It is interesting to note that the differences in music from different cultures
round the world do not lie in the acceptance or usage of consonance, but in
the uses and general acceptance of dissonance.It was J.S. Bach who brought tritones into acceptance through his music. So
really, you could say that Bach was the father of death metal — or at least
hair metal. Take a listen to Bach’s “The Goldberg Variations” to see if you can
hear the seeds of “War Pigs” in there. You probably won’t, but you should be
able to hear the masterful use of dissonant tritones in the piece.Conflict and resolution ........................................................................
Aside from scaring people and suggesting darkness, of what use is a disso-
nant harmonic interval? Dissonance creates a feeling of instability, tension,
and conflict. In music composition — just as in literature, the cinema, and
the theater — the concepts of conflict and resolution are extremely impor-
tant. Conflict and resolution keep the plot moving and keep your audience
interested.In music, conflict can be represented by dissonant tones, with resolution rep-
resented by consonant tones.Try playing the set of notes in Figure 9-3 to see what we mean.Don’t you feel a mild sense of aural relief when the dissonant tones logically
progress to consonant tones? It’s very much like the feeling of coming home.
The musical conflict inflicted on our ears by the dissonant interval is resolved,
and you can rest easy (until the next conflict arises). In fact, we can now tell
what key the music is in because it has clearly arrived at a resolved state and
we can sense that G is the tonic, at least for the moment. Now we can write
the key signature for G (Figure 9-4).&4
4
̇
̇
̇
̇
bw
w
Figure 9-3:
Conflict and
resolution
accom-
plished in
just two
measures.94 Part III: Harmony and Structure