3883 / 18210 · Workshop 21 — “Stella by Starlight”: Ambiguous Tonal Center, Non-Diatonic Harmony, and Hearing Function Without a Comfortable Home Key← prev⊞ allnext →
21.1Tonal ambiguity is not the same as randomness
A progression can sound difficult because it does not immediately establish a tonic.
But the chords may still have very clear local relationships.
You might hear:
dominant → destination
ii → V
half-diminished → dominant
chromatic approach → arrival
even though the global key remains uncertain.
That is enough to navigate.