History Main / Harmony

* the PachelbelsCanonProgression: I V vi iii IV I IV[[note]]or variants such as ii or II[[/note]] V (in major) and i v VI III iv i iv V (in minor), usually looping back to I or i. A variant of a very old and popular progression called the Romanesca. Made famous by...well, PachelbelsCanon. Appears in many other places, such as VitaminC's "Graduation (Friends Forever)".

If you start on notes other than "do", you get different chords--so + ti + re is different from do + mi + so, for example.

* the HumoresqueProgression: (in minor only) i VI VII III, usually looping back to i through v[[superscript:6]] or VII or VII[[superscript:6]]. Appears occasionally, such as in MikeOldfield's song "Moonlight Shadow".

* the CircleOfFifths: I IV vii° iii vi ii V I (in major); i iv VII III VI ii° V[[note]]or v[[/note]] i. Very famous. Example: Music/GeorgeFredericHandel's harpsichord suite in G minor, HWV 432, sixth movement: [[{{Passacaglia}} Passacaille (Chaconne)]], which is basically a ThemeAndVariations on the chord progression. (Listen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1uXsWdJHk here]].) Parts of the Circle show up in many songs, such as the second half of the Circle in {{Weezer}}'s "Island in the Sun".

* The {{Blues}} progression--common in Blues, obviously, and in RockAndRoll--is usually a twelve-bar progression of the form I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, IV, I, I (or an equivalent in minor), usually embellished. There are other variant lengths as well such as the 16-bar blues.

''[-For the webcomic, see Webcomic/{{Harmony}}. For the {{Freeware Game|s}}, see VideoGame/{{Harmony}}. For the chord progression tropes index page, see ChordProgression.-]''

* the PachelbelsCanonProgression: I V vi iii IV I IV[[note]]or variants such as ii or II[[/note]] V (in major) and i v VI III iv i iv V (in minor), usually looping back to I or i. Made famous by...well, PachelbelsCanon. Also appears in many places, such as VitaminC's "Graduation (Friends Forever)".

* the CircleOfFifths: I IV vii° iii vi ii V I (in major); i iv VII III VI ii° V[[hottip:*:or v]] i. Very famous. Example: Music/GeorgeFredericHandel's harpsichord suite in G minor, HWV 432, sixth movement: [[{{Passacaglia}} Passacaille (Chaconne)]], which is basically a ThemeAndVariations on the chord progression. (Listen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1uXsWdJHk here]].) Parts of the Circle show up in many songs, such as the second half of the Circle in {{Weezer}}'s "Island in the Sun".
* the PachelbelsCanonProgression: I V vi iii IV I IV[[hottip:*:or variants such as ii or II]] V (in major) and i v VI III iv i iv V (in minor), usually looping back to I or i. Made famous by...well, PachelbelsCanon. Also appears in many places, such as VitaminC's "Graduation (Friends Forever)".

* the CircleOfFifths: I IV vii° iii vi ii V I (in major); i iv VII III VI ii° V[[hottip:*:or v]] i. Very famous. Example: [[GeorgeFredericHandel Handel]]'s harpsichord suite in G minor, HWV 432, sixth movement: [[{{Passacaglia}} Passacaille (Chaconne)]], which is basically a ThemeAndVariations on the chord progression. (Listen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KV1uXsWdJHk here]].) Parts of the Circle show up in many songs, such as the second half of the Circle in {{Weezer}}'s "Island in the Sun".

''[-For the webcomic, see {{Fanfic/Harmony}}. For the {{Freeware Game|s}}, see VideoGame/{{Harmony}}. For the chord progression tropes index page, see ChordProgression.-]''

* the [=~Pachelbel's Canon Progression~=]: I V vi iii IV I IV[[hottip:*:or variants such as ii or II]] V (in major) and i v VI III iv i iv V (in minor), usually looping back to I or i. Made famous by...well, [=~Pachelbel's Canon~=]. Also appears in many places, such as VitaminC's "Graduation (Friends Forever)".

''For the webcomic, see {{Fanfic/Harmony}}. For the chord progression tropes index page, see ChordProgression.''

''For the webcomic, click {{Fanfic/Harmony}}.''

*** Perfect (V-I), which is characterised by its "final" or "finished" sound and usually ends a phrase. The scale degrees of the cadence generally end 2-1 or 7-1.
*** Imperfect (V-I), similar to the perfect cadence, but ends on different scale degrees and sounds less "resolute."

*** Half (?-V), any cadence that ends on the dominant chord, characterised by an "unfinished" or suspended sound.

*** Perfect (V-I), which is characterised by its "final" or "finished" sound and usually ends a phrase.

*** Imperfect (?-V), any cadence that ends on the dominant chord, characterised by an "unfinished" or suspended sound.
*** Interrupted (V-?), a cadence going from V to a chord other than I, although it most commonly ends on a VI or vi.

*** Interrupted (V-?), a cadence going from V to a chord other than I, although it most commonly ends on a VI.

* The {{Blues}} progression--common in Blues, obviously, and in RockAndRoll--is usually a twelve-bar progression of the form I, I, I, I, IV, IV, I, I, V, IV, I, I (or an equivalent in minor), usually embellished. There are other variant lengths as well such as the 16-bar blues.

For more information on this stuff, visit a trope we launched recently, TheFourChordsOfPop.

* The {{Blues}} progression--common in Blues, obviously, and in RockAndRoll--is usually a twelve-bar progression of the form I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I (or minor equivalent), usually embellished. There are other variant lengths as well such as the 16-bar blues.

The four basic triads:

* the HumoresqueProgession: (in minor only) i VI VII III, usually looping back to i through v[[superscript:6]] or VII or VII[[superscript:6]]. Appears occasionally, such as in MikeOldfield's song "Moonlight Shadow".

* The {{Blues}} progression--common in Blues, obviously, and in RockAndRoll--is usually a twelve-bar progression of the form I I I I IV IV I I V IV I I (or minor equivalent), usually embellished. There are other variant lengths as well such as the 16-bar blues.

The standard chord that's built on do (do-mi-so) is called the "tonic" chord, also known as the "I" chord (or sometimes notated as "i" if we're in a [[{{Tonality}} minor key]]). Build such a chord on fa (fa-la-do) and you get the "subdominant" or "IV" chord; do so on so (so-ti-re) and you get the "dominant" or "V" chord. These three chords are VERY important in PopMusic.