Questions tagged [functional-harmony]
For questions to related to the accepted uses of harmonic progression within the common-practice period. Questions may also necessitate the chord-progressions tag.
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What's the role of a bVI chord preceding a ii V I?
I'm talking about the chord progression of The Beach Boys' "Heroes & Villains" outro ("Bridge to Indians").
The progression is the following:
I I7 IV bVI7 I bVI7 ii7 V7 I (C# C#...
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is iii7 a dominant chord with scale degree 3?
As a mediant chord the iii chord has scale degrees ^3 ^5 and ^7. If we add the 7th (^2) it will have all degrees of the scale the serve a dominant function. Can it be said then that iii7 is actually a ...
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Notes for simple progression
I struggled a bit to find a good title for this question since I can only really describe it with an example.
I have been spending some time on chord progressions and improvising and would think that ...
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Unusual chord progression: I7-VIImaj7 (#VIImaj7 ?)
So I came up with this little tune that roughly follows the standard 12-bar blues form but it substitutes the subdominant (IV7 chord) with VIImaj7. It sounds unusual but quite smooth and not jarring ...
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Lydian harmony: What chords are tonic (T), subdominant (S), and dominant (D)?
The Lydian mode is the brightest-sounding mode and I am interested in how to utilize it.
Diatonic chords in Lydian = I, II, iii, ivø, V, vi, vii
What chords are tonic, subdominant, and dominant, in ...
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How can I write a complex composite chord in Noteflight?
Example of what a dominant seventh flat ninth with no root and third in bass could look like. Made using GIMP. Apologies for the fake super-/subscripts.
In functional harmony analysis, the provided ...
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How do you define Harmonic Retrogression with regard to intensity?
I was doing some practice problems in the AP Barron's Music Theory book, and one of the practice problems asks: “When harmonies within a phrase move from a strong intensity to a less strong intensity [...
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Unnecessarily convoluted analysis in Reger's modulations?
I am reading Reger's book of modulations, and his analysis does not seem to me to be the most consistent. This example (No. 72, from a minor to F♯ Major) comes across as particularly odd:
Here is the ...
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Harmonic functions of these chords
I found this classical chord progression. What are the harmonic functions of these chords, especially the Adim.
1Amin Bdim Amin A Bb Adim Amin E Amin
I got it from here youtube.com/watch?v=zgBPiHTPCdg....
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Bach prelude in C major: unresolved suspension?
I know that in the common practice style, even in free composition where guidelines don't apply strictly, a dissonant suspension must resolve. In the WTC 1 prelude in C major, bar 20 is a C dominant ...
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Usage of augmented fourth in minor key: what is the diatonic function?
The piece Für Elise uses a D♯ in the key of A minor in the first bar, which is an augmented fourth above the tonic of A. (I'm focusing on the first part, up to halfway through bar 23 in this score.) D♯...
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Can anyone help me understand F#ø7 - F7 - Asus - AM7 - D7 - Em?
I'm trying to understand what's going on in this small piece written for Genshin Impact game, the song's name is "Pure Sky" is about 1min long and you can listen to it here (the part I'm ...
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Roman numeral slash notation meaning and function? (V/iii)
When trying to find the function of the B major chord in C major I found that it was listed as a "V/iii" chord in this online calculator. I have never seen this before and don't know what ...
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Harmony: why does transforming a ii minor chord into II major chord work?
I accidentally composed a song that uses the same harmony "trick" as the song The Odyssey from Symphony X. Both are in the key of Eb (I know it's C minor, but I like to think major for ...
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where does the dominant IV7 (ie; F7 in the key of CMaj) come from?
So, I'm learning to get "outside" chords, by borrowing from parallel scales. Other chords are available by taking the secondary dominants of different degrees. For example, to get EMaj while ...
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Harmonic accuracy check [closed]
I would like a harmonic accuracy check for a variation that I composed based on a section of the first movement of Brahms's Violin Concerto. I am concerned with whether or not the notes of Bars 18 - ...
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What is the harmony of this bar from Chopin's Minute waltz?
