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AP Music Theory
8 topics to cover in this unit
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Start Notes20 AP-style questions to test your understanding
Start QuizAlright, music explorers, let's dive into the 'predominant' function! These are the chords that act like a harmonic runway, setting up the dominant chord for a grand landing. We'll start with the foundational root position supertonic (ii) and subdominant (IV) chords in major keys, understanding their sound and how they prepare the dominant.
Now let's get fancy with inversions! We're taking those ii and IV chords and flipping them into their first inversion (ii6 and IV6). These inversions are super common because they allow for incredibly smooth voice leading, making our harmonic progressions flow like a well-oiled machine. It's all about making those lines sing!
Hold onto your hats, because we're adding a seventh! The supertonic seventh (ii7) and subdominant seventh (IV7) chords, particularly in their first inversion (ii6/5 and IV6/5), bring a new level of richness and drive to the predominant function. We'll learn how these chords resolve and how their 'seventh' adds a delicious tension that propels the music forward.
Minor keys are where things get spicy! We'll explore how predominant chords like ii and IV function in minor. This means grappling with the different forms of the minor scale (natural, harmonic, melodic) and how they influence the quality of our supertonic (often half-diminished iiø) and subdominant (minor iv or major IV) chords. It's all about context and those crucial scale alterations!
This is where the rubber meets the road! We're bringing all our voice leading knowledge to bear on predominant chords. We'll refine our skills in connecting ii and IV chords to other harmonies, ensuring smooth lines, avoiding those pesky parallel octaves and fifths, and doubling correctly. Good voice leading makes the music sing, bad voice leading makes it sound like a train wreck!
This is the bread and butter of functional harmony! We're zeroing in on the most common and powerful progression: Predominant to Dominant. Think I-IV-V-I or I-ii-V-I. Understanding how ii and IV chords *effectively* lead to V or V7 is key to building strong, satisfying harmonic phrases that drive towards a cadence. It's like the harmonic equivalent of building tension before a big reveal!
While Predominant to Dominant is the main event, sometimes a predominant chord takes a direct route to the tonic! The most famous example is the plagal cadence (IV-I), often called the 'Amen' cadence. We'll explore these less common, but musically significant, direct P-T movements and understand their unique expressive qualities. It's a different flavor of resolution!
Alright, let's put it all together! This is where we apply everything we've learned about predominant function to real musical examples. We'll analyze excerpts, identifying ii and IV chords in all their inversions and various keys, and truly understand their role in shaping musical phrases and driving the harmonic narrative. This is where you become a harmonic detective!