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As discussed in the preceding chapter, any group of musical notes, e.g., an octave, can also be referred to as a scale. When musicians compose a piece of music, they typically do not use all of the possible notes available to them. They use only those notes in a predetermined scale or “palette” of notes. Usually, this is because those specific notes sound particularly well together and the musician prefers that particular sound.

When a musical composition is written using only the notes included in a particular scale, there is a tendency for one of those pitches or notes to become the tonal center of that music acoustically (listeners can hear it) . That tonal center is typically the Root note of the scale and is also called the tonic note. Such music is often described as tonal or as having tonality, and almost all music is tonal. In fact, both musicians and non-musicians have a natural sense of when music is tonal and when it is not. If a piece of music lacks a tonal center it is said to be “atonal” and usually doesn’t sound especially good. It may leave the listener with a feeling of incompleteness or that the music is somehow not finished.

For example, “do” in the do-re-mi song, is the tonic for the scale on which the song is based, and as you may recall, it is returned to at the end of the singing of the scale, e.g., do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do. Returning to the tonic note at the end of a piece of music is referred to as “resolution to tonic.” That is because in such music, listeners often experience a sense of a starting point, followed by a sense of unresolved movement and tension, and followed finally by a sense of “resolution,” as the music returns “home” to and finishes with the tonic note.

However, keys are also given a name, e.g., C Major, and the name of a given key specifies two things: first, the tonal pitch (tonic) around which the key is organized, e.g., C, and second, what sort of scale is built atop that pitch, e.g., a Major. For example, music could be written in the key of “D major” or ‘B flat minor” (or you can just say “in D”, if it’s a major key)

Music written in certain “keys”, called “Major” keys, usually sounds bright, cheerful, happy, and positive. Music written in other keys, called “minor” keys, often sounds more ominous, sad, or mysterious.

Melodic Implication . When the melody of a piece of music clearly highlights the tonic note, or the tonic note becomes a point of rest and release for the melody, this is called melodic implication. More often than not, this is made explicitly clear when, at the end of a phrase or section of music, a melody will come to rest on its tonic pitch. This will be discussed in more detail in a later chapter.

Harmonic Resolution . Tonality can also be achieved via harmonic resolution. A harmony, or chord, is the simultaneous sounding of three or more different pitches, and the movement, or progression, from chord to chord constitutes a harmonic progression. The two most important notes in any diatonic scale are the tonic (the first) and dominant (the fifth) notes. By extension, the two most important chords in a harmonic progression are those built on the tonic and dominant pitches - tonic chord (symbolized as I) and dominant chord (symbolized as V). The tonic chord, in which the tonic pitch is the root of the chord, represents rest and resolution. The dominant chord in which the dominant pitch is the root of the chord, represents tension—unrest and irresolution. There is no more effective way to establish an irrefutable and powerful sense of resolution to tonic than to play the harmonic progression V–I in any given key. This will also discussed in more detail in a later chapter.

Assertion . Tonality via assertion is when a single note is sustained for so long and/or repeated so often that it becomes, by sheer commonality of its assertion, the obvious tonal center in a given section or piece of music.

Not all music features clear and unambiguous tonal centers. In fact, many early-and mid- 20th-century composers tried to avoid creating any sense of tonality whatsoever. However, the so-called atonal music that they produced is probably mischaracterized because true atonality is, in reality, almost impossible to achieve.

The concept of keys can often be especially confusing for beginners at learning music theory, in part because of inconsistencies in the use of terminology. When clearly discussing keys, some writers will refer to them as scales. As we will discuss in more detail in a later chapter, the palette of notes used for a key is indeed also a type of scale, or may be based on a scale, but it is not the only type of scale, and it is not the scale on which it is based. There are many types of musical scales that are used in other ways. In other words, a key is a scale, but not all scales are keys.

Another frequent source of confusion is inconsistency in discussing the number of notes that make up a particular key. Some writers will say seven, others eight, and others will say 12. Those that say seven or twelve are perhaps confusing the “key” with the scale on which it is based. The full octave scale corresponding to a particular key does indeed contain seven natural notes designated by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, and five sharp and flat notes, for a total of twelve notes. However, musical keys do not use all of the twelve notes of a given octave to build the palette of the key. The seven notes that are used are called the ”diatonic” notes, whereas the five notes from the octave that are not used are called the “chromatic” notes. So while a scale does indeed contain twelve notes, it would be incorrect to say that a key based on it contains twelve notes.

Actually, a musical “key” technically contains eight notes, because the Tonic repeats at the end of the list of notes in the key, just at a pitch one full octave higher. But some writers leave it out when indicating the notes in a given key. In a later chapter of this book, we will discuss why it is important to include it, and so going forward we will always describe a key as containing eight notes.

It is called The Circle of Fifths because each of the Major and Minor keys are separated by an equal distance: an interval of a perfect fifth (seven semitones). So, if you start at the top with the key of C Major/A Minor, and move clockwise adding an interval of a perfect fifth, you reach G Major/E minor.

The numbers inside the circle show the number of sharps or flats in the key signature, with the sharp keys going clockwise, and the flat keys counterclockwise from C major which has no sharps or flats. The circular arrangement also identifies enharmonic relationships in the circle, e.g., six sharps for the F♯ = G♭ Major keys and six flats for the D♯ = E♭ for minor keys. The major keys C♯ major or C♭ major are also indicated, and their positioning right next to D♭ major or B major is also significant. C♯ major or C♭ major can sometimes be more conveniently spelled as D♭ major or B major because they are also enharmonically equivalent.

Most Western music is written in one of the major keys. As discussed earlier, the key contains eight notes, with the eighth note duplicating the first (tonic) note one octave higher (double its frequency). But of course, these notes are different for each Major Key because the scale on which it is based starts on different notes.

Moreover, all major keys have the same pattern of intervals—half steps and whole steps—beginning with the note that names the key. That pattern is: whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step, and of course, it is the same pattern as that of the scale on which the key is based.