Music tonicization is a cognitive mechanism wherein human perception subconsciously identifies and prioritizes a specific pitch class as a new tonal center through the manipulation of harmonic tension derived from V-I relationships. This process relies on resolving dominant-functioning chords containing leading tones to establish their respective roots, thereby shifting listener allegiance away from an original key toward a target major or minor scale. The theory posits that effective modulation requires establishing sufficient duration and repetition in the new tonic domain for the auditory system to overwrite prior tonal memory associations with novel pitch sets.
Music tonicization is a cognitive mechanism wherein human perception subconsciously identifies and prioritizes a specific pitch class as a new tonal center through the manipulation of harmonic tensio…