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Introduction

Basics

Melodic Motion Chord Building Rhythm and Meter

Introduction to Cadences

Simple Prolongation

First Analysis

Decorations

More Prolongations

Analysis

Sequences I

Cadence Variations

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Goal Chords

We have spoken of "points of resolution" and "dissonances", but what causes a particular note to be one or the other? Why is the B flat here a dissonance, while in the same pitch in a different setting such a this a point of resolution?

In each of the exercises there is a preamble that usually outlines the notes of a major or minor triad and this creates a sense of key. When you sense you are in a particular key there are some notes that you feel are points of stability. Other notes feel less stable and the unstable pitches tend to gravitate towards the stable ones. This sense of stable and unstable points in the scale is a significant part of what "being in a key" really means. To describe a pitch in a particular context as "unstable" or "gravitating towards another pitch" is just another way of saying it is dissonant.

The points of stability in the exercises are the notes of the tonic triad. A set of notes that are "points of resolution" often form a triad, and we will refer to these triads as "goal chords". Throughout a musical work may be various goal chords. The tonic is the ultimate goal and the dominant is also a common goal. The goal can change due to modulation, and a long progression can have many intermediate goals on the way to the final one.