Towards a Better Understanding of the Contrasting Effects of

the Subtonic-Tonic and the Leading Tone-Tonic Gestures

Theoretical discussions of the flattened scale degree seven in minor keys have been scarce in literature devoted to the study of the tonal system. Mention of this subtonic scale degree has traditionally been limited to description of its occurrence in descending patterns (e.g., the bass line of i-v6-iv6-V) and the role of the VII chord as the dominant of the III chord. However, a discussion of the subtonic that moves up one step to the tonic, a very important gesture for folk and popular musical styles, has been largely neglected. 1

This gesture has a modal connotation, and strongly contrasts with its tonal counterpart, the leading tone-tonic gesture. Contrast between the subtonic-tonic and the leading tone- tonic gestures is very important for the identity of a myriad of musical styles, and the examination of the contrast between these two gestures can greatly expand our understanding of those musical styles, as well as our understanding of tonal and modal systems in general.

In an experiment I recently conducted with music students, I tested the extent to which different types of metaphors can consistently represent the difference of effect between the subtonic-tonic (modal) and the leading tone-tonic (tonal) gestures.2 In this experiment, 12 students of Music Theory 1 (both music and non-music majors) were asked to classify the effect of the leading tone-tonic and the subtonic-tonic gestures

1 For the purpose of this discussion the term subtonic-tonic describes both melodic occurrences (flattened scale degree seven followed by scale degree one) and harmonic occurrences (the VII chord followed by the i chord). The term leading tone-tonic describes melodic occurrences (raised scale degree seven followed by scale degree one) and any harmonic succession that implies a leading tone resolving to a tonic, even if the leading tone is not literally present in the first chord. 2 This experiment is modeled after David Huron’s work on scale degree qualia (Sweet Anticipation, 2006). The remarkable level of agreement Huron observed when asking musicians and non‐ musicians about the main qualities of different scale degrees strongly suggests that metaphors can consistently account for some of the main effects of scale degrees. according to five dualities: natural vs. artificial, complex vs. simple, collective vs. individual, thick vs. thin, and harmonically relaxed vs. harmonically dramatic. Each of these terms was represented by clusters of related terms. For instance, the “thick” side of the thick vs. thin duality also included the terms broad, heavy, and bold. Students were given excerpts from four relatively well-known pieces of music (When Johnny Comes

Marching Home, the fourth movement of Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, Pink

Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall, and Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in Dm BWV 565). The four pieces were purposely selected to represent diverse music styles (folk, romantic, rock, and baroque) in order to promote the cross-stylistic validity of the results of the experiment. Two versions of each excerpt, the original and a modified version, were provided: one with the subtonic-tonic gesture, and the other with the leading tone-tonic gesture. Students were provided with a video-clip containing both sound and music notation for each excerpt. They were then asked to determine which side of each duality better described each version of the excerpt. In addition, students were required to assess the degree to which each pair of terms described the difference between the original and its variation. Three options were provided: “to a small degree,” “to a moderate degree,” and “to a considerable degree.” Since both the survey and the video clip were available online, students had the freedom to spend as much time as they wanted on the exercise and to view the video as many times as necessary.

The students’ categorization was largely consistent with my own previous assessment of the effects of the subtonic-tonic and leading tone-tonic gestures (81% of the results matched my assessment). In addition, most students regarded the dualities as representing the difference between the gestures “to a moderate degree.” The results of this experiment demonstrate that this particular set of metaphors consistently describe the effect of the subtonic-tonic and leading tone-tonic gestures.

There are at least two additional implications of these results that are worth mentioning. On the one hand, metaphors, and particularly metaphors presented as dualities can be used as powerful tools for the study of different theoretical topics. These dualistic pairs are more effective if the theoretical topics are also presented as basic dualities; the opposition between the subtonic-tonic gesture and the leading tone-tonic gesture being just one example of a basic duality. On the other hand, dualistic pairs such as subtonic-tonic vs. leading tone-tonic, are directly connected to classical and popular music styles, and for this reason provide a good opportunity to obtain a more complete picture of the possibilities of different musical structures by contrasting diverse musical practices.

Excerpts used in the Experiment