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Tonic (I), Dominant (V), and Subdominant (IV) are the three primary chords of any key, anchoring all chord progressions

Concept L1Foundations A · Music theory & musicianship

Tonal harmony organizes chords around three functional poles: Tonic (chord I) — the home chord; progressions depart from and return to it. Dominant (chord V) — the active pole; creates tension that resolves strongly back to I. Subdominant (chord IV) — counterbalances the dominant; its 5th reinforces the tonic. The progression V-I is called a perfect cadence and is the strongest resolution in Western harmony. IV-I is the plagal (Amen) cadence. Together, chords I, IV, and V contain all 7 notes of the major scale, so they can harmonize any melody in that key.

Examples

C major: I=C, IV=F, V=G. 12-bar blues: I-I-I-I-IV-IV-I-I-V-IV-I-I.

Assessment

Name the tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords of the key of G major. Play a perfect cadence (V-I) and explain why it sounds finished.

Prerequisites — understand these first

Don't confuse with

In a minor key, all three primary triads (i, iv, v) are minor, giving the minor tonality its characteristic mellow, introspective mood

Sources

“logic of chord progressions is tonality. Tonality raises one chord as being more important than all of the others. This chord is called thetonic chord,and it is built on the first degree of the scale.”

corpus · michael-hewitt-music-theory-for-computer-musicians · chunk 19

Taught in modules

Functional Progressions, Cadences and Modulation

Unlocks (8) — atoms that build on this