On 30 Jun 2005 at 9:20, Christopher Smith wrote:
> On Jun 30, 2005, at 12:54 AM, Mark D Lew wrote:
>
> > On Jun 29, 2005, at 9:14 PM, Christopher Smith wrote:
> >
> >> Subdominant (used to mean the 4th of the scale, or the chord built
> >> on it. Now means ANY chord that can lead to a dominant
> >
> > Really? I only know the term as referring to the chord built on the
> > 4th of the scale.
> >
> > So you're telling me that a IIm7 chord would be described as
> > "subdominant"? To me that sounds very wrong.
>
> Described as a "subdominant function" or "subdominant area", yes. This
> confusion is why so many theorists use the term "predominant" as I had
> mentioned. But that term has its pitfalls, too.
Using the term "subdominant function" is not even close to using the
exact term "subdominant" to apply to non-IV/iv chords.
And it's nothing like the mis-use of hemiola to mean something that
exactly contradicts the actual meaning of the word.
> Ideally (IMHO) a music theory jargon term would be
>
> 1) easy to pronounce and spell,
> 2) unambiguous in application, and
> 3) have a sense of what it meant built in. Kind of like the German way
> of building compound words ("Fork" might be
> "Foodpickerupandputterintomouth" to use my old theory teacher's
> example that always got a giggle. The purpose of the thing is evident
> as soon as you say it.)
>
> "Predominant", while it satisfies the first two requirements, causes
> confusion as to its function. "Subdominant function" is long, and
> certainly could be called ambiguous, since "subdominant" also means
> just the IV chord and the 4th scale degree.
I don't see any problem whatsoever with either of the terms, but my
entire theoretical training was based around this approach, and the
consistent use of those terms.
How would you apply this list, then, to what you argue is a
permissable shift in the meaning of the word hemiola?
I think people misuse it because they never have actually been taught
the original definition, probably because a lot of the people using
it have never actually played much of the music in which the genuine
hemiola is part of the musical style.
--
David W. Fenton http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
David Fenton Associates http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc
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