Consider following excerpt from Chopin's Minute waltz in D flat major.
The last bar is the chord of D flat major (tonic).
What is the chord of the penultimate bar? Why is there an A flat and A natural ...
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Does ii°/ iim7b5 in minor have 2 different functions?
Because the chord has ^2 and ^6 and because this is a tritone interval it would normally resolve to to ^3 and ^5 pointing to III as tonic. But in minor we overide this function and because of the 5th ...
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What is the function of C#7 in the key of D?
I'm trying to understand function of a chord in Miguel Llobet's arrangement of Canço del Lladre. I marked my interpretation of the chords in the excerpt below. The chord symbols in parenthesis are ...
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Db - Ab - Abb - Fb: What is this chord?
In Chopin's Nocturne in Bb minor, Op. 9, No. 1, m. 19, b. 4-6, we have a left-hand arpeggio comprising, in order, Db2 - Ab2 - Db3 - Abb3, while the right hand plays Fb.
This harmony sits between Db ...
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How to escape the C Major trap when improvising on the piano
I play/practice the piano for some decades and when improvising (Jazz, Romantic, and sometimes even Baroque), I observe a certain magnetism of the C Major key. I'm able to play scales, arpeggios, ...
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What does a Roman numeral 1 with a superscript 6 mean? [duplicate]
The image above is a functional chord symbol. But what does the number mean?
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Why isn't #i just called #i?
This answer to How to write functional chord symbols with accidental roots, basically claims that (and I paraphrase) "#i is not a thing" in functional harmony. But why not just call a spade ...
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D Mixolydian key: is it possible?
About the song linked below, is it right to say that its key is D Mixolidyan?
Verse: D Am C G D
Chorus: D Am D Am C G D
The reason I'm asking this ...
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is '4 minor' sub-dominant?
Of the 3 'functions' - Tonic / Sub-dominant / Dominant, which is '4 minor'?
Is '4 minor', like 4, sub-dominant, or is it dominant? (Obviously, it's not a 'proper' dominant - but then, neither is iii, ...
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Neo-Riemannian Theory, The Minor Plagal Cadence, and Chromatic Voice Leading
In my reading, a criticism that I have heard leveled against Neo-Riemannian theory is that it does not explain the smooth chromatic voice-leading possible in the iv - I instance of the plagal ...
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How to determine if a song is in F#Aeolian or D Lydian or Ab Locrian
Hello how are you? :) delighted to be here in my first post, I am a graduate of Sound Engineering and I am currently studying modern harmony in a self-taught way, I have been able to understand the ...
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Are the functions of substitute chords different in minor and major?
I am studying substitute chords,
and secondary triads with two common notes can substitute primary triads.
I know that a chord, in which the root and third notes are common, has a stronger surrogate
...
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Can V resolve to iii?
Would the iii be a substitute for I under such circumstances or does iii make another deceptive resolution kind of like when V progresses to vi? iii also has ^3 and ^5 which belong to tonic harmony ...
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Does vi ever progress to I in functional harmony?
From what I understand, vi is a lightweight predominant chord and usually leads to a stronger predominant chord and nowhere have I seen a progression from vi to I in my harmony textbooks. However IV ...
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Why does ii˚ and ii˚6 lead to V in minor when all they really want to do is resolve to III?
In tonal harmony, in the minor mode the subdominant chords built on ^2 and ^4 are diminished chords. The root position ii˚ is usually not used in minor unless it falls on a weak beat but even when it ...
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Why is there a vii˚6 of III but no vii˚ of III in the minor mode?
When tonicizing the mediant chord in the minor mode, you often use VII which acts as a secondary dominant of III and is very useful in tonicizing III if you are in the minor mode. Another option is to ...
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what's the role of Ebmaj7 on this Ebmaj7 D7#9 Gm9 progression?
I'm trying to understand this chord progression:
Ebmaj7 D7#9 Gm9
Ebmaj7 F#dim7 Gm9 Bb13
I know from D7#9 to Gm9, that's a V-i.
