Counter-sound

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Main triad (T) in C major with its counter-sound (Tg) in E minor. The chords have two common tones.

Counter-sounds , also counter-parallels or alternating leading tone sounds , designate terms from functional theory and are among the secondary functions of a key . They are the main functions ( tonic , dominant and subdominant ) of a key large terzverwandt and make quasi "opposites" to the kleinterzverwandten parallel sounds . In Dur they are a major third over , in minor a major third with the associated main function. Against (three) sounds in major are minor triads, in minor they are major triads. In functional theory, they are identified by a g or G appended to the symbol of the associated main function, with capital letters standing for major and lower case letters for minor.

designation Major (examples in C major) Minor (examples in A minor)
Tonic counter-sound Tg on the III. Level
e.g .: egh		 tG on the VI. Level
Example: FAc
Dominant counter-sound Dg at the VII level
e.g. Bd-f sharp (do not ladder!)		 dG on III. Level
Example: ceg
Subdominant counter-sound Sg on the VI. Level
e.g .: Ace		 sG at the lower level II,
e.g .: Bdf (do not lead!)

The dominant counter- sound occurs as a ladder-specific chord on the VIIth level of the Lydian scale. In major it cannot be formed exclusively from the ladder's own tones, but only if the fourth degree is raised to the Lydian fourth . Accordingly, the subdominant counter- sound of the second level of Phrygian can only be represented in minor if the second level is lowered to the Phrygian second . The counter-sound of the minor subdominant usually appears as a Neapolitan sixth chord , more rarely as a basic “ independent Neapolitan ”.

Lead tone alternation

Lead tone change sounds for the tonic of C major and A minor, each with the resolution of the lead tone in the prime of the tonic

The terms Gegenklang ( Wilhelm Maler ) and Gegenparallele ( Hugo Distler ) have largely prevailed today over the original designation of Hugo Riemann , who called such sounds alternating leading tone . Such results from a major triad, when the lowest tone towards the lying beneath it, leading note of switches , wherein the sex of major to minor changes (i.e. E Minor in the example shown instead of C Major). A minor triad becomes an alternating leading tone if its uppermost tone is replaced by the leading tone above it (leading downwards), whereby the gender changes from minor to major (in the example F major instead of A minor).

According to Riemann's own formulation, an alternating lead tone is created “by setting the lead tone to the prime instead of the prime” . This extremely simple and general definition is only possible and understandable against the background that Riemann, as a supporter of harmonic dualism, saw the minor triad as a mirror image of the major triad: he referred to the major triad as "Oberklang" , which consists of prim, major oberterz and major quint, on the other hand he regarded the minor triad as a "sub-sound" , which is formed from a prime, a major lower terez and a sub- quint. In contrast to today's view, for Riemann the “prime” of the minor triad is not the lowest but the highest tone. Correspondingly, in the major triad the "leading tone to the prim" is the small sub-second of the lowest note, in the minor triad the small upper second of the highest note.

The following note example from Riemann's Handbuch der Harmonielehre shows some examples of leading tone alternating sounds with the Riemann functional symbolism, which differs greatly from today's notation:

Leittonwechselklaenge.png

Riemann designates the leading tone change sounds by interlacing the symbols for the respective main functions (T, D and S) with the characters <and>, where <means an upward leading tone and> a downward leading tone. In the note example, the leading tones dissolve into the prim of the starting triads, with the "lying" colons identifying the tone numbered above as the resolution goal, while the Arabic number 1 for the (below) prim of a major triad and the Roman number I for the (above lying) prim of a minor triad.

Although the leading tone change sounds consist only of consonant intervals and can be treated as fully-fledged chords in terms of composition, they appear in certain contexts as requiring resolution and thus " dissonant " because of the leading tones they contain . Riemann calls it "pseudo-consonant" and occasionally uses the term " pseudo harmony " .

Relation and use of counter and parallel sounds

With the exception of Gegenklänge with chief foreign tones (Dominant Gegenklang in major, Subdominantgegenklang in minor), for every Gegenklang one belonging to another function parallel sound that matches with him. The following table shows the individual relationships between counter and parallel sounds:

function in major
(e.g. in C major)		 in major
identical to:		 in minor
(e.g. in A minor)		 in minor
identical to:
Tonic counter-sound Tg (egh) / III. step Dominant- parallel Dp tG (FAc) / VI. step Subdominant parallel sp
Dominant counter-sound Dg (Hd-fis) / VII. Stage dG (ceg) / III. step Tonic parallel tP
Subdominant counter-sound Sg (Ace) / VI. step Tonikaparallele Tp sG (Bdf) / ♭ II. stage

Whether a chord is to be interpreted as a counter or parallel sound in a specific individual case depends crucially on which main function it embodies in the respective cadence. In general it can be said that the tonic counter-sound Tg / tG is the most frequently used of the counter-sounds. Otherwise there are significant differences between major and minor, so that a separate treatment is useful.

Use in major

Cadence in C major, in which the subdominant and dominant are represented by secondary functions.

The VI. Level almost exclusively as a tonic parallel , in particular it represents the tonic in case of fallacies . The use as a subdominant counter-sound is extremely rare, but at least possible, as the cadence example shows.

The III. Level functions in most cases as a tonic counter-sound, i.e. as a substitute for the tonic. Their use in a dominant function as a dominant parallel is possible (see example opposite), but rarely occurs. The almost “exotic” final turn Dp-T can also have a special charm, as the final cadence of the pictures at an exhibition proves.

The dominant counter-sound is used very rarely.

Use in minor

The VI functions in the minor key. Level mainly as a tonic against sound. This plays a cadential role similar to that of the tonic parallel in major. B. also target chord in fallacies. Use as a subdominant parallel is rare.

The III. Level occurs practically only as a tonic parallel; as a representative of the dominant (dG) it is unsuitable because of the missing leading tone.

The subdominant counter-sound is often used as a Neapolitan .

literature

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Actually, Gegenparallelklang , the short form Gegenparallele has become generally accepted. See: Everard Sigal: Relation of thirds . Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  2. ↑ Counter-sounds usually appear as triads, but theoretically and in individual practical cases can also contain more than three tones.
  3. ↑ a b Hugo Riemann: Handbuch der Harmonielehre. 1920, p. 80 ff. Accessed: September 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ Reinhard Amon: Lexicon of Harmony . 2nd Edition. Doblinger, Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-902667-56-4 , pp. 210 .