quartal harmony

theoryKWOR-tulfrom Latin

A harmonic system built on stacked perfect fourths rather than the traditional thirds of tertian har‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍mony

In Depth

Quartal harmony replaces the major and minor thirds of conventional chords with perfect fourths, producing a more open, ambiguous sound.‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‍‍‌‍ A three-note quartal chord (e.g., C-F-B♭) has no clear major or minor quality. The technique became important in early 20th-century music through Scriabin, Bartók, and Hindemith, and later became a signature sound of modal jazz through McCoy Tyner's piano voicings. It is also fundamental to the harmonic language of many film and video game scores.

Did you know?

McCoy Tyner's left-hand quartal voicings on John Coltrane's A Love Supreme became one of the most imitated piano textures in modern jazz.

Related Terms

modal jazz voicing

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accidental

A sharp, flat, or natural sign that alters a note from the prevailing key signature.

accidentals explained

Symbols placed before notes to raise or lower their pitch by a semitone or return them to their natural state

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Relating to sound or the properties of sound, especially music produced without electronic amplification.

Aeolian mode

The natural minor scale, with the pattern W-H-W-W-H-W-W, producing the most common minor tonality in Western music.

aleatory

Music in which some element of the composition is left to chance or to the performer's discretion.

alto

The second-highest voice type, or an instrument pitched between soprano and tenor.

amplitude

The measure of a sound wave's intensity, perceived as loudness or volume.

anacrusis

One or more notes before the first full bar of a piece, also called a pickup or upbeat.

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