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By Aron Bernstein 4 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 2/14/22

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

Valentine’s Day Challenge:

Scintillating Scarlatti! Here’s a passage from Domenico Scarlatti’s Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K. 198. What is the harmony inside the red circles, and what harmony does it resolve to on the notes with the red asterisks?

Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K. 198
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Post your reply and come back Friday, February 18th for the answer!

ANSWER for 2/14/22

Ninth chords don’t just appear in pop and jazz…you’ll find them in early 18th-Century Baroque music too! The harmony inside the red circle is F#7, which is V7 of V in E minor. However, the F#7 is decorated with a ninth, G natural, making it an F# dominant minor ninth chord. But unlike in jazz, the ninth here is really just a suspension, which resolves to the root of the F#7 at the asterisk. Jazz music typically treats ninth chords as a more permanent sonority, rather than a temporary decoration.

F# Dominant Minor 9th resolving to F#7

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, holistic, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!

By Aron Bernstein 6 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 12/6/21

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

This week’s challenge:

Sonata form is the name we give to the structure of many symphonic first movements. In modern times it’s often thought of as ternary (or three-part) form: exposition–development–recapitulation. However, even in the late symphonies of Mozart, you’ll find a repeat sign at the end of the recapitulation, going all the way back to the start of the development. What does this reveal about the origins of sonata form?

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, December 10th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 12/6/21

Well done everyone! Sonata form was a development (pun intended) of rounded binary form:

Renaissance dance forms became adapted into Baroque instrumental movements, particularly binary form with repeats on each section. Rounded binary had the A material return after the B section. As time went on, it became standard practice for the first A section to modulate, often ending in the key of V. However, when the A material returned after the B section, it reasserted the tonic key, rather than modulating. The B section became an episode in which the themes “exposed” in the A section could be developed; hence the modern terms “exposition” and “development.”

By the early 19th Century, composers began to see a more linear narrative in this form. To that end, Beethoven was one of the first to do away with the repeats on either side of the B-A section. This was an important step toward the evolution of sonata form into a more programmatic drama, or, at least, a structure with extramusical implications. An operatic parallel can be found in the reforms of Gluck, who felt that the da capo aria’s repeat was a purely musical convention that hindered the dramatic narrative.

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, holistic, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always added, so stay tuned!