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The parent to this comment said

> It works fine for songs that modulate.

By definition, modulation is the act of not remaining diatonic. Modulation = changing keys. Diatonic = staying within key.

So, no, we don't need to assume anything about diatonicity in order to successfully do harmonic analysis using Roman numerals.

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I always thought of diatonic as playing within a harmonized major/minor scale, even if you change keys. What I'm talking about is music that doesn't obey the rules at all, doesn't have a key, doesn't change keys, it's just random chords thrown together because the artist thought they sounded good. Changing to another key is still playing in a key. Many rock musicians wouldn't know a key if it bit them in the ass.

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