Unit 5 Harmony Skills: Building Functional Progressions with Predominants and Six-Four Chords

Chord progression

A purposeful ordering of chords that creates musical direction in a tonal phrase.

Common-practice tonal harmony

The tonal style (roughly Bach through early Romantic) where progressions are guided by functional harmony and conventional voice-leading.

Harmonic function

The idea that chords have typical roles (tonic, predominant, dominant) and tend to move in predictable, goal-directed ways.

Tonic function

A harmonic role associated with stability and arrival; most commonly I (and sometimes vi or iii depending on context).

Predominant function

A harmonic role that prepares motion toward dominant; most commonly ii and IV (including variants like ii⁶).

Dominant function

A harmonic role that creates tension and drives toward tonic; common chords include V, V⁷, and vii°⁶.

Functional harmonic “sentence”

A common tonal pattern: Tonic → Predominant → Dominant → Tonic.

Authentic harmonic motion

The core tonal engine, typically I → (predominant) → V → I, creating strong pull to the tonic.

Tonic prolongation

Extending the feeling of tonic (I) before moving away, often using chords that do not strongly push to V.

Tonic substitute (vi)

A chord (often vi) that can function like tonic early in a phrase, helping prolong the tonic area rather than acting as predominant.

Root motion by fifth

Strong directional root movement by descending fifth (or ascending fourth) that reinforces tonal hierarchy (e.g., ii→V, V→I).

Circle-of-fifths chain (common sequence pattern)

A longer fifth-related progression such as iii → vi → ii → V → I.

SATB part-writing

Writing harmony in four voices—soprano, alto, tenor, bass—balancing functional harmony with correct voice leading.

Cadence goal

The target cadence type of a phrase (often PAC, IAC, or HC) that shapes which chords you choose leading into it.

Predominant-after-dominant error

A common-practice misconception where a predominant follows dominant (e.g., V → ii), which often sounds like the progression “backs up” harmonically.

Overuse of iii

A typical student mistake: treating iii as a go-to predominant; it is often awkward in four-part writing and more commonly serves as passing/connecting harmony.

Six-four chord (6/4)

A triad in second inversion (fifth in the bass), named for the 6th and 4th above the bass; often functions as an embellishment rather than a stable chord.

Second inversion

A triad inversion with the fifth of the chord in the bass (the 6/4 position).

Cadential 6-4

A 6/4 at a cadence that intensifies dominant; typically labeled I6/4 but treated as a decoration/expansion of V, resolving into V (or V7).

Passing 6-4

A 6/4 created by stepwise bass motion that connects two more stable harmonies as a passing sonority.

Pedal 6-4

A 6/4 formed while the bass holds the same note (a pedal tone) and upper voices move away and back, creating a neighbor-like embellishment.

Arpeggiated 6-4

A 6/4 that occurs when a single harmony is prolonged by arpeggiating chord tones in the bass (e.g., I–I6–I6/4 as tonic expansion).

ii chord (in major)

A predominant triad built on scale degree 2; in major it is minor (e.g., in C major: D–F–A).

ii°⁶ (in minor)

A common minor-key predominant: the diminished ii chord in first inversion, favored over root position because it avoids an unstable diminished 5th in the bass and voice-leads smoothly.

Cadential 6-4 resolutions (6–5 and 4–3)

In a cadential 6-4 over scale degree 5 in the bass, the “6” above the bass typically resolves down by step to 5, and the “4” resolves down by step to 3 as the harmony moves into V.