In this video, Dr. Anthony Fesmire, presents the concept of "Chord Function" as part of a series of videos on creating strong chord progressions in the style of the common practice composers. The principles discussed in these videos relate to standard jazz and other contemporary tonal styles of music.
This video is part of a hybrid Music Theory I course offered at College of the Desert, and, therefore, this lesson is taken out of the context of the course design.
Video Text
In this video, we will learn to create chord progressions based on the concept of chord function. By following the principles of chord function, we can understand how to create progressions with or without forward motion. Chords within keys function in three primary ways, as: tonic, subdominant, or dominant.
The term “tonic” specifically refers to the I chord in a major or minor key. We will begin by charting the chords in major. The I chord has a feeling of “rest” or a sense of being “home”; it is the chord that will most often end a piece of music by providing a sense of completion. Two other chords function in a similar way to the I chord: vi and iii, so we say that these chords have a “tonic” function. From a tonic function chord, we can move to any other chord in the key.
The term “dominant” specifically refers to the V chord. The V chord provides a feeling of motion or a sense that it needs to return home to the tonic. Occasionally, a composition will end on a V chord making the piece feel like it is hanging or incomplete. The viio chord functions in a similar way to the V, so we say that it has dominant function. A dominant function chord wants to return to tonic.
The term “subdominant” specifically refers to the IV chord. The IV chord does not have a sense of “home” or “resolution” like the tonic chord, nor does it have a sense of pull back to the tonic. It is a chord that can move on to the dominant, therefore it is sometimes referred to as a “predominant” chord, but it can also return to tonic. The ii chord is used interchangeably with the IV as a subdominant function chord.
Now let’s create a chord progression that observes the tendencies of tonic, subdominant, and dominant functions. Chord progressions can start on any chord in a key, but we tend to initially perceive the first chord of a composition as I. I is the most common chord to begin a piece with, and V would be common as well. If we start a progression on a chord other than I, it will take some time for the progression to confirm what “home” is. Let’s begin our sample progression on I. From I, we can go to any other chord in the key; let’s go to ii. With ii being a subdominant function, we can move on to dominant, return to tonic, or it is possible with all of these functions to stay in the same category. It is the changing of categories, however, that provides the sense of forward motion or progression. Let’s move on to V as a dominant function. From a dominant function, we could stay in the same category, but the strongest sense of motion would be provided by returning to a tonic function. Let’s choose vi. With vi being a tonic function, we can move to any other chord. Let move to viio. With viio being a dominant function, we’ll need to move back to tonic. Let’s move to iii. With iii being a tonic function, we can move to any other chord, so let’s move to IV. From IV, we can stay in the subdominant function category and move to ii, we can progress onto a dominant function or move back to tonic. Let’s have a strong ending to our progression by moving to V which will pull strongly back to I. Here is the sound of the progression that we have created (I, ii, V, vi, viio, iii, IV, V, I).
Note, again, that by changing categories and following the principles of chord function, we can create progressions that have forward motion back to I. If a series of chords stays in one category for a prolonged period of time, it does not have a sense of progression or forward motion. For example, let’s use the progression I, iii, I, vi, IV, I. All of the chords in the series have tonic function except IV. In addition to the majority of the chords coming from the tonic category, the progression does not include a dominant function chord that would bring the series strongly home to I. Let’s hear the progression...This progression has a pleasant sound, but it lacks the forward motion of the common practice and standard jazz composers.
In a minor key, we have the same basic relationship between chords as in major. Only the qualities of the chords change to reflect the darker sound of minor. Following is the function chart for the most common chords in a minor key. Notice that the roman numerals fall in the same categories, but i is minor and III and VI are major; iv is minor and ii is diminished; only V and viio remain the same. Here is the first progression that we created but in a minor key...
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