What's the Difference Between Modality and Tonality?

Some tonal music is written in a Key which is generally considered functional music by the way it sets up its tonality in major or minor scales

. Modal music is written in modes which are essentially the same as scales except that they generally use non functional means to set up their tonality.

What is the difference between tonality and modality?

The difference between modal and tonal are in the harmonic languages surrounding the tonal center. Tonality implies the system of common-practice harmony well-established by the eighteenth century that uses major and minor keys.

What's the difference between tonal and modal?

In Modal Harmony, chords DO NOT have a function, so in a sense: all chords are equal. A chord DOES NOT need to resolve to any other chord. But there is still a Tonal Centre – for example the note D in the key of D Dorian (i.e. the root note). ... Each chord just floats there by itself as a standalone entity.