This post is one of a growing series of holistic investigations into various aspects of music theory. The full list can be found in the Posts page under the category Music Theory De-Mystified.
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Musical context
Individual intervals and chords can be listened to by themselves, out of context, or within the context of a particular piece.
Any interval or chord has an effect; a character, based on how the notes interact. However, the context of the surrounding notes can produce “sleight of ear”. The interval or chord can appear to sound different than when played by itself or in another musical context.
Musical context is a combination of the overall key and mode and the development of the piece. Many pieces visit various keys along the way, resulting in a temporary key. As the music progresses through these visiting keys there is interplay between the home key and the visiting key and the listener’s viewpoint shifts.
Altered notes in either the melody or chords can also result in sleight of ear.
Sleight of ear example 1
Here are two examples of changing from an A major chord to an E major chord. The first example the melody feels like A is the home chord and we’re venturing out to E. In the second example, just one slightly different note in the melody suggests that E is home and we’re arriving home from a visiting key. This is especially noticeable when we hear the progression repeat itself.
Interestingly, the addition of D# in the melody implies the key of E major, and that’s how we hear it. To reflect this, the above example is written with the key signature of A major for the first example and E major for the second.
Sleight of ear example 2
The classic example of sleight of ear is the interval between the 6th and 7th notes of the harmonic minor, which is 3 semitones despite being consecutive scale notes (letters). This interval gives the scale an exotic quality reminiscent of Gypsy music.
From the 6th note to the 7th sounds like an unusually large step, a stretched out 2nd. It is called an augmented 2nd, reflecting how we hear it in the scale.
Normally, 3 semitones is a minor 3rd. When we hear this interval by itself we assume the first note to be the root note: it sounds like the first 3 notes of a minor scale with the 2nd note left out, or the start of a minor chord or minor triad.
The same size interval feels unrecognisably different in these two different contexts.
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Videos taken from Music Theory De-Mystified, due for release as an e-Book late 2022.