When Functions Collide: Aspects of Plural Function in Chromatic Music

Abstract

Daniel Harrison's 1994 study, Harmonic Function in Chromatic Music, questions the traditional mapping of chords onto function, and instead suggests that scale steps embody the source of harmonic function. His reformulation creates a new one-to-one mapping of scale steps onto harmonic function, which may be, at times, problematic. This article examines aspects of Harrison's theory and advances a different mechanism for the evaluation of harmonic function based on the Tonnetz. It examines a particular set of chromatic harmonies that display plural function, which may be organized according to a genus and species mode of classification.

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