6.1 · The vi, ii, and iii Chords

The other four chords

Four chords are left in the key: vi, ii, iii, and vii°. Each shares two notes with I, IV, or V, so each takes that chord's role. This unit adds them most common first: vi, then ii, then iii.

The hill, complete

The four chords that faded in 5.1 are back, ringed. Each sits inside the family of the chord it stands in for: vi and iii with I, ii with IV, vii° with V.

Who stands in for whom

Chords that share two notes play the same role. Each row plays the primary chord, then the chord that stands in for it. The shared notes are shown in C major.

How often each chord shows up

The same counts as 5.1. vi is in two songs of five, ii in one of three, iii in one of five, and vii° almost never: the order this unit takes them in.

Counted as songs that use the chord at least once, not how often it plays. Newer pop ranks the same way: I, IV, V, and vi lead, then ii, then iii.

vii°, once

vii° shares B and D with V, so it pulls toward I the same way. It is the one diminished chord in the key, and too few songs use it to count, so it gets no lesson of its own.

C
F
G
C

V pulls home.

C
F
B°
C

vii° in V's place: the same lean home, from a chord that sounds unsettled on its own.

Game · Which role?

1 / 5

Home, then one of three chords. Which one?

Listen first. Then answer.

Quiz

1 / 4

vii° shares B and D with V, so vii°…

Score 100% on every quiz and game to complete this lesson.vi stands in for I →