tonic

Tonic is the first scale degree of a diatonic scale — the tonal center around which other degrees function. Pinned sense: tonic as the first scale degree, not as a general concept of tonality.

Law 8b removal test, pinned to the entry's own carve: the subdominant is 'scale degree 4 ... the pitch a perfect fourth above the tonic' and the bearer of the departure function — its entire identity is relational to the tonal center. Its intervallic status is the fourth above the tonic; its functional role (departure from, and return to, the tonic through the dominant) is defined against the tonic as rest; in circle-of-fifths terms its position is one step from the tonic in the direction opposite the dominant. Remove the tonic now and the subdominant stops operating as a subdominant: the interval has no target, the departure/return structure loses its home, and what remains is a bare pitch class (F in C-major terms), not a named function. This is the same test the board already applied to leading-tone DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted) and dominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted): a specific named degree's mechanism is its center-relation, not its ordinal slot — which is why these entries carry INSTANCE_OF scale-degree (their kind) alongside DEPENDS_ON tonic (their mechanism). Not a sayability claim: the subdominant's operational definition IS the relation to the center. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the fourth degree and its departure function per the entry's scope.

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the source's own definition: the subtonic is carved as 'scale degree 7 of a natural minor scale: the pitch a whole tone below the tonic that bears NO leading function'. Every parameter is defined relationally to the tonic: its intervallic status is 'a whole tone below the tonic', its distinguishing feature is the ABSENCE of the leading function (which is itself defined by the semitone pull TO the tonic). Remove the tonic construct now and the subtonic stops operating as a subtonic: the whole-tone distance has no target, the contrast with the leading function collapses to a bare degree, and the construct that relies on relational identity (always defined as x-below-the-tonic) dissolves to an unanchored pitch. Not a sayability claim: the subtonic's operational identity is the whole-tone relation to a specific center, and functional analysis names it by that relation. Pinned sense (Law 11d): subtonic as the natural-minor seventh degree per the source's own definition.

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the source's own defined sense: the dominant is carved as 'scale degree 5 of a key: the pitch a perfect fifth above the tonic, the bearer of the dominant function — the point of greatest harmonic tension whose resolution back to the tonic is the basic engine of tonal motion'. Its function is defined relationally to the tonic: it is the pull back to the tonic that makes it the dominant (its functional role is the target of cadential motion toward the tonic). Remove the tonic construct now and the dominant stops operating as a dominant: its fifth-degree status is defined relative to the key's tonic, the 'resolution back to the tonic' that constitutes its function loses its target, and the construct collapses to a bare pitch a fifth above an arbitrary center — a pitch, not a function. Not a sayability claim: the dominant's identity (G as the dominant of C) is fixed by the tonic, and functional analysis — the mechanism by which the dominant persists — names dominants by their relation to the tonic. Pinned sense (Law 11d): dominant as the functional fifth degree per the source's definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense functional dependency (the dominant operates toward the tonic now), not a historical origin.

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the source's own defined sense: the leading-tone is carved as 'scale degree 7 of a major key — the pitch a semitone below the tonic — the bearer of the leading function, whose half-step resolution to the tonic is the sharpest edge of cadential motion'. Every parameter is defined relationally to the tonic: its intervallic status is 'a semitone below the tonic', its function is 'resolution up to the tonic', and its leading character is precisely that half-step pull to that point. Remove the tonic construct now and the leading-tone stops operating as a leading tone: the half-step has no target, the upward resolution has nowhere to land, and the degree collapses to the bare seventh degree of a scale position — a scale degree, not a leading tone. Not a sayability claim: the leading-tone's identity (B as the leading tone of C) is fixed by the tonic, and voice-leading analysis — the mechanism by which the leading tone persists — names it by its semitone relation to the tonic. Pinned sense (Law 11d): leading-tone as the functional seventh degree per the source's definition. Deliberately NOT a DEPENDS_ON the dominant: the dominant chord is the leading tone's primary harmonic site (it is the chord's third), but the degree's intervallic status and its semitone pull to the tonic operate in the scale without the chord construct — the removal test on the dominant fails, so no edge is filed.

