Tendency Tones

4. Constraint and Contrast

The resolution by a half-step is effective in expression. However, precisely because of this, techniques to restrain its usage become equally important.

“A Thousand Miles” by Vanessa Carlton also makes use of ti→do progression in the chorus part (1:00-). In this case, it is followed by so, a 5th ascending leap.

The line ti–do–so forms a clear contrast between step and skip, making it catchy and memorable. But notice that neither ti nor fa appears in the verse part at all, except for the last note (ti at “I wonder“). The verse consists of just 4 tones:do,re,mi,so. Such economy of ti/fa is a clever strategy to make them stand out on their appearance.

The pitch range of the chorus part is not much high; The highest tone, so, already appears at the very first note of the verse part. If ti were used indiscreetly in the verse as well, the chorus would become characterless due to the lack of elements unique to the part.

Ti and fa totally missing, the verse does not produce any mood of emotional fluctuation, evoking the scenery of a downcast person walking on a dry downtown street. Then at the end of the bridge ti appears for the first time, and the chorus full of half-step motion reflects her delicate feelings exposed…or whatever.

To show that such restricted use of ti/fa is not just a coincidence but an established strategy, let me show one more example.

“Who Knew” by P!nk is a great example¹.

Here in the song, again, neither fa nor ti is used in the verse part at all. And the chorus part, in contrast, starts with ti→do resolution. Totally the same as “Thousand Miles”!
Fa→mi also appears in a later phrase (“I know better“), and the last phrase, “Who knew”, again is ti→do.

5. Tone Tendencies

By the way, did you notice something significant while listening to the two songs above? It’s that the probability of ti/fa progressing to do/mi is extraordinarily high.

For example, if we take data on where ti and do progress to in “A Thousand Miles,” it looks like this.

Ti leaps to so only once in the final part, otherwise, it resolves to do in all other instances (except for the short ti doublet as seen in “If I could-“). It makes sense that half-step resolutions are favored as they involve less pitch movement and are easier to sing. However, while this holds true for do→ti as well, it only accounts for about 25% of the motion from do.

“Who Knew” takes it even further, with every ti/fa resolving to do/mi. Of course, these are extreme cases. However, they are by no means quite rare occurrences, either. You can relatively easily find songs where ti/fa resolve entirely to do/mi throughout much or all of a song².

While “stable” do and mi offer a high degree of freedom in choosing their next steps, For ti and fa, half-step resolutions emerge as “strong contenders” due to the desire for resolving…
Metaphorically speaking, it seems as though the notes are “drawn to”, “pulled towards”, or “led to” a tone. In music theory, in fact, there is a persistent notion of discussing the relationship between notes in terms of dynamics such as gravity, attraction, or magnetism. The naming of “leading tone” is one example of them.

Tones like ti and fa exhibit specific tendencies in their progressions. This specific tendency regarding the destination of such notes is referred to literally as Tone Tendency or simply “tendency”³, and notes with particularly pronounced tendencies are called Tendency Tones.

Tendency

A characteristic of certain notes that tend to resolve to specific tones rather than sustain long, due to being in an unstable condition. The intensity of that bias, or the bias itself.

Tendency Tone

A note possessing a non-weak tendency⁴.

The definition text has got a bit long, but both the fact that a note is “in an unstable situation” and that it has a “tendency toward a certain destination” are important for melodic expression. While there are other notes with some degree of tendency besides ti/fa, they are not as pronounced as these two. Details are explained in later sections. For the time being, just remember that the two are the special tendency tones among the seven scale tones.

Tone tendencies do exists even in the popular music field where artists have total freedom of choice, as you’ve just witnessed above. What this means is: Even where there are no rules, there are laws that silently dominate the music industry⁵. And music theory reveals such secrets!

5. Defying Tendency

However, tendency is just that – a “tendency” – and there are no rules stating that a melody “must” move in that direction. A melody moving in the opposite direction of the expected tendency is not necessarily bad; on the contrary, it can evoke a special meaning by deliberately going against the “gravitation”. You can freely choose the opposite direction for getting the reversed musical effect.

The way to utilize them varies depending on the situation and the musical concept. For example, fa→so might convey a sense of “determination to go against some force”, while ti→la could be perfect for portraying an unusual, unsettling darkness.

Use of Fa→So

“You Raise Me Up” is an exquisite example of defying tendency. At the beginning of the chorus (1:30-), the crucial title phrase “You raise me up” is sung in a simple ascending sequence, “so–la–ti–do–“, which naturally follows the tendency. Immediately after, the melody descends with “do–ti–la–so–fa“, and although it seems natural to continue descending and resolve to mi, unexpectedly, it reverses direction and returns to so. In the chorus, after performing this “U-turn” of so–fa–so three times, on the final fourth repetition, it resolves with fa→mi, bringing the music to a calming conclusion.

It follows the upward tendency of ti→do, yet defies the downward tendency of fa→mi. Despite descending step by step, it deliberately returns upward just before reaching mi, the easiest tone to resolve to with just a half-step difference. I believe that this literal “raise-up” action vividly expresses the positive theme that the song wants to convey.

Use of Ti→La

“Kyoto” by Phoebe Bridgers is an interesting example. Every phrase in the chorus part starts from ti and it always goes down. It just keeps tumbling down instead of reaching the tonal center just half-step above it, eventually resolves to the lower do.

Starting a line with ti, holding this much long and not resolving to do is uncommon, but it is nothing wrong for alternative music artists to select alternative melodic progression!☠️

And the melodic contrast between verse and chorus, again, is also great. The verse part is extremely monotonous; it consists almost entirely of do,re,mi.
Also, watch how the lyrics perfectly correspond to that contrast, which start from a tranquil report of trip to Kyoto then suddenly turn into “I’m gonna kill you” at the first appearance of ti.

“Kyoto” is a simple yet very attractive song just like “A Thousand Miles” or “Who Knew”. A part of the secret lies in their superb application of tendency tones.

Not Rules, But Tools

Thus, through melodic analysis you can see how elaborately the structures of hit songs are built, in spite of their simpleness.

In Classic harmony theory it is explained that ti must progress to do under certain conditions. But it’s nothing more than the “manners” in Classical music. At the present day it is almost meaningless to make assertions like one is better than the other. Instead, you should put all options on the table and choose what best fits the situation, and what music theory does is just supports you by offering such useful insights and the accumulated wisdom.

Summery

• Half-tone motion as a whole is smooth and delicate, while whole-tone motion is relatively energetic.
• fa→mi and ti→do brings the sense of landing, getting home. Such directional characters are called tone tendencies.
• Melodic progressions in the opposite direction of tone tendencies can also be utilized as “spices” in a line.

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