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5.4
Tuning, Temperament, and Transposing
5.4.1
Diatonic Notes and Unity in Music
If you write a piece of music in a single key, you’ll likely have no problem with musical unity. The arrangement of intervals in the diatonic scale ensures a strong tonal centre. A nice, small assortment of six related notes (scale degrees 2 through 7) all point to the tonic note.
Moreover, assuming your song has words, you’ll likely organize the words into verses and choruses, each sung to the same musical phrases. This reinforces musical unity
But too much musical unity ain’t necessarily a good thing. It can get boring.
To get some variety happening, you have the option of changing keys partway through the song. And, since every key has its own tonal centre, you preserve unity at the same time as you create variety.