Finding the Tonic in Major Keys

Being Able to Find the Tonic Helps You:

● Play and sing in tune

● Play by ear and improvise

● Understand the melodic construction

of a song

● Compose your own music with greater

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Tips for Finding the Tonic in Major Keys

● The tonic of a song is the “resting place” of the music.

● Often, a song will end on the tonic, or on a chord built on the tonic.

● Take the last note and arrange the other notes after it in ascending order to create a scale; the key of the scale will tell you what the tonic is.

● If all else fails, listen for the bass note (the lowest note).

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Practice Finding the Tonic

● Extracting the scale of the melody helps you find the tonic.

● Listen to your favourite songs, and see if you can determine the tonic by ear.

● While listening to music, take note of whether the song started and ended on the tonic, and whether it feels like the natural resting place of the song.

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The Leading Note Can Help You Find the Tonic

● While the first note of the scale is the tonic, the seventh is called the leading tone.

● The leading tone is a half-step below the tonic.

● In fact, the leading tone sounds like it’s leading you to the tonic: it’s a natural precursor to the tonic.

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Finding the Tonic is Not Always Straightforward

● A song often won’t end on the tonic, but on another note that is present in the chord built on the tonic.

● Melodies may change keys as they develop!

● Several modern systems of writing music result in the absence of a tonic.

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Summary

● The tonic is the "root" of the natural resting place of a song or composition.

● In major keys, the leading note can help you in finding the tonic.

● Though many songs end on the tonic, some end on a different note that is present in the tonic chord.

● Finding the tonic is an integral part of ear training, and can help you play and sing in tune, improvise, compose, and more!

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