BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
5197 / 18210 · Workshop 35 — “Stella by Starlight”: Ambiguous Function, Deceptive Resolutions, Local Key Centers, and Navigating When the Harmony Refuses to Behave← prev⊞ allnext →

35.14Local tonic versus structural tonic

Imagine the global song is heading toward B♭ major.

But for two bars you get:

Em7♭5 → A7 → Dm.

D minor sounds like a temporary home.

Then the music continues elsewhere.

So:

Dm = local tonic

not necessarily:

the song's home.