functional harmony
nounDefinition of functional harmony
: a theory of tonal music that regards all harmonies as functioning as essentially tonic, dominant, or subdominant harmony In Riemann's interpretation Berlioz sought to destroy the fundamental unit of functional harmony, the cadence, by substituting ‘false’ functions.— Alexander Rehding, Hugo Riemann and the Birth of Modern Musical Thought, 2003 broadly : harmony as it functions within tonality Modal harmony can operate as a signifier of the historical period before the development of tonal functional harmony in the seventeenth century. — Annette Davison, Hollywood Theory, Non-Hollywood Practice, 2004
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on functional harmony
What made you want to look up functional harmony? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
-
- Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
Words to improve your Scrabble game
Take the quiz -
Which Came First? Quiz
Do you know which word is older?
Take the quiz -
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
Take the quiz -
Dictionary Devil
The dictionary has been scrambled—can you put it back together?
Play the game
Share functional harmony
Resources for functional harmony