But where's the Ebmaj7 coming from? Does it come from the relative major ...
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Harmonisation when ascending with melodic minor
I've just learned that baroque music often uses the melodic minor when ascending but the natural minor when descending.
But what I don't understand is how the harmonisation is since I assume ascending/...
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Does moving from V to vii°7/ii count as a Deceptive Resolution?
I'm curious about this because I saw exactly this kind of thing in a Mozart piece I analyzed a while back when looking for Deceptive Resolution examples. The first cadence evasion was undoubtably a ...
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Harmony exercise, enharmonic equivalence
I'm studying from Walter Piston's book Harmony (5th Ed) so that I'm prepared before the semester starts at UNA.
Exercise 6.D asks: "For each one of the following intervals, name at least two ...
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Analysis of a jazz chord progression
Can you please explain the role of that Em7b5 in the following jazz progression in terms of functional harmony?
| Cm7 | Em7b5 | Bbmaj7 | G7 |
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What did Schoenberg mean with this?
A couple of years ago I decided to formalize my harmony studies (I'm a mathematician) by reading Schoenberg's book Theory of Harmony, however I left it since it felt a little too difficult for my ...
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What do these up arrows/chevrons over numbers mean?
I've occasionaly seen these arrows over numbers, but I don't know what they're called or exactly what they mean.
I'm assuming they have something to do with the motion, but I'm not sure.
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How would you write an inversion of a suspended chord with functional chord symbols? [duplicate]
Ex.
Would the second chord be written as I7 - 6 or I62 - 1?
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How can I modulate the distance of a tritone using 3 secondary dominant chords?
So, I have been composing this "Requiem for String Quartet" on and off for a few weeks now. I call it a Requiem because of its dramatic arc through lamenting melancholy, painful harshness, ...
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How to analyze mm. 5-8 in the first movement of Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 8
Everything makes sense until mm. 5. It looks like it moves from c minor to Eb major.
Suppose we're in Eb major starting at mm. 5
From the end of mm. 5 to the very beginning of mm. 6, it's a vii°7/vi ...
Dom♦
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Secondary dominant of a minor tonic?
While trying to analyze Mike Oldfield's Nuclear, I got stuck.
The main chord progression is Fm-Cm-Bbm-C.
Up until C, it looks like in Fm (natural) key, i-v-iv-....
C would look like a V (which Fm ...
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Name for chord progression in pop music
I've noticed a bunch of pop songs have the same four-chord progression running in a continuous loop:
ii -> V -> I -> vi (or V/ii) -> (starts over on ii)
Characteristics:
One chord per bar ...
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How to harmonize ^2 - ^4 - ^3
I have at my disposal I, I6, V and V7 and inversions as well as ii, ii6 and IV to harmonize this melody. I am also allowed to use the cadential 64. I am stuck on the beginning part on how to harmonize ...
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How do I start a new phrase whilst modulating? [closed]
Hi guys,
I have recently been composing and have run into an issue. I have finished a section with a perfect cadence (bar 52), and I would like to change to the subdominant key for the next phrase (...
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Can V65 or V6 move down to V7 or do they usually resolve to I?
I understand that the bass of V65 or V6 wants to move up to I. My text book does have some double neighbor figures where V65 goes to V43 before resolving to I or I6. However, I am unable to find an ...
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What are idiomatic ways to harmonize ^5 ^4 ^3?
I have only learned a few chords in my harmony and voice leading book. I, I6, V, V6, ii, ii6, IV and the inversions of V7. I am now trying to harmonize this melody and so far the most idiomatic ...
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Does V42 only resolve to I6 or can it move to V7 forming a stepwise bass?
If the chordal 7th needs to resolve down by step then I understand why V42 should move to I6 but cant chords be expanded and the dissonant 7th in a 7th chord move to another voice for example from the ...
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Is there a common labeling system for tritone substitutions?
Imagine the following progression:
C F D♭7 C
We typically just explain that third chord as a tritone substitution—and we stop there!—but this must be maddening for beginners, because we aren't ...
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