Hi Sam,

Essentially, there are three main harmonic functions. There are the tonic, the subdominant and the dominant functions.

The tonic function has a sense of being at "home-base". The subdominant function is a chord that gives a feeling of going somewhere (it will progress to either the dominant or tonic function chords). The dominant function has a strong musical lean to the tonic function.

In a major key,

Chords I, iii, vi are tonic functions.

Chords ii, IV are subdominant functions.

Chords V, vii are dominant functions.

A standard harmonic movement in music is tonic(T) - subdominant(S) - dominant(D) - tonic.

Using the above chords in the key of C major, the T - S - D - T motion could be...

1) C - F - G - C
2) C - Dm - G - Am
3) (C - Em) - F - G - Am (where the T function has been shared between two chords)

et cetera.

Hope this gives you some useful insight,
Noel

Last edited by Noel96; 01/16/11 10:35 AM.
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