Studying at York
The Uses of Tonality - MUS00188H
- Department: Music
- Credit value: 20 credits
- Credit level: H
- Academic year of delivery: 2024-25
Module summary
Tonality. How it has been used by composers of the past; how we may continue to use it creatively in the future. How different ways of understanding what it is give us different ways to use it: expressively, structurally, semiotically, sensually.
Related modules
Prerequisites: confidence with staff notation; familiarity with Roman Numeral designations for harmony.
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 2 2024-25 |
Module aims
Tonality – whether by its presence or its performative absence – is ubiquitous in nearly all of the music we encounter in both the concert hall and in day to day life. It also means a wide range of different things to different people and has been deployed in such a variety of ways that the seemingly simple question ‘Is it tonal?’ is not always straightforwardly answerable. We most often associate it as a property of pitch alone, but it is inseparable from temporal aspects, gesture and rhetoric – in other words it is about use within music rather than an abstract property of sound.
The power of different approaches to tonality variously to evoke different historical periods, to create structural cohesion within a piece of music, to trigger emotional responses, and to – for want of a better expression – ’sound good’, are the bedrock of much of our musical practices. As composers and performers and writers on music, the more we understand what tonality can be and to what ends it has been used, the greater our expressive flexibility.
In this module we will engage in discussion and exploration of a wide range of music from the 17th century to the present day, and from both ‘Common Practice’ tonality and ‘tonality after tonality’. We will consider how tonality has been theorised as well as
-
the use of tonal objects (e.g. triads and other primary consonances; diatonic scale families)
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the use of tonal structures or organising principles over a relatively large timescale
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the use of tonal functions or gestures over a relatively short timescale
We will achieve this through seminars, workshops and (non-assessed) stylistic and free composition exercises – though you do not need to consider yourself to be a composer to take this module! Topics covered are likely to include some or all of the following (a final list will be confirmed at the start of the module):
- Is it tonal?
- Tonality as gravity
- Tonality as cadence
- Tonality as scale
- Tonality as structural principle
- Tonality as emotion
- Tonality as desire
- Tonality as pitch-centricity
- Tonality as metaphor
- Tonality as topic
- Tonality as sonority
- Tonality after tonality
- Everyday tonality
- Micro-tonalities and Macro-tonalities
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the taught part of the project you should be able to:
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discuss the impact of the use of tonality on music's expressive and structural domains
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identify post-tonal music in which tonality remains an important device
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make use of post-tonal-tonal techniques in your own compositions and be able to mimic appropriate uses of tonality within stylistic compositions (for those taking compositional assessment)
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In the case of present-day music, critically evaluate the music’s relationship to tonality as contribution to / interaction with discourses around modernity and postmodernity
Third years: On completion of the module, in your independent work, you should demonstrate learning outcomes C1-6 and, depending on submission route, some/all of C9, C10 and C12. https://www.york.ac.uk/music/undergraduate/modules/learning-outcomes/
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Practical | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Additional assessment information
Option 1: Composition of c.5’ for solo instrument or small ensemble (chosen in agreement with module tutor) working with ‘after tonality’ tonality (100%).
Option 2: Stylistic composition of c.5’ for solo piano, piano and voice, or string quartet in a well-established genre of the later Common Practice Period (100%). This will be chosen in agreement with the module tutor and could be, for example, a sonata form movement for piano or string quartet, a Lied in the style of Schubert/Schumann/Brahms/Wolf, or a solo piano Nocturne.
Option 3: Essay of c. 3000 words + appropriate analytical materials, title chosen in agreement with the module tutor, exploring a specific use of tonality after the Common Practice Period.
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Practical | 100 |
Module feedback
You will receive written feedback in line with standard University turnaround times.
Indicative reading
TBC