Chapter.05.pdf

Chapter 5 Diatonic Harmony 95

Jazz Theory Resources

V. DIATONIC HARMONYDIATONIC HARMONY: MAJOR

There are only seven basic spellings for all tertian triads. The seven pitches may be altered chromati-cally depending on the key signature. The basic triad spellings are created using every other letter in theseven letter musical alphabet. It is important to memorize them to correctly identify and notate the tri-ads. In jazz and modern music, the chord is usually extended beyond the triad by adding intervals of athird. A tertian triad is spelled 1-3-5; a seventh chord adds a third beyond the fifth and is spelled 1-3-5-7;a ninth chord is spelled 1-3-5-7-9; extended to the limit using seven diatonic pitches: 1-3-5-7-9-11-13. Allof these chords can theoretically be built on any degree of any scale, although some, as will be discov-ered, will be impractical.

ALL TERTIAN CHORD SPELLINGS

TRIAD SEVENTH CHORD EXTENDED TERTIAN1 3 5 1 3 5 7 1 3 5 7 9 11 13

A C E A C E G A C E G B D FB D F B D F A B D F A C E GC E G C E G B C E G B D F AD F A D F A C D F A C E G BE G B E G B D E G B D F A CF A C F A C E F A C E G B DG B D G B D F G B D F A C E

INVERSIONS

To determine the root of a tertian triad, the notes should be arranged as shown above. If the pitches C,A and F are found, rearrange them in the order of thirds to produce FAC, an F triad. Often the triads willnot have the root as the lowest tone. When arranged with the third or fifth in the bass, the triads are saidto be inverted. With the third in the bass, the triad is in first inversion; with the fifth in the bass, the triadis in second inversion.

5.1 Triads and inversions

& ˙˙˙

˙

˙˙

˙˙

˙

˙

˙

˙

˙

˙

˙

C

Root 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

˙˙˙

b

˙

˙˙b

˙˙

˙

b˙

˙

˙b

˙

˙

˙

b

Cm

Root 1st 2nd 1st 2nd

96 Chapter 5 Diatonic Harmony


Seventh chords may be in third inversion where the seventh is in the bass.

5.2 Seventh chords and inversions

&˙˙˙˙

b˙

˙˙˙

b

˙˙

˙˙

b˙˙

˙˙b

Root 1st 2nd 3rd

It is extremely important to spell the triads correctly. A misspelled chord in a melody line or harmonypart will be harder to read and understand. It might sound exactly the same with alternate spellings, butproper spellings should be adhered to. I call this the “Ghoti” principle. It is doubtful that any two peo-ple would pronounce “Ghoti” the same way, yet the sounds are commonly found in the English lan-guage. Pronounce “Ghoti” using the “gh” sound from enough, the “o” sound from women, and the “ti”sound from motion. “Ghoti” would be more easily read if written as “Fish.” The triads below may soundlike C minor chords, but they are confusing to read as they are misspelled. A C triad must contain theletters C, E and G. A C minor triad should be spelled C - Eb - G, not C - D# - G.

5.3 Violation of the “Ghoti” Principle

& ˙

˙˙

#

˙

˙

˙#

˙˙

˙

#

˙

˙

˙#

˙

˙

˙

#

Cm ?

FUNCTIONAL HARMONY

From the definition of tonal music, it is understood that melodic pitches tend to gravitate towards a sin-gle pitch, the tonic, which is the center of the musical organization. If chords built from major and mi-nor scales are combined in harmonic progressions, they typically progress towards the chord built onthe tonic. When progression of this kind are present, the harmony is said to function. Functional har-mony is the chords working together in a progression pointing towards the tonic.

Most European music since the early Baroque has been based on a concept called the major/minorsystem. This system depends on the tertian chords built on pitches from the major and harmonic mi-nor scales in progressions of functional harmony. Roman numerals are associated with the seven differ-ent chords found in each key. This author prefers the custom of using upper case for chords with majorthirds, and lower case for chords with minor thirds. The series of available seventh chords diatonic tothe key of C major is shown below.

5.4 Diatonic seventh chords in key of C

&

?

