Tonales

Tonales refers to tonalities—the systems by which pitch is organized around a central pitch called the tonic. In music theory, tonalities describe how scales, chords, and progressions create a sense of key, center, and direction. The term is commonly used in discussions of Western classical music, though related ideas appear in many musical cultures.

Historically, tonality crystallized in the Baroque period and became the prevailing paradigm in the Classical and Romantic eras, relying on functional harmony, major and minor keys, and cadences that reaffirm the tonic. Modulation—brief or extended—moves a piece from one key to another, often through closely related keys.

Core features of tonalities include the tonic-dominant relationship, diatonic harmony based on scales, and predictable progressions that give music a sense of arrival. Key signatures help organize pitches within a piece, but tonal music can also use borrowed chords and chromaticism to color the progression while maintaining tonal gravity.

Beyond the Western tradition, other musical systems may emphasize tonal centers or pitch sets in ways that resemble tonality. Modal frameworks, maqamat, ragas, and other tonalities use centers or focal pitches to shape melody and harmony, though they differ from Western major/minor tonality in their scales and functional assumptions.

In music theory, tonality and tonalities are central for analysis and interpretation of form, melody, and harmony. Related concepts include key, scale, harmony, cadence, and modulation.