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4.4 · Chords of the Key

Every chord has a job

A numeral says where a chord sits in the key. Its job is what your ear expects next: some chords rest, some pull, and one, the V, points straight at home. Learn the jobs and you stop hearing pitches and start hearing where a song wants to go.

Every chord has a job

Each button plays the same setup phrase (I, IV, V) and then lands on a different chord. Feel how finished, or unfinished, each landing is.

I: complete rest. The story closes; songs end here.
ii: the gentle pull. IV's minor cousin, forever setting up V.
iii: perfectly balanced between rest and tension. Neither home nor away.
IV: momentum that takes its time. Wants home, but strolls.
V: maximum tension. Points at I like an arrow.
vi: the darker resting place. A song could end here and mean it.
vii°: pure instability. Never home, always leaning.

This is the skill behind naming progressions by ear: you stop hearing pitches and start hearing jobs.

The V leans on the door

Why does V pull so hard? It holds ti, the note one half step under do, the leading tone from 2.3. Hear the lean by itself, then inside the chords.

B · ti, leaning C · do, home

Game · Home or hanging?

1 / 5

A short phrase. Did it land home on I, or stop hanging on V?

Listen first. Then answer.

Quiz

1 / 4

The V chord's job is…

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson.Home and away →