This in turn may lead to a resolution back to the original key, so that the entire sequence of chords helps create an extended musical form.Īlthough all this allows for a large number of possible progressions (depending upon the length of the progression), in practice progressions are often limited to a few bars' length and certain progressions are favoured above others: there is a certain amount of fashion in this and a chord progression may even define an entire genre. If new chromatic intervals are introduced then a change of scale or modulation occurs, which may bring the sense of a change of tonal centre. If these notes are also selected from the original scale the harmony remains diatonic.

In addition, extra notes may be added to any chord. Apart from these six common chords there will be one step of the scale that gives a diminished chord. These are based upon the sixth, second and third degrees of the major scale and stand in the same relationship to one another as do the three majors, so that they may be viewed as the first, fourth and fifth degrees of the relative minor key. The same scale also provides three relative minor chords, one related to each of the three major chords. They are based on the first, fourth, and fifth scale degrees (the tonic, subdominant and dominant – see three chord song). ( See Diatonic function)Īny major scale gives three major triads that together include, and so can harmonize, every note of that scale.

The structural meaning of a harmony depends exclusively upon the degree of the scale. A chord built upon the note A is an A chord: however, since any progression may be played in any key, the fundamentals of harmony are best grasped by numbering the chords according to the step of the scale they are built upon, upwards from the key-note. Chords built on each scale degree are numbered in the same way so that, for example, in the key of C, the progression E minor - F - G can be generally described as a three - four - five progression.Ī chord may be built upon any note of a musical scale, therefore a seven-note scale allows seven basic chords, each degree of the scale becoming the 'root' or 'tonic' of its own chord. The key note or tonic of a piece of music is called note number one, the first step of the ascending scale.

Passing chord dictionary pdf