Editing Hierarchy (section)

===Music===
The structure of a musical composition is often understood hierarchically (for example by [[Heinrich Schenker]] (1768–1835, see [[Schenkerian analysis]]), and in the (1985) [[Generative theory of tonal music|Generative Theory of Tonal Music]], by composer [[Fred Lerdahl]] and linguist Ray [[Jackendoff]]). The sum of all notes in a piece is understood to be an all-inclusive surface, which can be reduced to successively more sparse and more fundamental types of motion. The levels of structure that operate in Schenker's theory are the foreground, which is seen in all the details of the musical score; the middle ground, which is roughly a summary of an essential contrapuntal progression and voice-leading; and the background or [[Ursatz]], which is one of only a few basic "long-range counterpoint" structures that are shared in the gamut of tonal music literature.

The [[pitch (music)|pitches]] and [[Musical form|form]] of [[Tonality|tonal]] music are organized hierarchically, all pitches deriving their importance from their relationship to a [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] key, and secondary themes in other  [[Key signature|keys]] are brought back to the tonic in a recapitulation of the primary theme.