who is tonic dominant
the tonic note or tonic chord in a piece of music is the one chord (to rule them all), the do of do-re-mi, the root, the ending place: home. the dominant chord is just one of many ways to drive our ears and expectations towards the tonic.
just like dark precedes light, sorrow precedes joy, and caterpillars precede butterflies, dominant (frequently) precedes tonic. composers and song writers play with this expectation, delaying resolution, setting up obvious moves only to immediately surprise listeners and pull us in deeper.
of course, the same sounds don't excite everybody. depending on what your ears have absorbed over the course of your life, you may be surprised or delighted by sounds that the listener next to you finds boring or frustrating.
but something that all listeners seem to enjoy is the return home, to tonic. Whether we travel there in a straight line, arrive after a complex series of sonic backflips, or never leave at all, tonic can be a satisfying place to be.
the tonic dominant relationship is also restrictive – is it not merely a preference? there are other ways to organize harmonic hierarchy, we could use more than what is thought of as popular, or common.
tonic dominant is a human who identifies as:
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a musician
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a philosopher
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a teacher
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a communicator
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a male body
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a taoist
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a christian
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a buddhist
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a writer
also, tonic dominant kind of sounds like my name, tony domenick, which was pointed out to me by my fellow musician and close friend, drew bradley. i am tonic dominant and tony domenick, together engaged in a struggle for physical, spiritual, and harmonic freedom.
who is tony domenick
i’m a performer, teacher, conductor, and composer from denver, colorado. my primary instrument was alto saxophone until my high school band director convinced me to try trombone, my presbyterian choir director convinced me to sing, and a close friend taught me to play “take 5” and “für Elise” on the piano. I also play ukulele, and I love the different ideas each of these instruments can inspire.
currently – attempting to move with good flow – i do the following musical and philosophical things:
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teach choir for young humans, 10 - 14 years old at parker performing arts school
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record myself singing and playing songs of my own composition and by other composers
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audio engineering for st. andrew's episcopal church virtual choir projects
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record the 'brain log,' attempting to honestly document my own behavioral transformations
when i’m not making music, i’m:
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making spicy burritos and daals
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reading philosophy
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sauntering with my partner
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meditating
who are you
i can't tell you this for sure, but i will hope you are a human who might be open to the forming of non-hierarchical artistic partnerships – i need collaborators. i hope you are a human who is constantly on the lookout for ways to take care of other humans. i hope you are a human who is trying to enjoy everything that there is to enjoy – and in a way that allows those joys to be shared.
i hope you are a thinker who has expertise in forming philosophical arguments. i hope you are a writer, or a director, or a video producer, or a reader, or a researcher, or a scholar, or a teacher, or a musician, or a politician, or an activist, or a taoist.
but whatever, whoever, whyever you are, i hope you are seeking openness. i hope you are enthusiastic about anything you believe. i want you to be here, i want to hear what you think, i want you to feel home here, i want you to bless me with your guidance and wisdom. tell me more about who you are.
