On non-chord tone generalized interval systems in music analysis
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Abstract
Non-chord tone generalized interval systems are a music theoretical tool for analyzing the roles and functions of non-chord tones in music, independent of the methods used to label non-chord tones. Based on David Lewin's GIS, they provide a way to conceptualize changes in textural and motivic patterns of non-chord tones in terms of intervals. The formal framework of transformational theory also provides a number of analytical tools that can be adapted to the analysis of non-chord tones, as well as the capacity to develop new specialized analytical tools to fit analytical requirements. As a practical demonstration of the potential of non-chord tone generalized interval systems and some related transformations, two analytical essays are included: a statistical analysis of Mozart's variations on “Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman,” K. 265, and a motivic analysis of Brahms's String Quartet No. 2 in A Minor, op. 51, no. 2.