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Principles of music: journey and return – a metaphor for life
One of the fundamental concepts underlying Western music is harmonic function. Within this system, chords fall into one of three...
Introduction to chords and chord functions
Groups of three or more notes can be classified as chords. Chords built from notes of a major or minor scale are known as diatonic...
Introduction to functional harmony — I, IV, and V chords
The I chord: the tonic Just as the tonic note is the most stable note of the key, the major chord built on the tonic, called the I chord,...
Introduction to functional harmony — ii, iii, vi, and vii° chords
The ii chord: the supertonic The diatonic triad built from scale degree 2, called the ii chord, is a minor predominant chord. It consists...
Introduction to chord progressions
Along with its melody, music can typically be analyzed as series of chords. Often these chords occur in repeating progressions. In...
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