Categories: Keys
All theory articlesStable and Unstable Notes: How Scale Degrees Create Rest and Motion
Which scale degrees sound stable or unstable, where their tendencies lead, and how to use this hierarchy in melody, improvisation, and analysis.
Reader level: ArrangerRelative Keys: The Same Notes, Different Tonal Centers
What relative keys are, how C major and A minor are connected, and why the same notes can sound like two different keys.
Reader level: ArrangerParallel Keys: Major and Minor with the Same Tonic
What parallel keys are, how C major differs from C minor, and which scale degrees change when moving between major and minor.
Reader level: ArrangerScale Degrees in a Key
Learn how scale degrees work inside a key: how they create stability and tension, change their role over chords, and help transpose music.
Reader level: ArrangerWhat Is Musical Tension?
A clear explanation of musical tension: where it comes from, how it relates to keys, scale degrees, and chord functions, and why it often seeks resolution.
Reader level: ArrangerWhat Is the Tonic?
A clear explanation of the tonic: how it creates a sense of home, why it is not always the first note, and how to hear it in melody and harmony.
Reader level: Arranger