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

I(maj7) ii7 iii7 IV(maj7) V7 vi7 viiø7

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙



The common shorthand method for labeling the chords from the key of C are shown below.

Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bø7I (maj7) ii7 iii7 IV (maj7) V7 vi7 viiø7

If the music is in the key of C, then the chords are spelled and sound as shown above. Just as the inter-vals of major scales, the chords and their roman numerals remain constant when transposing to newkeys. A chord built on the first degree of any major scale is a major seventh chord; a chord built on thesecond degree is always a minor seventh chord, and so on. If other chords occur on the same C majorscale degrees, but are different than what is shown above, then they are not in the key of C. A dominantseventh chord could be built on the second degree of the C major scale: D - F# - A - C. This cannot be aII7 chord in the key of C, as it contradicts the no sharps or flats definition of C major. Chords on thesecond degree must be minor seventh chords (ii7). This D7 chord would be from the key of G major.This can be determined by examining the chart above where the only scale degree that yields a domi-nant seventh chord is the fifth degree. The fifth degree of G is D, so a dominant chord built on D mustbe from the key of G. The key can also be deduced by the F# from the key signature of G major. A minorseventh chord could be built on the fifth note of a C major scale, but this Gm7 chord could not be inthe key of C as its third, Bb, contradicts the no sharps or flats definition C major. The Gm7 could be a ii7chord in F, a iii7 chord in Eb, or a vi7 chord in the key of Bb.

Fill in the chart below in order to become more familiar with the specific chords in the thirteen majorkeys. There are only twelve pitches in the chromatic scale, but the enharmonic equivalents Gb (6bs) andF# (6#s) are listed below. The keys of Cb major (7bs) and C# major (7#s) have been omitted in favor of theenharmonic equivalents of B major (5#s) and Db major (5bs). Be sure that the chords are spelledcorrectly, and not with an incorrect enharmonic spelling. The V7 chord in Db major will be Ab7, not G#7.The V7 chord of Gb and F# should be spelled with different roots even though they sound the same. Afterfilling out the chart, write out each of these chords in the thirteen major keys on staff paper. Do notwrite the key signatures at the beginning of each line, instead, place each accidental in front of notes togain familiarity with the spelling of each chord.

KEY Imaj7 ii7 iii7 IVmaj7 V7 vi7 viiø7

C Cmaj7 Dm7 Em7 Fmaj7 G7 Am7 Bø7FBb

Eb

Ab

Db

Gb

F#

BEADG

Looking at the chart above, you will notice that several chords function differently depending on theirkey origins. A C major seventh chord may function as the I chord in C major, but also functions as theIV chord in the key of G. Minor seventh chords occur as ii7, iii7 or vi7 chords. Dominant seventhchords can only be found on the dominant (V7) pitch in each key. These are the most importantpointer chords to the key area and the tonic chord. This makes perfect sense as the dominant pitchpoints to tonic, and the other pitches of a dominant seventh chord point to the other pitches of a tonictriad.



The half-diminished chord occurs only on the seventh degree of major keys. It is called half-diminishedbecause the basic triad is diminished (m3-m3) but the seventh is the interval of a minor seventh andnot a diminished seventh. This chord is sometimes called a minor 7 b5. This is a terribly ambiguous des-ignation. A minor chord must have a perfect fifth in order to be minor, so it cannot be minor with a b5.The b5 also implies that this chord is somehow altered from its natural state, yet it is found quite natu-rally on the seventh degree of every major scale. The “ø” symbol, meaning half-diminished, suggests thechord has a 7th, so using “ø7” is redundant, but common.

DETERMINING THE KEY

There are four types of seventh chords available from any major scale:

CHORD TYPE INTERVAL CONSTRUCTION PLACE IN MAJOR KEY

Major 7th M3 - m3 - M3 I or IVMinor 7th m3 - M3 - m3 ii7, ii7, or vi7

Dominant 7th M3 - m3 - M3 V7Half-Diminished 7th M3 - m3 - M3 viiø7

This chart can be used to identify the key when examining a set of chords from music. If the chord is aV7 or viiø7, the key will be easy to identify as they only occur on one degree of the scale. If a chord is amajor 7th, it could be the I or IV from two possible keys. If it is a minor seventh, it is from one of threepossible keys as a ii7, iii7 or vi7. The key can be determined when encountering major seventh or minorseventh chords by examining the chords that surround them.

