Level (music)
in music, a temporary modal frame contrasted with another
A level, also "tonality level", Gerhard Kubik's "tonal step," "tonal block," and John Blacking's "root progression," is an important melodic and harmonic progression where melodic material shifts between a whole tone above and a whole tone below the tonal center. This shift can occur to both neighboring notes, in either direction, and from any point of departure. The steps above and below the tonic are often called contrasting steps. A new harmonic segment is created which then changes the tonality but not necessarily the key.
Each level is based on one pitch, a foundation note. A melodic or harmonic-melodic third, triad (fifth) (such as in the song "Shallow Brown"), or seventh (such as in the song "Donald MacGillavry") may be built off this foundation. A "change" in levels is called a shift. We see this in double-tonic tunes such as "Donald MacGillavry" (notes: A to G in bar 4 below). Shifting is more emphatic than chord changes (chords: Am-G), but not as emphatic as modulations (keys: A minor to G major):
The foundation (root) is the most important note and accompanying chords are almost always built in root position. The fifth is next in importance, and consecutive fifths are most often emphasized.
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