Basic Materials / Four Strong Modes / Preface / Leading Tones




The Two Leading Tones

We need new definitions to elaborate the question of Leading Tones
          (here again, with no scales involved) -
     The TONIC chord of C has 2 Leading Tones
               placed at a semi-tone distance from itsFRAME:
          a diatonic Leading Tone B placed below theFRAME,
               theMEDIANof the DOMINANT G7, and
          a chromatic Leading Tone Ab placed above theFRAME,
               theMEDIANof the DOMINANT Fm6.
     The TONIC chord of Am has 2 Leading Tones
               placed at a semi-tone distance from itsFRAME:
          a diatonic Leading Tone F placed above theFRAME,
               theMEDIANof the DOMINANT Dm6, and
          a chromatic Leading Tone G# placed below theFRAME,
               theMEDIANof the DOMINANT E7,
                    which should come as a surprise to no one.
All theFRAMEs in the Window have their 2 Leading Tones (mostly chromatic) -
     TheFRAMEF-C has both the E (from C7) and the Db (from Bbm6).
     TheFRAMEG-D has both the F# (from D7) and the Eb (from Cm6).
     TheFRAMED-A has both the C# (from A7) and the Bb (from Gm6).
     TheFRAMEE-B has both the D# (from B7) and the C (from Am6).
A chord may very well possess both Leading Tones of the following chord -
     The chord of G7-9(for which we prefer theChord SymbolG7s-2) has both
          the First Leading Tone B, theMEDIAN, and
          the Second Leading Tone Ab, theSuperior Chromatic Non-chordal Tone
               of theCOMMON TONE.
     The chord of Fm6+4(for which we prefer theChord SymbolFm6p+4) has both
          the First Leading Tone Ab, theMEDIAN, and
          the Second Leading Tone B, the Inferior Chromatic Non-chordal Tone
               of theCOMMON TONE.
          The functions of the notes B and Ab are exactly reversed for C major and C minor.
     The same would apply to the chords of Dm6and E7in A minor or A major.
The reputed jazz guitarist Joe Pass once proposed that -
          a dominant seventh chord (like G7) can posses
               either a major ninth A or a minor ninth Ab, but that
          a minor seventh chord (like Dm7) can only posses
               a major ninth E and not a minor ninth Eb.
     Why ? Because one must have the first Leading Tone before applying the second -
          G7has aMEDIANB and therefore can support either the A or the Ab, but
          Dm7does not have aMEDIANF# and can only support the E and not the Eb.

The Chromatic Minor Mode Revisited
1. The Diatonic Major Mode
2. The Diatonic Minor Mode
3. The Chromatic Major Mode
4. The Chromatic Minor Mode
5. Adjacent Chromatic Modes
6. A melodic Example


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