User:Aura/Aura's Ideas on Functional Harmony (Part 1): Difference between revisions

'''Dominant''' - As per the name, and as noted on the [[Wikipedia:Dominant (music)|Wikipedia article]], the Dominant is the second most important after the Tonic, and, to use a character metaphor for how the Dominant acts in functional harmony, the Dominant is both the Head Steward of the Tonic's castle, and the one that executes the Tonic's directives as a Manager of Civil Service in the Kingdom of Tonality.  However, in contrast to what is stated about the Dominant in the article, there are several caveats which must be addressed in the realm of microtonality.  Firstly, one must take stock of the fact that, aside from the Unison and Octave, each octave-reduced harmonic and corresponding subharmonic interval come together to generate their own axis which has a preferred direction of travel<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBdWxSxxe1M Quartertone Harmony - Beyond the Circle of Fifths SD 480p]</ref> which is determined by a Tonality's direction of construction.  Secondly, one must take stock of the fact that when you take the notes that occur before the Tonic on each of these axes when moving in the preferred direction of travel and place them in a sequence, one finds that a clear hierarchy of functional strength based on the closeness of harmonic and subharmonic connection to the Tonic becomes apparent, with the [[3/2]] Perfect 5th away from the Tonic in the direction of tonality construction naturally emerging as the note with the strongest connection to the Tonic, though it should be noted that the relationships in this hierarchy are quite sensitive to detuning.  Thus, the term "Dominant"- in its most basic form as referred to in this article, and specifically at the root level- is restricted to where it only refers to such notes that occur roughly at a 3/2 interval away from the Tonic in the scale's direction of construction, with acceptable detuning levels being at around 3.5 cents from JI on either side.  With all that said, it should be noted that the level of importance typically associated with the Dominant goes instead to a different note instead of a 3/2 Perfect 5th in scales where the 5th scale degree is too far away from 3/2, and that there are a variety of other interval constructions which have the tendency to create tension which requires the Tonic to resolve- these surrogate Dominants are called "'''Paradominants'''".  On the chord level, not only is the root level definition of the Dominant function at play, but it should also be noted that no Dominant or Paradominant sees the Tonic occurring in the proximal structure of its chord- that is, as a third or fifth.

'''Serviant''' - Compared to the term "''Subdominant''" from music theory of old, the term "Serviant", specifically at the root level, is restricted to those notes that occur roughly at a [[4/3]] interval away from the Tonic in the scale's direction of construction since the Serviant function is essentially the inverse of the Dominant function, and acts as a sort of counterweight to the Dominant relative to the Tonic.  To use a character metaphor for how the Serviant acts in functional harmony, the Serviant is a Servant who goes above and beyond the call of duty and acts as a confidante that observes things and reports back to the Dominant and Tonic about the way things are working both inside and outside the Tonic's castle due to its relationships to various Non-Tonic functions.  Although one might think that the term "Subdominant" would be eligible for getting a similar treatment to the term "Dominant" here, the problems with such an option are threefold.  Firstly, not all possible "Subdominant" harmonies have the same harmonic properties relative to the Tonic, as there is an extremely close connection between the Tonic and the 4/3 Perfect 4th.  Secondly, in music built from the Treble downwards, the notes with these sorts of functions are actually located ''above'' the Dominant.  Thirdly, in common parlance, "Subdominant" is often equated with "Predominant", however, while the Serviant does tend to resolve towards the Dominant, or else some other note that acts as a surrogate for the Dominant, the fact remains that it can also create plagal cadences, which break the modern Tonic-Dominant-Predominant paradigm and are better explained in part by the ideals of the two Germanic schools.  With all that said, it should be noted that the level of importance typically associated with the Serviant goes instead to a different note instead of a 4/3 Perfect 4th in scales where the 4th scale degree is too far away from 4/3- these surrogate Serviants are called "'''Paraserviants'''".  On the chord level, not only is the root level definition of the Serviant function at play, but it should also be noted that a Serviant or Paraserviant chord often sees the Tonic occurring in the proximal structure of its chord- that is, as either a third or fifth- which explains why Serviant chords are weaker than their Dominant counterparts in both Bass-Up and Treble-Down Tonalities.