Harmonic Function
A chord does not have a meaning of its own. It has a job, and the job depends on the key it is sitting in. Play one chord in two different keys here and hear its function change while not a single note moves.
- 3 functions
- V to I is strongest
- decided by the key
which styles use it
Every style on this site
In short
Every chord in a key falls into one of three groups. Tonic chords feel like home: the I, and to a lesser extent the vi and the iii. Dominant chords create tension that wants to resolve home: the V and the vii. Subdominant chords sit in between and lead toward the dominant: the IV and the ii. Almost every progression you know is a walk through those three states.
Once you hear function rather than chord names, transposing stops being work and progressions in unfamiliar keys stop being frightening. This is the single most useful idea in harmony.
Where it sits in the sentence
- Home
Tonic chords end sentences. If a phrase lands here it feels finished.
- Away
Subdominant chords open the middle of a phrase. They have somewhere to go without being urgent about it.
- Tension
Dominant chords are the last word before a return. Leave one hanging and the listener waits.
Where you run into this
- When you transpose a song and it still works, function is the reason.
- When a chord sounds wrong in a progression, it is usually a function problem rather than a wrong note.
- When someone calls out numbers on a bandstand, they are naming function rather than chords.
The three side by side
The same four chords played three ways: ending on the tonic, ending on the subdominant, and ending on the dominant. Nothing changes but the last bar, and the sense of completion changes entirely.
Keep going
Everything in harmony
- Harmonic Function
- Diatonic Chords
- Cadences
- Voice Leading Rules
- The Six-Four Chord