Functional means based on functions, tonal means based on tonality, harmony means lively movement through all that emotional space.
Functional Tonal Harmony 1
Part one of three. Discusses consonance and dissonance, construction of the major scale, tendency tones, and harmonic function.
Functional Tonal Harmony 2: Minor mode
Discusses harmony in the minor mode. The three versions of the scale: Natural minor, harmonic minor and Melodic minor, and why we use them.
Functional tonal harmony 3: Secondary dominants
In music theory, a secondary dominant chord is a type of chord that functions as the dominant (V) of a chord other than the tonic (I) chord. This means that it creates a sense of tension that resolves to a chord other than the tonic.
To create a secondary dominant chord, you use the dominant (V) chord of the chord you want to resolve to. For example, let's say we're in the key of C major, and we want to create a secondary dominant chord that resolves to the IV chord (F major). The V chord of F major is C7 (C dominant 7th), so we would play a C7 chord before the F major chord to create a sense of tension and resolution.
The use of secondary dominant chords is a common technique in many musical styles, including jazz, pop, and classical music. They can add interest and complexity to a chord progression by introducing unexpected harmonic changes and creating new tonal centers.
It's important to note that secondary dominant chords should be used tastefully and in moderation, as using them too frequently can create a sense of harmonic instability and disrupt the overall flow of a musical composition.
Harmony is in changes
We build harmony out of different chords as steps of the emotional ladder but what really counts is the movement itself. We can go down and up, slow down or speed up, jump and even fly above if we want to. This is the story the composer tells to the listeners and it's vowen with movements.
The functional relations between chords in a scale can be expanded quite drastically with deeper analysis of underlying intevals, that create the desired change in the mood of the music. Many new relations appear to build up into a huge landscape of the tonal space.
Tonal Harmony in 3D
Functional chords on scale degrees
Here are some common chords that can be constructed for each of the scale degrees in tonal harmony:
Tonic Scale Degrees:
- First scale degree (I): major triad (I), major seventh chord (IMaj7)
- Third scale degree (iii): minor triad (iii), minor seventh chord (iiim7)
- Sixth scale degree (vi): minor triad (vi), minor seventh chord (vim7), dominant seventh chord (V7/vi)
Subdominant Scale Degrees:
- Second scale degree (ii): minor triad (ii), minor seventh chord (iim7), dominant seventh chord (V7/ii)
- Fourth scale degree (IV): major triad (IV), major seventh chord (IVMaj7), dominant seventh chord (V7/IV)
Dominant Scale Degrees:
- Fifth scale degree (V): dominant seventh chord (V7), dominant ninth chord (V9), dominant thirteenth chord (V13), altered dominant chord (V7alt)
- Seventh scale degree (vii°): diminished triad (vii°), half-diminished seventh chord (viiø7), dominant seventh flat nine chord (V7b9/vii°), fully diminished seventh chord (vii°7)