dominant harmony

In the major and minor tonalities, dominant harmony is created on the fifth scale degree and usually functions as a tension creator, providing an unstable sound quality that usually seeks to resolve to the tonic chord. Perhaps it is this unstable quality that allows for the wider range of different dominant color possibilities as compared to tonic and Two chord harmony. Dominant harmony also functions as a tonal center in American blues music, it's unstable nature motoring our blues ideas. And while both the major / minor tonality and the blues environment share similar dominant qualities, it is from within the theoretical dynamic of the major / minor tonality that the following suggestions for dominant color convergence are initiated.

Listed below are groups of pitches that provide various colors used to create melodic lines over harmony that functions as a dominant color in any given piece of music. Thinking C major as our tonal center, our dominant chord is created on the fifth scale degree G. Spelling the arpeggio, note the inconsistent cycle of major 3rd major / minor 3rd intervalic permutation in creating the dominant 7th arpeggio. Example 1.

Using these core pitches from the arpeggio above as our basis, we generate the following melodic possibilities providing different loops of pitches with which to create melodic ideas over dominant 7th chords in the major tonality. For pedagogical purposes, we create four categories, based on how a particular loop is theoretically generated. Starting for the most part with the diatonic pitches, the following scales are listed top to bottom from tonal consonance (inside) to tonal dissonance (outside) and make up the first of the four categories. I simply call this "group 1, diatonic studies", and although we do borrow some pitches, the choices are for the most part diatonically generated.

Group #1, diatonically generated.

Group #2, based on the fully diminished chord.

Group #3, based on the melodic minor color.

Group #4, based on the whole tone color.

To examine the theory of each of the choices, perhaps select first by group.

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