A Dm7 chord can be found as the ii7 chord of C major, the iii7 of Bb major and the vi7 of F major.Chords occur by themselves only in theory classes; in a harmonic progression, there will be otherchords that will help identify the function and the indicated tonic. The dominant chord is the most use-ful for identification as there is only one per key. To determine the function of the Dm7 chord, look firstfor the V7 of C (G7), the V7 of Bb (F7), and the V7 of F (C7) as they will clearly identify the key. If theyare not present, the other surrounding chords will help. Contrast the three types of chords built on E inthese three keys. In C = Em7 (iii7); in F = Eø7 (viiø7); and in Bb = Ebmaj7 (IV). All are distinctly differentquality chords. The key should be easily determined by the combination of the Dm7 and whatever Echord is present in the surrounding musical context.

An F major 7 chord could be the I of F or the IV of C. Dm7 chord could be the ii7 of C major, the iii7of Bb major or the vi7 of F major. An Am7 chord might be the ii7 of G major, the iii7 of F major or thevi7 of C major. What if they are all in one progression? Which of these four keys (F, C, Bb and G) is im-plied?

The Fmaj7 and Dm7 chords rule out the key of G. The Am7 and Fmaj7 rule out the key of Bb. That leavesthe keys of C and F. Without further chords, a single key cannot be determined. It could be either key asshown below.

Am7 Fmaj7 Dm7

Key of C: vi7 IV ii7

Key of F: iii7 I vi7



At least one more chord is needed in the progression to narrow the choice to just one key. What chordsare different between the two keys of F and C major? The difference between the two keys is the Bn in thekey of C, and the Bb in the key of F. One of the four seventh chords that contain a B is needed to makethe determination: BDFA, GBDF, EGBD or CEGB. In the key of F those chords would be Bbmaj7 (IV),Gm7 (ii7), Eø7 (viiø7), and C7 (V7). In C they would be Bø7 (viiø7), G7 (V7), Em7 (iii), and Cmaj7 (I).Anyone of these chords in combination with the three shown above would narrow the choice to onlyone key.

CHORD IDENTIFICATION PRACTICE

I. Practice the identification of chords by their relationship to home keys by quickly filling in theblanks in the following exercises. (solutions shown on pages 114-115)

CHORD FUNCTION KEYii7 F

C#7 V7Ebmaj7 Bb

Eø7 viiø7V7 G

Fm7 Db

Bb7 Eb

Fmaj7 IVmaj7iii7 G

Abm7 Gb

Imaj7 ACm7 vi7

CHORD FUNCTION KEYii7 Bb

Dbmaj7 Ab

Dø7 viiø7A7 V7

Fmaj7 Fiii7 Dvi7 Ab

F#ø7 viiø7Am7 C

Cmaj7 IVmaj7V7 C

Cø7 Db

CHORD FUNCTION KEYDmaj7 D

Ab7 V7iii7 C

Dm7 Fii7 Db

Dm7 iii7V7 Gb

Gm7 Bb

Bbmaj7 IVmaj7C#7 V7

Dbmaj7 Db

ii7 Ab

CHORD FUNCTION KEYF7 V7

Abma7 Eb

Imaj7 Ab

ii7 GE7 A

Bm7 vi7C7 F

ii7 CGmaj7 IVmaj7Bm7 AFm7 ii7

iii7 Ab



CHORD FUNCTION KEYCmaj7 Imaj7

V7 Ab

Em7 Gii7 F#

Ebmaj7 Imaj7Gm7 Eb

Fm7 vi7Bbmaj7 I

ii7 Ab

iii7 AGbmaj7 Db

F#m7 vi7

CHORD FUNCTION KEYEm7 D

V7 Bb

Am7 ii7C7 FG7 V7

ii7 FD7 V7

ii7 Bb

Dm7 CV7 D

Gmaj7 Imaj7Dmaj7 A

II. Identify the key that is home to the following combination of chords. Some combinations arewritten more than once because they could be from more than one key.