Law 8b removal test on the defined sense: the mediant is carved as 'scale degree 3 of a key: the pitch a major third above the tonic (in a major key) or a minor third above the tonic (in a minor key)'; its ordinal (3) is reckoned from the tonic as degree 1; and its midpoint function is defined as dividing the perfect fifth from tonic to dominant. Remove the tonic construct now and the mediant stops operating as a mediant: the interval has no origin to reckon from, the ordinal slot loses its zero point, the perfect-fifth midpoint has no endpoints, and what remains is a bare pitch a third above an arbitrary center — a pitch, not a named degree. Tonic is a named INPUT of the definition (input-in-def), not a generic language/cognition appeal. The identical test stands accepted for all six sibling degree edges (supertonic, dominant, subdominant, submediant, leading-tone, subtonic DEPENDS_ON tonic); this completes the family. Not DERIVED_FROM: present-tense functional dependency, not historical origin. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the third degree and its harmonic midpoint function per the entry scope. Completes the pattern: every named degree on the board DEPENDS_ON tonic, and the mediant was the only gap.

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the source's own definition: the supertonic is carved as 'scale degree 2 of a key: the pitch a major second above the tonic ... bearer of the supertonic function — the degree that moves from the tonic outward toward the pre-dominant region'. Every parameter is defined relationally to the tonic: its intervallic status is 'a major second above the tonic', its ordinal (2) is reckoned from the tonic as degree 1, and its functional role (outward departure from the tonic toward the pre-dominant) is defined against the tonic as reference. Remove the tonic construct now and the supertonic stops operating as a supertonic: the major-second interval has no origin to reckon from, the ordinal slot loses its zero point, and what remains is a bare pitch a second above an arbitrary center — a pitch, not a named degree. This is the same test the board already applied to leading-tone DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), dominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), subdominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), submediant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), and subtonic DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted): a specific named degree's mechanism is its center-relation, not its ordinal slot. Not a sayability claim: the supertonic's operational definition IS the relation to the center. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the second degree and its outward departure function per the entry's definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense functional dependency, not a historical origin.

Law 8b removal test, grounded in the target's own accepted definition: key carves itself as 'an organized set of pitches whose members bear functional roles defined by their relation to a central pitch, the tonic', and its first parameter is 'tonic — the central pitch class of the framework, the point of departure and resolution'. Remove the tonic construct now and the key stops operating as a key: the pitches' functional roles are defined by their relation to the tonic, so without it the framework collapses to a bare musical-scale (a pitch set with no center) — which is exactly the residual rung the board already seats as key INSTANCE_OF musical-scale. Not a sayability claim: the key's identity (C major vs. the chromatic set) is fixed by its tonic, and harmonic analysis — the mechanism by which the key persists — names keys by their tonics. Pinned sense (Law 11d): key as a tonal framework organized around a central pitch per its accepted definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense structural dependency (the key operates around the tonic now), not a historical origin.

Law 8b removal test, pinned to the entry's own carve: the submediant is 'scale degree 6 of a key: the pitch a major sixth above the tonic (major keys) or a minor sixth above the tonic (minor keys)' and its entire identity is relational to the tonal center. Its intervallic status is 'a sixth above the tonic', its ordinal (6) is reckoned from the tonic as degree 1, and its functional role (pre-dominant motion to the dominant; the vi/VI key a third from the tonic) is defined against the tonic as reference. Remove the tonic construct now and the submediant stops operating as a submediant: the sixth interval has no origin to reckon from, the ordinal slot loses its zero point, and what remains is a bare pitch a sixth above an arbitrary center - a pitch, not a named degree. This is the same test the board already applied to leading-tone DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), dominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted), and subdominant DEPENDS_ON tonic (accepted): a specific named degree's mechanism is its center-relation, not its ordinal slot. Not a sayability claim: the submediant's operational definition IS the sixth above the tonic. Pinned sense (Law 11d): the sixth degree and its subordinate function per the entry's definition. Not DERIVED_FROM: this is a present-tense functional dependency, not a historical origin.