Later these voices acquired melodic independence , possibly moving contrary to the original melody . Inclusion of other intervals , thirds and sixths, and in some cases, seconds and sevenths. The tonic, or keynote , triad then became the point of departure and of arrival in a composition and in its component phrases. Although rooted in tonality, every possible device is used to complicate or obscure the tonal sense. Break away from traditional scales in recognition of the power of context and the sense of a continuum between consonance and dissonance .
Musical composition is currently in a phase of intense experiment.
Although chants were sung unharmonized and in a rhythmically free manner, there were constraints and there was a proper final note for a modal melody. This reinforces the idea of the cadence, or the finality of the keynote of a mode on which pieces normally ended . In a suspension one note of a chord is sustained while the other voices change to a new chord. In the new chord the suspended note is dissonant. This reinforced awareness that harmony moves through individual chords towards a goal .