CHORDS FUNCTION KEYDm7 - Em7 ii7 - iii7 CF#m7 - G#m7Am7 - Bbmaj7Gmaj7 - A7Dm7 - Bø7

Ebmaj7 - Gm7Ebmaj7 - Gm7

CHORDS FUNCTION KEYAmaj7 - Dmaj7Dbmaj7 - Bbm7Dbmaj7 - Bbm7Ebmaj7 - Dm7Ebmaj7 - Dø7

Cm7 - F7Gm7 - C7



DIATONIC HARMONY: MINOR

Lowering the third, sixth and seventh degrees of a major scale creates a parallel minor scale. This minorscale is known by several names including natural or pure minor, and aeolian mode. The natural minorscale has no leading tone and is therefore not used to derive the minor harmony in the major/minorsystem. In order to create a major/minor seventh chord (M3-m3-m3) on the dominant scale degree, thesubtonic (seventh degree) of the natural minor scale must be raised to create a leading tone. This cre-ates an exotic sounding interval of an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees of thescale. This scale, with its raised seventh degree, is appropriately named the harmonic minor scale andallows for the creation of two very important harmonic pointers: the V7 and vii°7 chords. Though de-signed for harmonic reasons, it is also quite useful for melodic construction.

5.5 Natural or Pure Minor Harmonic Minor

&

?

˙˙

˙b˙

˙˙b

˙b˙

˙˙

˙b˙

˙˙b

˙b˙

&

?

˙˙

˙b˙

˙˙b

˙˙

A2

˙˙

˙b˙

˙˙b

˙˙

A2

These chords are created from the C harmonic minor scale and are shown with the appropriate Romannumerals. The chord built on the third degree of the scale is shown in parentheses as it is not a func-tional chord.

5.6 Diatonic chords in key of C Minor

&

?

b

b

b

b

b

b

˙˙˙˙

n˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

n

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

n

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙n

˙˙˙˙

n˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

n

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

n

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙n

i(maj7) iiø7 (bIIImaj7#5) iv7 V7 bVI(maj7) vii°7

The common shorthand method for labeling the chords from the key of C minor is shown below. Theselisted chords are derived from the harmonic minor scale only. The chord built on the third degree ofthe harmonic minor scale is not functional and is not used in the major/minor system. It does occur agreat deal in contemporary compositions. Remember that functional chords point towards the tonic.This chord and many others may be ambiguous, and therefore they cannot point to the tonic. This doesnot mean that they are not musically useful, in fact they are useful for the purpose of ambiguity.

Cm maj7 Dø7 (Ebmaj7#5) Fm7 G7 Abmaj7 B°7i (maj7) iiø7 (bIIImaj7#5) iv7 V7 bVImaj7 vii°7

Some theory books may list up to fifteen possible chords using the natural, harmonic and melodic mi-nor scales as sources. All of those chords do not function in the sense that they all do not point to thetonic minor. Without the leading tone, all of the chords would be identical to the chords in the relativekey of Eb major. The chords on the third, fifth and seventh degrees of the scale would be: Ebmaj7, Gm7,and Bb7. These chords no longer would function to point to the tonic C minor. The Gm7 is not a domi-nant seventh chord and therefore points away from rather than towards C minor. The Bb7 and Eb chords



will be heard as the dominant and tonic in the key of Eb. These chords point away from and so cannotfunction as pointers to C minor.

The other chord affected by the raised leading tone is the tonic chord. In traditional music, a tonicchord cannot have a seventh. In jazz, where unresolved dissonance is more common, a seventh can beaccepted. The minor/major seventh chord can be found in minor jazz progressions, but more often,when the resolution to the tonic minor occurs, it is either a simple triad with no seventh, or has a minorseventh. When a minor progression resolves to a minor seventh chord, it will sound less like a tonicchord and more like a ii7 or vi7 chord that signals a modulation to a new key. There will be more ex-amples of this when harmonic progressions and modulations are discussed. It could be argued thatwithin the major/minor system, only major tonality is stable, as the major third is found in the har-monic series and not the minor third. This may explain the tierce de Picardie, or Picardy third, theRenaissance and Baroque practice of ending pieces in minor with a major third.

