Non-functional harmony
What Non-functional harmony means in Music A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Non-functional harmony
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Reference: AQA
Use of chords for their individual sonority, colour, or texture rather than their traditional role in establishing a key through functional progressions.
Harmony such as parallel chord planing, used to create tonal ambiguity.
Topics that use Non-functional harmony
- Area of study 7: Art music since 1910 - Musical elements (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- 20th-century chord structures
- 20th-century compositional techniques
- 20th-century rhythmic innovation
- A cappella
- Additive and subtractive processes
- Alternatives to functional tonality
- Atonality
- Atonality and tonality
Using Non-functional harmony in the exam
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