e.g. ii?V?I, Gm7?C7?F.A
chordshuttle(oscillationbetweentwochords)isindicatedbyadou
bleheaded arrow, e.g. i\IV, Gm7\C. Chord loops short re
peatedsequencesofusuallythreeorfourchordsaredelimited
byarrowsturningthrough180beforeandaftertherelevantse
quence,e.g.{I-vi-IV-V},
.
DIAGONALARROWSareusedtoindicatePITCHDIRECTION,e.g.thede
scendingcharacterofanAndalusiancadenceiv>$III>$II>I.They
arealsousedtodistinguishbetweenintervallicleapslikec@>e(a
fallingminorsixth)andc<e(arisingmajorthird).

Confusioncanarisebetweencapitallettersindicatingkey(Tonart)
andthoseactingaslabelfora SECTIONinthemusicunderdiscus
sion;forexample,AisinBandBinAinthisAABAtunebyAbba.
AsageneralruleIputmusicalsectionlettersinitalicsbetweensingle
quotes(e.g.theAsectionin[thekeyof]A[roman,noquotes]),
orrefertoitasV(forverse),orRforrefrain,etc.29
27. Drumkitpartsarenotincludedinthisbookabouttonality.
28. Cclefsarenotusedinthisbook.
29. Ionceusedlettersfromtheendofthealphabettolabelsections(WXYZ)butit
wasproblematic.ShouldAABAbecomeWWXWorZZYZ(reverseorder)

39

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Languageandtypography
Pronunciation
AphoneticfontisoccasionallyusedtosuggesttheUKpronuncia
tionofwordsaccordingtothesymbolsshowninTable3.
Table3. PhoneticsymbolsforBBCEnglish
ah!,harp,bath,laugh,half

hot,what,want,Australia

hat,cat,map,Africa

or,oar,awe,war,all,taught,ought

eye,I,my,fine,high,hifi

boy,coil,Deutschland

down,about,Bauhaus,cow,
now(notknow
),
plough(cf. and )
the,that,breathe,clothes,
although,weather(cf. )
jazz,John,gin,footage,bridge,
Fiji,Django(cf. )
help,better,measure,leisure

about,killer,tutor,nation,currant,
current,colour,fuel,little,liar,lyre,
future,India,confer,persist,adapt
circumspect,fern,fir,fur,learn,

air,bear,bare,there,theyre

church,cello,future,Czech,hek

date,day,wait,station,email,
patient,hey!
it,fit,minute,pretend

think,throw,nothing,cloth(cf.

sees,seas,seize,Fiji,email

food,cool,rule,rude,through,threw

hear,here,beer,pier

yes,use,Europe,Gteborg,
[
],Jaroslav[
]
singing,synchronise,think,
gong,incredible,

=startofstressedsyllable

no,know,toe,toad,cold,low,
although,(cf.
)
shirt,station,Sean,champagne,Ni
)

but,luck,won,colour
foot,look,bush,put

ju: use,few,future,newmusic,tune,
queue[
]
genre[
],vision,measure,Joo,
montage,Rzsa,Zhivago,iek

=longvowel

Spellingandpunctuation
Spelling generally follows the inhouse style of the Cambridge
University Press journal Popular Music, for example REALISE, AD
VERTISEMENT, ORGANISATION, COLOUR, TRAVELLED, FOCUSSING, CEN
TRE,PROGRAMME,etc.(notREALIZE,COLOR,TRAVELER,CENTER,etc.).
Defaultquotesaresinglelikethis,whilequoteswithinquotesare
double,Imeanlikethisinsidethis.
Capitalsanditalics
CAPITALSareingeneralusedaccordingtothenormssetoutin
section6.9ofAssignmentandDissertationTips(Tagg,2001).

40

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

Modenames
In written English, distinction is made between Roman, which
meansrelatingtoRomeoritsinhabitants,androman,whichdoes
not,asinromanfontorromanletters.30Italsoappliestothedif
ferencebetweenLydian,meaningrelativetotheprovinceorpeople
ofLydia,andlydian,asinthelydianmode,aswellastothedis
tinction between Phrygian and phrygian, Dorian and dorian, etc.
Sincethoseculturesandethnicidentitiesarelonggone,themodes
namedafterthemhaveformanycenturiesbeenamereconvention
bearing no relation to the peoples whose names they once bore.
Thats why ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian and
locrianstartwithalowercaseletterwhenqualifyingmodes.Other
modenameslikeGypsy,KurdandHijazdorelatetoexistingplaces,
peoplesorculturesandarespeltwithaninitialcapital.
Smallcapitals
SMALLCAPITALSareusedforfourpurposes,thefirstthreeofwhich
occurinthemainbodyoftext,thefirstofthosederivingfromtheir
usageinLakoffandJohnson(1979).
[1] To save space and to avoid having to insert hyphens and in
verted commas when introducing a short string of words, often
used adjectivally, to denote an integral concept, for example: The
MUSICISMUSICmythlivesoninthejazzconservatoire.

[2] To highlight an IMPORTANT TERM, especially when its intro

ducedforthefirsttime.
[3]Tosavepagespacewithfrequentlyrecurringcapitalletterab
breviations,e.g.DVDandMIDIinsteadofDVDandMIDI.
[4]Tofacilitatequickeridentificationofalphabeticallyordereden
triesintheReferenceAppendix.

