In music, tonicization is the treatment of a pitch other than the overall tonic as a temporary tonic in a composition. Tonicization is achieved through the use of the scale and harmonies of the tonicized key. The most common method of tonicization uses leading tones, dominant-tonic chord progressions, or a combination thereof. Tonicization is an example of tonal chromaticism.Tonicization is not very differrent from modulation, because(according to Schenker),"there's no such thing as a modulation in music", because a modulation is nothing more than a long Tonicization, in which the influence of the previous key is still evident. Music is an art, entertainment, or other human activity that involves organized and audible sounds and silence. ... In music, pitch is the psychological correlate of the fundamental frequency of a note. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... Musical composition is: an original piece of music the structure of a musical piece the process of creating a new piece of music // A musical composition A piece of music exists in the form of a written composition in musical notation or as a single acoustic event (a live performance... In music theory, a leading-tone (called the leading-note outside the US) is a note or pitch which resolves or leads to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading-tone, respectively. ... The word dominant has several possible meanings: In music theory, the dominant or dominant note (second most important) of a key is that which is a perfect fifth above the tonic; in just intonation the note whose pitch is 1. ... The tonic is the first note of a musical scale, and in the tonal method of music composition it is extremely important. ... A chord progression (also chord sequence and harmonic progression or sequence), as its name implies, is a series of chords played in an order. ... In music, chromatic indicates the inclusion of notes not in the prevailing scale and is also used for those notes themselves (Shir-Cliff et al 1965, p. ...

Change of scale

To achieve a change of tonic, the notes that define a key (that is, the scale) must be changed. For example, the C major scale consists of the notes C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C. If a tonicization of G major is desired, F must change to F-sharp to fit into the G major scale: G-A-B-C-D-E-F#-G. Thus, to tonicize G major, F-sharp (as the leading tone to G) is used in place of the F-natural of the original tonic C major scale. In music, a scale is a set of musical notes that provides material for part or all of a musical work. ...

Similarly, to tonicize F major, the B of the C major scale must be changed to B-flat to produce the F major scale: F-G-A-Bb-C-D-E-F. B-flat functions here as a downward-pushing leading tone that resolves to A as the third of the F major triad.

These examples illustrate the most common altered tones used in tonicization: scale steps 7 → 8 (the traditional "leading tone," such as F# → G in G major) and scale steps 4 → 3 (such as Bb → A in F major) in the tonicized key. Especially when briefly tonicizing more remote keys, the alteration of one or both of these scale steps may be sufficient, instead of the significant modifications needed to change an entire scale to the scale of a remote key.

Use of secondary harmonies

Introducing altered tones melodically often produces only a weak feeling of tonicization. Stronger tonicizations are frequently achieved by borrowing not only pitches from the tonicized key, but also chords (known as "secondary chords" or "secondary harmonies"). The most common such chord is the secondary dominant; this is simply a chord that is dominant to the tonicized key and is usually one of the following: V, V7, vii° (usually not in root position), or vii°7 (often in root position). In musical analysis, a secondary dominant is notated with a slash separating the tonicized scale degree and the type of secondary dominant chord used. For example, if the original tonic is C Major and a tonicization of F Major (the subdominant and 4th scale degree of C Major) is desired, one could use the V7 chord of F Major (which is C7) as a secondary dominant to approach F. In this case, one could notate the secondary dominant chord with a slash like so: "V7/IV" (pronounced "five seven of four"). If the vii°7 of F (E°7) is used instead of the V7 chord, the notation would like this: "vii°7/IV" (pronounced "seven diminished seven of four"). Note that all four of the secondary dominant chords mentioned (V, V7, vii°, and vii°7) include both the leading tones on scale steps 7 and 4 in the tonicized key. Secondary dominants are a kind of chord used in musical harmony. ... The root (basse fondamentale) of a chord is the note upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as built or centered, the root of a chord in root position or normal form. ...

Longer tonicizations may include other secondary chords, such as a subdominant or the tonic triad borrowed from the tonicized key. Generally the secondary dominant resolves to the tonicized tonic triad, but occasionally this is not necessary to achieve tonicization. Such tonicization without actually sounding the destination tonic is especially common when using a half cadence or deceptive cadence progression. For example, if the overall tonic is C major, a Phrygian cadence moving from D minor to E major, as well as a deceptive cadence that moves D minor to E7 to F major, could be heard as tonicizing A minor. (Depending on the context, the use of E major here could also be described simply as a "borrowed" or "altered chord," rather than a tonicization.) In music, the subdominant is the technical name for the fourth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ...

For further details on the varieties of harmonic progressions that can be used to move between keys, see modulation. In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...

Tonicization versus modulation

Longer tonicizations are considered modulations. In addition to length, one of the most common criteria used to differentiate between tonicization and modulation is the use of a strong cadence in a modulation to establish the destination key. Not all theorists agree on this distinction, and the boundary between the concepts has varied historically. In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key (tonic, or tonal center) to another. ...