![]() Example: what are the function of first four pitches of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony when considered in isolation? Mediant, tonic, supertonic, subtonic? When dealing with key changes, the student must know how to account for pitch recognition after the key changes: retain the original tonic or change the frame of reference to the new tonic. Music with no tonic or ambiguous tonality does not lend itself well to this type of analysis. Since the function of pitch classes is a key element the problem of compound intervals with interval recognition is not an issue - whether the notes in a melody are played within a single octave or range over eight octaves is irrelevant.įunctional pitch recognition has some weaknesses. Since reference pitches are not required, music may be broken up by complex and difficult to analyze pitch clusters (example: percussion sequence) and pitch analysis may resume immediately once an easier to identify pitch is played (example: trumpet solo) - no need to keep of the last note of the previous line or solo nor any need to keep track of a series of intervals going back all the way to the start of a piece. Since a large body of music is tonal the listener will commonly be assured that a tonic will be established therefore the technique is widely applicable. In fact, musicians may utilize the moveable- do system to label pitches while mentally tracking intervals to determine the sequence of solfege symbols.įunctional pitch recognition has several strengths. However there is no requirement that musicians associate the solfege symbols with the scale degrees. In the moveable do system, there happens to be a correspondence between the solfege symbol and a pitch's role. In the fixed- do system the solfege symbols clearly do not describe the role of pitches relative to the tonic. In contrast, fixed- do solfege symbols are simply labels for absolute pitches ( do=C, re=D, etc., in any key). Functional pitch recognition emphasizes the role of a pitch with respect to the tonic. Note that functional pitch recognition should not be confused with the fixed- do solfege symbols, do, re, mi, etc. Using such systems, pitches with identical functions (the key note or tonic, for example) are associated with identical labels ( 1 or do, for example). To this end, scale-degree numbers or movable- do solmization ( do, re, mi, etc.) can be quite helpful. Many musicians use functional pitch recognition in order to identify, understand, and appreciate the roles and meanings of pitches within a key. ![]() No reference to any other pitch is required to establish this fact. Once the tonic has been established, each subsequent pitch may then be recognized in isolation with no need for reference to accompanying pitches.įor example, once the tonic G has been established, listeners may recognize that the pitch D plays the role of the dominant in the key of G. ![]() ![]() Functional pitch recognition involves identifying the function or role of a single pitch in the context of an established tonic. Functional pitch recognition is an important skill for all musicians listening to and performing tonal music. ![]()
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