Italics
Italicsareingeneralusedaccordingtothenormssetoutinsection
6.10ofAssignmentandDissertationTips(Tagg,2001).
30. Romanlettersaresonamedregardlessofwheresuchscriptmayhaveorigi
nated.Rmanji,Japaneseforroman,meansromanlettering(likehere)as
opposedtomoreindigenoustypesofscript(katakana,hiragana,kanji).

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

41

Otherpracticalities
Abbreviations
AbbreviationsareexplainedintheGlossary(p.479,ff.).
Timingsanddurations
Mostrecordingsexistindigitalformanddigitalplaybackequip
mentincludesrealtimedisplay.Thatswhytheexactindicationof
musicaleventsismainlypresentedintermsoftimecodelocation.
With0:00indicatingthestartoftherecordinginquestion,0:56
meansatapoint56secondsafter0:00.Durationsareexpressedin
thesameform,e.g.4:33meaning4minutesand33seconds.
Footnotes
Thesoftwareusedtoproducethisbook,AdobeFrameMakerv8.0,
hasoneirritatingbug:ifthereisntenoughroomatthebottomof
thepageforthecompletetextofafootnote,thesoftwareputsthe
entirefootnotetextatthebottomofthefollowingpage,ratherthan
startingthefootnotetextatthebottomofthecorrectpageandcon
tinuingitonthenextone.Therefore,ifthereisnotextatthebot
tom of the page on which a footnote flag number occurs in the
mainbodyoftext,donotbealarmed.Thecompletefootnotetext
willappearatthebottomofthenextpage.
Occasionallythesamefootnotenumber31occurstwiceinsucces
sion,likethis.31Thatisintentional.Bothrefertothesamefootnote.
Fonts
IhavebeenaskedaboutthefontsIuseinmywritings.Icompile
themfromvarioussources.Theycanbedownloadedforfree.Go
to tagg.org/zmisc/FontKeys.htmlandlookunderFourusefulhome
compiledfonts.Thefontsincludesuchcharactersas

W ,etc.,
,etc.,
\<>
,etc., % ^ M * J
S U T O P Y y 1 o 2 p 3 q L l H h N n, etc.,

etc.,

b
etc.Youllalsofindapho
31. Bothintextreferencesareintendedtolinktothissamesinglefootnote.

42

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

netic font [
] (used in 3, p. 39), as well as both a Cyrillic
() and a Greek polytonic keyboard ( ,
,,)plusinstructionsforproducing
simplifiedChinesecharacters,e.g. .Youcanalsotype
Dvok(realCzechname)ratherthanDvorak(anglocentric),leon
(decent) rather than lecon (obscene), ngstrm (real Swedish
name)insteadofAngstrom(anglocentric),etc.

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface

43

Acknowledgements
IdliketothankFrancoFabbri(Milano)forhavingpersuadedme
tostartonthisbookandforencouragingmeinmystrugglewithit.
Hehashelpedonseveraloccasionsinpreparingthiseditionwith
his guitarplaying skills, his knowledge of Richard Thompsons
uvre and with general advice about what and what not to in
clude.HeandBobDavis(Leeds)havebeenmymaingotopeople
wheneverIgotstuckorfeltunsureifIwasontherighttrack.Im
alsoindebtedtoKaireMaimetsVolt(Tartu)forhercriticalreading
ofthisedition,forhercorrectionsandconstructivesuggestions,as
wellasforencouragementandmoralsupport.
NextIwouldalsoliketothankpeopleinMontralwhotooktime
todiscussideasforthefirsteditionSimonBertrand,DylanKell
Kirkman,FranoisdeMdicis,AlisonNotkin,NicThompsonand
Danick Trottier, not to mention my neighbour Mme Ouellet.
Thanks also to Bob Clarida (New York) for musicological input
andfreelegaladvice;toAllanMoore(Guildford)forhisPatternsof
Harmony(1992),EsaLilja(Helsinki)forhisTheoryandAnalysisof
ClassicHeavyMetalHarmony(2009)andforhisinputaboutchord
and scaledegree designation; to Fernando Barrera (Granada),
JacopoConti(Torino)andDiegoGarcaPeinazo(Crdoba&Ovi
edo)fortheirconstructivesuggestionsandhelpwithsomeofthe
guitartranscriptions;toallmypopularmusicanalysisstudentsin
Gteborg,LiverpoolandMontralwhoovertheyearsaskedthe
sortofquestionsthatprovokedattemptstoexplainmanyoftheis
suesaddressedinthisbook;and,posthumously,tomytwoSwed
ish mentors, Jan Ling and Margit Kronberg without whose
encouragementandguidanceIdoubtIwouldeverhavedaredun
dertakeaprojectlikethis.Thanksforinputandfeedbackinpre
paring this second edition go also to Markus Heuger (Cologne),
Laura Jordn (Montral & Valparaso), Aris Lanaridis (London),
ChrisMcDonald(CapeBreton),DavidMcGuinness(Glasgow),Si
monMcKerrell(Newcastle),SueMiller(Cambridge),SarhaMoore
(Sheffield),GregSimon(Phoenix),andtoothers(nottoomany,I
hope)whoIveinexcusablyomittedtomention

44

Tagg: Everyday Tonality II Preface