HARMONIC PROGRESSION
HARMONIC PROGRESSION (also known as CHORD PROGRESSION) is the logical movement from one chord to another to create the structural foundation and movement of a work in Western Classical Music. In its most basic form, progressions pull chords directly from a single diatonic scale (for instance, a major or minor scale) and each chord in the scale serves a specific harmonic function as outlined below.
DIATONIC CHORDS (chords that come from an established key/scale) are written in ROMAN NUMERALS. When reading a roman numeral, it gives you three pieces of information: the root of the chord (what scale degree it starts on), the quality of the chord (uppercase = major, lowercase = minor, o = diminished, ø = half diminished, + = augmented), and the inversion of the chord (6 = first inversion triad, 6/4 = second inversion triad, 6/5 = first inversion seventh chord, 4/3 = second inversion seventh chord, 4/2 = third inversion seventh chord).
An unaltered scale has the same sequence of diatonic chords because building a triad or a seventh chord off of each scale degree will always yield the same quality of chord. While we will be working with 7th chords soon, our first examples will only include triads:
In Major, we know these chords as: I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii° - I
In Natural Minor, we know these chords as: i - ii° - III - iv - v - VI - VII - i
In Harmonic Minor, we know these chords as: i - ii° - III+ - iv - V - VI - vii° - i
The sequence of these diatonic chords moving through time in a piece of music creates a harmonic progression. But as you will see, these chords are not selected by composers and used at random. Each chord serves specific functions and leads the ear down a predictive path as the story of a piece of music unfolds …
FUNCTION OF CHORDS
TONIC AREA
The Tonic Area is considered the “home base” of a phrase, segment, or entire piece of music. It is most often where a piece begins and ends. Think of a piece of music like a story without words, maybe the hero’s journey - these stories are about a character who starts at home, takes a journey, and returns home (often much more quickly and emotionally/mentally changed). Home is a safe and stable zone and we hear that aurally. Our ear “longs” for the tonic area for the duration of a piece of music.
TONIC CHORDS: Tonic chords are the chords we will find being used in this area.
I (1 - 3 - 5): This chord is called the TONIC (yes, that’s redundant - it’s supposed to be)
You might also see a I⁶ used in a tonic area
*This will likely be confusing - but you won’t use a I⁶⁴ chord in the tonic area because its bass note is 5. Because its bass note is a 5, the I⁶⁴ serves a dominant function (see below).
PREDOMINANT AREA
The predominant area is considered a preparation or developmental area. There is not a lot of tension in this area but it is preparing the listener for the tension coming in the dominant area. In the “hero’s journey” analogy, this might be the part where the character has left home but is still comfortable and in familiar territory, or perhaps training for their quest. It is not always necessary for Tonic to go to Predominant before moving into Dominant. Many times, Tonic will move straight to Dominant which is a much more harmonically fast and jarring movement.
PREDOMINANT CHORDS: Most of the chords in a given scale would be considered predominant.
IV (4 - 6 - 1): This chord is called the SUBDOMINANT
It is the most “predominant” of chords and the strongest out of all of them because it most wants to lead to dominant.
ii (2 - 4 - 6): This chord is called the SUPERTONIC (since it is a step above tonic).
vi (6 - 1 - 3): This chord is called the SUBMEDIANT
It is most often found in the predominant area but its first inversion, vi⁶ may be used as a Tonic Substitution because its Bass Note is the root of the key)
DOMINANT AREA
This area is both the most harmonically distant from Tonic and has the most tension to return to Tonic (home base). This occurs because of the prevalence of the 7th and 2nd scale degrees in Dominant area chords that want to resolve to the root of the key. In the hero’s journey, it is the moment when the character is farthest from home, completes the quest and returns home - usually directly and after going through a mental, emotional, or spiritual transformation.
DOMINANT CHORDS: This word is used often to refer to a Major-Minor 7th chord (1 - 3 - 5 - b7) but can also refer to chords that are consistently used in a dominant area of a chord progression.
V (5 - 7 - 2): This chord is called the DOMINANT.
It is the second most important chord in any chord progression after the I chord and it almost always precedes the I chord at the end of a phrase or entire piece. Often, the Dominant chord will be used in its 7th chord state (V⁷) as this creates even more homeward tension with 5 > 5, 7 > 1, 2 > 1 and 4 > 3.
