BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
9842 / 18210 · Workshop 81 — Polychords and Bitonal Hearing: Two Harmonic Worlds at Once, Upper Structure vs. True Polychord, Controlled Clashes, and Making “Wrong” Chords Sound Intentional← prev⊞ allnext →

81.52Bitonality requires independent centers

True bitonal effect becomes stronger when:

lower material repeatedly confirms one center

while upper material repeatedly confirms another.

A single outside note is not bitonality.