Dominant chord provides the anacrusis6/11/2023 You cannot do the same diatonically moving to IV and the added seventh in V7b provides two minor-second motions resolving to I in TI DO and FA MI. In a purely diatonic context the two can be distinguished by making V a dominant seventh chord, like V7b I. ( b means first inversion.) There is a sort of equivalence in those two progressions in terms of root progression and voice leading. In the diatonic gamut that only happens in two places: Vb I and Ib IV. The progression can be generalized in terms of root progression and voice leading: root progression by descending perfect fifth, and voice leading of one voice held and two voices moving by step. Yes, it's about the minor second ("half step") movement. For example, resolving to the root of the tonic creates stronger movement to the tonic than resolving to the fifth of the tonic. When analyzing a progression, a key thing to look for is the particular chord tones involved in the resolution. This is part of why a I-V progression would not sound like a resolution. That particular interval has a quality of instability and dissonance that further drives the ear to desire resolution. In particular, the V 7 chord contains both an F (the seventh of the V 7 chord) and a B (the third of the V 7 chord), and these two notes are 6 half notes apart. The instability of the V 7 chord, as you've described, is largely due to the presence of a tritone (diminished fifth) interval in the V 7 chord. That movement toward the root of the I is present, though, in a V-I progression in fact, our ear anticipates that movement/resolution of the chord tones, making the V-I progression even more natural sounding. To our ear, this IV-I resolution is weaker as the IV's chord tones provide no movement toward the root of the I chord. Rather, in this progression (with this particular voice leading), the tones of the IV chord only lead in to the 3rd and 5th tones of the I chord. the A resolves down a whole step to the GĪs this shows, there are no notes from the IV chord ( F maj) which resolve up or down a step to the root of the I chord ( C maj).the F resolves down a half step to the E.The notes of the F maj chord are F A C, and the notes of the C maj chord are C E G. The V 7 chord contains a B which resolves to the root of the I chord, C.īy contrast, playing | F maj | C maj | (a IV-I progression) would not be the same. This is a crucial distinction which allows the V chord to resolve strongly to the I chord.įor example, here's a V 7-I resolution in C maj, taken from Beethoven's Fifth Symphony: In a V-I progression, the V chord contains a chord tone that resolves to the root of the I chord. There is something else that a V-I progression possesses which is not present in a I-V progression or a IV-I progression. All of this is important to understanding why the V-I sounds so good, but it's not the whole story. You've done a nice job of describing the V-I progression, and you've identified the resolution through half steps and whole steps. So, it seems to me that just saying that the steps cause this effect isn't the full truth.īasically, is there any known explanation as to why the dominant sounds like it leads to the tonic? When we listen to music, why does it sound so natural when chords follow in sequence through different dominants? And of course, you can go the other way - from the dominant to the tonic - and the steps are the same but reversed. However, this also applies to the subdominant F-major, but the effect is completely different. For instance, if we consider the key to be C-major, then in order to form a C-major chord from a G-major chord, you only need to change the B to a C (minor second difference) and the D to an E (major second up). I've heard that the reason for this has to do with half steps. Moreover, if the 7th key is added to the chord, the effect is increased. And if the composition or movement is written in a specific key, then when the harmony reaches a dominant chord, you feel a sense of unease and instability. It feels like the chord leads to the next one. Going from a dominant to the chord to which it is a dominant always sounds good to the ear.
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