Music theory help!--Intervals and tonal center?

Question

I have two questions:
1. What is the 'tonal center' of a piece? Or how do I find it?

2. I know my intervals from unisons to octaves...but is there such thing as a 'twelfth'? For example, from E to the B above the other E...Also, what is the quality (major, minor, aug, dim, perfect) of that twelfth from E to B?

Answer 1

1) I believe that the tonal center is just the note that the piece revolves around, and it usually has plenty of leading tones and dominants above it to keep drawing the piece back to that one note. It's usually the tonic, (the key,) for that reason. It isn't always the key, though. Some composers, mostly the really old ones (baroque) and the more modern ones (Vincent Persichetti comes to mind,) choose to write their music without a key signature, and then they just load it up with accidentals. I played Pageant, by Persichetti, and it was in the key of C-Maj, but the tonal center went back and forth between Bb and Eb.

2) Yes, there is a twelfth, and it's mostly used in bands and stuff to describe the intervals between instruments. For example, a piccolo is pitched an octave above flute, so if the picc was playing a b while the flute was playing the e, it would be considered a twelfth. When constructing chords or whatnot, though, you very rarely see anything larger than a ninth or tenth.

A twelfth would be considered perfect, assuming that it was unaltered.

Answer 2

The tonal center is usually the key it's in.

Yes, there are twelfths, the equivalent of twelve white notes, or an octave plus the interval of a fifth. It would be the same "quality" as if it were the fifth.

Answer 3

The tonal center is the note that you are drawn to in any particular key. Key of F....tonal center F....Key of C....tonal center C......etc. Its the note that centers the peice. You find it by reading the key signature.

The 12th is actually a 5th

Answer 4

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