Conference Agenda

Within the shape-note community, singers share a consensus that four-shape tunes have a distinct sound, and this distinction is characterized by atypical resolutions of categorically predominant and I64 chords. Shaped noteheads, which originated in the United States in 1798 in Little and Smith’s The Easy Instructor, were designed as a teaching aid for sight-singing. Two systems emerged shortly thereafter: seven-shape, which tends to follow the conventions of Western tonal harmony, and four-shape, which tends to resolve in unconventional ways. As such, many participants in the shape-note tradition associate each notation system with a particular musical style.

A corpus analysis of the 1991 Denson edition of The Sacred Harp, the most popular four-shape tunebook, aids in determining what makes four-shape distinct. The function of predominant chords and the I64 play a significant role in the perceptual contrast between four-shape tunes and seven-shape tunes. Typical predominant chords such as ii, IV, and V/V make up roughly 4% of all the chords found in The Sacred Harp, and these chords only move to V-related dominants 12% of the time. Similarly, the I64 chord rarely functions as a cadential, instead often moving back to I-related tonic 45% of the time as opposed to moving to V-related dominant 12% of the time. Different functional categories for these chords may prove useful, especially for hymns often nicknamed “one-chord wonders.” The strange behavior of predominant and I64 chords does not necessarily denote a lack of harmonic progression; rather, the unique way that these chords operate may require a different analytical approach.

Many of the songs within The Sacred Harp do not progress in conventional ways, and this sentiment is echoed in the book’s rudiments, the educational section found in the beginning of many shape-note tunebooks. The authors note that “harmony is the most distinctive feature of Sacred Harp music,” and that “Sacred Harp harmony does not follow the rules of conventional harmony.” The unconventional movement of categorically predominant chords and I64 chords are critical components of four-shape harmonies, and these harmonic oddities contribute to the harmony being “the most distinctive feature.”

The presence of tritone substitutions of the diatonic V⁷ in works by Debussy, Sibelius, Franck, MacDowell, and other composers of the long 19^th-century is well-established. However, our labeling of these chords in Roman Numeral analysis tends to obscure their prominent Dominant function. This, in turn, limits our ability to articulate their role in delineating structurally important cadences in mid- and late- Romantic works.
To address this need for clarity, this paper will examine the current methods for labelling tritone substitution chords within Roman Numeral analysis and propose refinements that can more effectively represent the Dominant function of these chords in our harmonic and formal analyses of 19^th- and early 20^th-century tonal works.

The presence of what we now call tritone substitutions of the diatonic V7 in 19th-century works is well-established, whether arising simply through the chromatic embellishment of otherwise diatonic voice-leading or through more substantially chromatic techniques. However, our labeling of these chords in Roman Numeral analysis tends to obscure their prominent Dominant function. This, in turn, limits our ability to articulate their role in delineating structurally important cadences in mid- and late- Romantic works.
To address this need for clarity, this paper will examine the current methods for labelling tritone substitution chords within Roman Numeral analysis and propose refinements that can more effectively represent the Dominant function of these chords in our harmonic and formal analyses.

The concept of harmonic function has been central to the study and teaching of tonal harmony since its inception. Nonetheless, most contemporary understandings of this concept are shaped by key features that limit its analytical and pedagogical potential in tonal languages beyond the European canonical repertoire: First, chords are conceived as harmonic units capable of expressing a sole function at a time, leaving aside the possibility of mixed functions. Second, triad content is a totalizing factor for determining a chord’s function, factoring out additional chord members such as sixths, sevenths, ninths, etc. Third, harmonic function’s grouping criteria favors chord behavior over tonal color (i.e., syntax over paradigm), thus ignoring distinct shades within a single functional class. Finally, and most importantly, harmonic functionality is circumscribed to major/minor tonality, thus creating an unnecessary and unproductive analytical gap between tonal and modal languages. In this paper, we introduce, from a neo-dualist perspective, concepts and analytical tools specifically designed to model and represent the interaction of various harmonic-functional elements within a single chord – in a detailed fashion and, at the same time, within a broad conception of tonal functionality that moves beyond the above-mentioned limitations of current conceptions of harmonic function. This paper seeks to appeal to analysts willing to foster diversity in music theory by embracing the richness of tonal music beyond the regimes of the major-minor tonality and the classical European canon.