Workshop 27 mini-test

1. What is the fundamental difference between functional and modal harmony?

2. What is C Aeolian?

3. What distinguishes C Dorian from C Aeolian?

4. What distinguishes C Phrygian?

5. What does D♭ major triad over C bass contribute?

6. Why are quartal voicings useful in modal harmony?

7. What does B♭→B→C signify in a C-minor context?

8. Why should G7♭9 be used selectively in a modal arrangement?

9. What is the difference between functional tension and modal tension?

10. What is the deepest lesson of Workshop 27?

Answers

1. Functional harmony creates directional expectation toward a destination; modal harmony often maintains a tonal center while exploring different colors around it.
2. C D E♭ F G A♭ B♭.
3. Dorian uses A natural (6) instead of Aeolian A♭ (♭6).
4. D♭, the ♭2.
5. ♭2, 4, and ♭6, producing a strong Phrygian color over the C pedal.
6. They are less strongly tied to traditional triadic function and therefore create open, ambiguous sonorities well suited to modal environments.
7. It moves from modal ♭7 to functional leading tone and then tonic—effectively changing the harmonic “physics” from modal to functional.
8. Because its leading tone B and altered dominant tension create strong directional gravity, which can destroy the suspended/modal feeling if used constantly.
9. Functional tension expects resolution somewhere else; modal tension can intensify the current color without necessarily demanding departure.
10. You must learn to recognize whether a harmony is functioning as an arrow or as an atmosphere.

The central lesson of Workshop 27 is:

Not every chord is a road sign. Sometimes the chord is the landscape.