Piano & Keyboard All-in-One For Dummies
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When you're playing a song in a major key, certain chords sound right for that key, and certain chords don't. The root notes for the chord progression in the C major scale are as follows, including which other chords each one tends to lead to in a typical chord sequence:

  • I Tonic (C): Can appear anywhere and lead to any other chord.

  • ii Supertonic (D): Leads to I, V, or vii (diminished).

  • iii Mediant (E): Leads to I, IV, or vi.

  • IV Subdominant (F): Leads to I, ii, V, or vii (diminished).

  • V Dominant (G): Leads to I or vi.

  • vi Submediant (A): Leads to I, ii, iii, IV, or V.

  • vii Leading tone (B): Leads to I.

  • (I) Octave/Tonic (C): Can appear anywhere and lead anywhere.

So, the chord progression possibilities — the chords that sound "right" — for the key of C major are as follows:

  • C (C major)

  • Dm (D minor)

  • Em (E minor)

  • F (F major)

  • G (G major)

  • Am (A minor)

  • Bdim (B diminished)

  • C (C major again)

Note that the leading tone (B) is a diminished triad.

As you can see, the chord progression naturally follows the pattern of ascending the scale starting with the tonic note, in this case C. To figure out the chords in the progression in any other major key, you determine the tonic note, superdominant note, mediant note, and so on for the key starting with the root note, and then apply same rules. Neat, huh? The pattern of major and minor chords is the same for every major key. So, no matter the key, if you say a chord is a ii chord, other musicians will automatically know that it's minor.

Note that any of the triads mentioned here could be replaced by its seventh version — adding the seventh to the triad.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.

Jerry Kovarsky is a regular columnist for Keyboard magazine and longtime product management guru with Casio, Korg, and other companies who have been instrumental in bringing keyboard technology into people's homes and onto stages and studios around the world.

Holly Day and Michael Pilhofer are co-authors of all editions of Music Theory For Dummies and Music Composition For Dummies. Blake Neely was a contributing author to the 2nd edition of Piano For Dummies. David Pearl is author of Piano Exercises For Dummies. Jerry Kovarksy is a contributing writer to Electronic Musician magazine.

Holly Day and Michael Pilhofer are co-authors of all editions of Music Theory For Dummies and Music Composition For Dummies. Blake Neely was a contributing author to the 2nd edition of Piano For Dummies. David Pearl is author of Piano Exercises For Dummies. Jerry Kovarksy is a contributing writer to Electronic Musician magazine.

Michael Pilhofer, MM, holds a Master's in Music Education with a Jazz Emphasis from the Eastman School of Music, and a Bachelor of Music degree in Jazz Performance from the University of Miami.

Holly Day's work has appeared in Guitar One Magazine, Music Alive!, culturefront Magazine, and Brutarian Magazine.

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