A V chord can many times be preceded by a I⁶⁴ chord while still in the Dominant area. This is because the I⁶⁴ chord has a 5 in its bass so it is treated like a Dominant chord.
viiᵒ (7 - 2 - 4): This chord is called the LEADING TONE chord because it is the chord that starts on the leading tone.
This chord contains the top 3 chord tones of a V⁷ which are all naturally drawn to Tonic.
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH THE iii CHORD?
iii (3 - 5 - 7): This chord is called the MEDIANT
This chord is very rarely used at all in chord progressions.
When it is, it might serve as a TONIC SUBSTITUTION (a chord that replaces a I chord) because it has two notes from the I chord (3 and 5) and is only one half step away from a I⁶ (I⁶ = 3 - 5 - 1, iii = 3 - 5 - 7)
Sometimes you may see a iii in predominant areas.
It might also serve as DOMINANT SUBSTITUTION (a chord that replaces a V chord) because it has two notes from the V chord (5 and 7) and the iii⁶ is only one whole step away from a V (iii⁶ = 5 - 7 - 3, V = 5 - 7 - 2). You can see in the video that using a iii chord is a great way to deescalate a melodic 7 and allow it to descend elsewhere in the scale rather than force it to move to 1 (as is a general rule established by Western Music harmony practices).
Major Chord Progression Chart
The chart to the left shows natural progressions and patterns in diatonic chords from a major scale. Music very rarely moves stepwise through chords (the left-hand column), but instead, uses combinations of horizontal and vertical movement to move logically and comfortably through a progression.
In general, most complete musical phrases in Western Classical Music will follow this area pattern:
TONIC (T) - PREDOMINANT (PD) - DOMINANT (D) - TONIC (T)
POPULAR CHORD PROGRESSIONS
Do not play the entire 10 minutes of this video, it doesn’t change …
BASIC PROGRESSION
I - IV - V - I
This progression moves from Tonic to Predominant to Dominant back to Tonic in the most basic and formulaic way possible.
This video is a mash-up of a bunch of songs that use either the Pop-Punk or Sensitive Female Progression.
It's hardly harmonically interesting.
THE FOUR-CHORD PROGRESSIONS
POP-PUNK PROGRESSION
I - V - vi - IV
This progression moves somewhat backwards in that it starts in Tonic, moves to Dominant and then to a Predominant area before returning back to Tonic. Because of this movement, it creates an optimistic mood.
“SENSITIVE FEMALE” PROGRESSION
vi - IV - I - V
This one starts on vi, which could also be considered a i in minor, then moves from the IV to the I (as the pop-punk above) before finishing “unresolved” on the V that then repeats back to the minor vi. Because of how this progression starts and ends, it conveys a more negative/pessimistic mood than the pop-punk progression. It was named by a music journalist when they noticed how often this chord progression was used by female pop divas of the mid-2000’s like Adele, Rhianna, and Lady Gaga.
“TWO-FIVE-ONE”
ii - V - I or more commonly ii⁷ - V⁷ - Iᴹ⁷
This progression is used often in jazz, starting with the ii as a predominant, then moving in a predictable pattern from V (dominant) to I (tonic). Because of its prevalence in jazz, all three chords are often found in their seventh chord configuration, with the minor ii seven, dominant V seven, and major I seven.
ii⁷ - V⁷ - Iᴹ⁷ in all 12 keys
Doo-Wop or 50’s Progression
DOO-WOP or 50’s PROGRESSION
I - vi - IV - V
The clever part about this chord progression is the downward arpeggiation of the diatonic chords. Each new chord is a third below the previous chord until IV moves to V (in predictable Predominant to Dominant function) and then repeats back to Tonic.
WRITING CHORD PROGRESSIONS
To realize (put notes to) or compose (invent) a chord progression, you will need to have a good grasp of:
Key Signature and the associated scale/notes within the key
Harmonized Scale Degrees - what chords are built off each note in the scale
Roman Numerals - understanding the root, quality, inversion, and function of each Roman Numeral in a chord progression
PRACTICE!
Figure out what key the exercise below is in. Try filling in the Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass voices for the given chord progression. Use inversions for the I, IV, and V chord if you would like. If you’re feeling lost and confused or you finish and want to check your work, watch the following video.
