- Level (music)
A level (van der Merwe 1989, also "tonality level", Kubik's "tonal step", and
John Blacking 's "root progression ") is a temporary modal frame contrasted with another built on a different foundation note. It is more general and basic than a chord and is found in Asian, African, and Celticfolk music s and in EuropeanRenaissance music . Levels then give way to chords and chord changes inBaroque music and in the twentieth-century chords give way to levels in theblues , completed with the V-IV-I progression, and spread to allpopular music . (ibid, p.209-211)Each level is based on one pitch, a foundation note, upon which a melodic or harmonic-melodic
third , triad (fifth) ("Shallow Brown"), orseventh ("Donald MacGillavry") may be built. A "change" in levels is called a shift, and is more general and basic than achord change . For example,double-tonic tunes such as "Donald MacGillavry" feature shifts of level (notes: A to G) which are more emphatic than chord changes (chords: Am-G), but not as emphatic as modulations (keys: A minor to G major):The foundation is the most important note and chords built are almost always in
root position . The fifth is next in importance, and consecutive fifths are most often emphasized in shifts of level while being banned in thecommon practice period . The third is less important and often blue, neutral, or changing from major to minor. This last characteristic is common in the Englishvirginalist s music such asWilliam Byrd 's "The Woods so Wild" theme, which is an example of levels (F and G) being elaborated through cadence, melodic divergance from theaccompaniment , andsubsidiary chord s, reaching a complete little cadential phrase. In the blues and blues-influenced popular music elaboration happens within the chords, as inboogie-woogie bass , which are the primary triads rather than a tone apart, and the melody also contrasts with the bassline. (ibid)ource
*van der Merwe, Peter (1989). "Origins of the Popular Style: The Antecedents of Twentieth-Century Popular Music". Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-316121-4.
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