7690 / 18210 · Workshop 60 — “Butterfly”-Type Floating Harmony: Deep Pocket, Pedal Centers, Upper Structures, Parallel Voicings, Common-Tone Motion, and Making Harmony Feel Suspended Rather Than Functional← prev⊞ allnext →
60.37Level 14 — melody can define the chord identity
Suppose upper harmony omits 3rd.
If melody plays:
E♭
the sound becomes minor.
If melody plays:
E natural
it changes immediately.
Therefore melody can supply the identity tone.
This is why accompaniment often omits notes already present in melody.