Tonic vs. Root. Why do I use the term "Tonic"?

In school, I’ve been taught that Tonic refers to the first note of the scale. And “root” refers to the foundational note of a chord.

But many people use “root” to refer to both (first note of a scale and the foundational note of a chord). I think this confuses beginners. I recommend that teachers use the correct terminology and stop using root to refer to the first note of a scale. Here are 6 reasons why.

  1. Musicians have used tonic to uniquely identify the first note of a scale for hundreds of years. Certainly, beginners have had no issues with that term prior to the invention of the internet. The book Elson’s Pocket Music Dictionary was published in 1909 and correctly defines each term.
    • “Tonic. The key-note of any scale; the chief, fundamental ground-tone, or first note, of the scale.” (p. 149)
    • “Root. The fundamental note of any chord.” (p. 126)
  2. Beginners actually get confused when you use root to both uniquely identify the first note of the scale and as the fundamental note of a chord. When beginners see a chord chart with a simple progression like 1-4-5 in the key of C, they will sometimes ask “For the C Major chord, do I play the C Major scale? And then for the F Major chord, do I play the F Major scale? And then for the G Major chord, do I play the G Major scale?”
    • This is obviously wrong. But how can you blame them? They’re only being logical, in my opinion.
  3. There are lots of terms in music that are much more confusing. There’s no need to try to change just 1 word when we use thousands of other complex jargon-y terms. It’s a better strategy to find a way to teach beginners so that they understand music theory with the correct terminology.
  4. Not one person who consistently uses the word “root” has ever told me that I should stop using the word tonic. Because they know that I’m not wrong. I’m using the correct terminology that is used in schools, on the AP Music Theory test, and at colleges and universities.
  5. Every note is a root note! When you understand that a root note is the foundational or fundamental note for a chord, then it doesn’t make sense to uniquely identify the 1st note of a scale as “the root”.
  6. Every scale degree has a name! Tonic, Supertonic, Mediant, Subdominant, Dominant, Submediant, and Leading Tone. Nobody has ever suggested we stop using the other 6 names. Why are people misusing just one of them—the tonic—and not the rest?

I think people use root for both because they say that chords are built from scales. This isn’t entirely correct. Yes, you can use a scale to quickly identify chord tones. But the truth is that both chords and scales are built from intervals. A Major Triad is found in a variety of keys and modes (Major, Minor, etc) and is built with the formula: a Major 3rd + a Minor 3rd. In a Major key, you’ll find the Major Triad built from the 1st, 4th, and 5th scale degrees. A Major key is Major because the tonic chord is Major.

Maybe everyone should start using the term key-note instead? I think it’s great! It tells you that the key is named after this note. And everyone knows that the key-note speaker or presentation is the first one to happen! Or just use Tonic. Either way, I think using “root” to refer to both concepts hinders students’ understanding of music because eventually they will learn about “tonic” and will wonder why you never used this term.