Harmony
Functional Harmony: Tonic, Predominant, Dominant
Tonic, predominant and dominant describe what a chord does to a phrase rather than what it is. This is how the three harmonic jobs divide the work.
Leading tone
The seventh degree of a major or harmonic minor scale, a half step below the tonic, which pulls strongly up to it.
Also called: leading note, seventh degree, ti
The leading tone is the seventh degree of a major scale, a half step below the tonic. In C major it is B, which resolves up to C. In minor keys the natural seventh is a whole step below the tonic, so the raised seventh, a half step below, is added in harmonic minor. In A minor the leading tone is G♯, which resolves up to A. In the dominant chord G B D F, the B is the leading tone of C major, which is why the V chord pulls toward I.
Related terms
- TonicThe first degree of a scale, the note that a key is named for and that tonal music treats as its home and point of rest.
- SubtonicThe seventh degree when it sits a whole step below the tonic, as in the natural minor scale and the Mixolydian mode.
- DominantThe fifth degree of the scale, a perfect fifth above the tonic, which pulls strongly back toward the tonic.
- Harmonic minorA minor scale with the seventh degree raised by a semitone, giving a leading tone a half step below the tonic.
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Fundamentals
Natural, Harmonic and Melodic Minor Scales Compared
Three minor scales, three different jobs. What each form changes, why composers switch between them, and how to hear the difference.