There are fewer stable chords in minor keys than in major. In major, I, ii, iii, IV, V and vi are stable, withviiø7 being unstable. The instability of the tonic minor chord was discussed above. The iiø7 and thevii°7 chords are not stable because of their diminished fifth and the III chord from harmonic minor isunstable because of its augmented fifth. A iv7 chord is stable and often becomes a pivot chord inmodulating to the relative major. A pivot chord is shared by two keys signatures and may functionrelative to each in a modulation A iv7 chord in C minor, Fm7, is also the ii7 of Eb, the relative major keyto C minor. The iv chord often begins a modulation to the relative major as in: Fm7 - Bb7 - Eb. The bVIchord is stable and often acts as a pivot chord between a minor key and its relative major. A bVI chordin minor becomes the IV chord in the relative major.

For the purposes of discussing functional harmony in minor, only six chords will be discussed:

5.7 Diatonic chords in key of C minor (harmonic minor)

&b

b

b˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙

n

˙˙˙˙

˙˙˙˙n

i iiø7 iv7 V7 bVI(maj7) vii°7

Three chords shown above do not include the leading tone: the supertonic, subdominant and submedi-ant. Melodically these chords are often treated using the notes of pure or natural minor to avoid theawkward augmented second degree. Since the tonic chord in minor is often a pivot chord to other keys,it too will often be treated with natural or pure minor, and in some instances with melodic minor. Othermelodic substitutions will be discussed in chapter 14.



Fill in the chart below in order to become more familiar with the specific chords in the thirteen minorkeys. After filling out the chart, write out each of these chords on staff paper. These are listed in the sameorder of key signatures as the chart shown for major keys. This chart lists thirteen keys again using theequivalents of Eb minor (6bs) and D# minor (6#s). The keys of Ab minor (7bs) and A# minor (7#s) havebeen omitted in favor of the enharmonic equivalents of G# minor (5#s) and Bb minor (5bs). Be sure touse the correct spelling and not mix accidentals.

KEY i iiø7 bIIImaj7#5 iv7 V7 bVImaj7 vii°7

A minor Am Bø7 Cmaj7#5 Dm7 E7 Fmaj7 G#°7D minorG minorC minorF minorBb minorEb minorD# minorG# minorC# minorF# minorB minorE minor

There were four types of seventh chords derived from the major scale: major/major seventh, mi-nor/minor seventh, major/minor, and half diminished seventh. All four of these chords found in majorkeys have a place in minor keys. The harmonic minor scale adds three new seventh chords to the list:the minor/major seventh and the fully diminished seventh.

Chords available from the Major and Harmonic Minor Scales

CHORD TYPE PLACE IN MAJOR KEY PLACE IN MINOR KEYMajor 7th Imaj7, IVmaj7 bVImaj7Minor 7th ii7, iii7, vi7 iv7Dominant 7th V7 V7Half-diminished 7th viiø7 iiø7Minor Major 7th n/a i (major 7th)Major 7th # 5 n/a bIII major 7# 5Diminished 7th n/a vii°7

It cannot be assumed that a major seventh chord is always a I chord (it could be a I, IV or bVI) or that aminor seventh chord is always a ii7 chord (it could be a ii, iii, vi, or iv). These assumptions get manybeginning improvisers into trouble. Groups of chords within the progression must be analyzed in orderto determine the key for a particular passage.

The chart above shows that the only occurrence of a major/minor seventh chord in major or minorkeys, is on the dominant pitch. This is why a major/minor seventh chord is called the dominant seventhchord. That means that for now in this discussion, all dominant chord symbols are, in fact, dominantchords: a G7 is the V7 of C major or C minor, a D7 is the dominant of G major or G minor. In laterchapters dealing with substitutions, chords that sound like dominant chords but do not function as dom-inant chords will be discussed. But for now a V7 is a V7 of major or minor.



DETERMINING the KEY

HALF DIMINISHED CHORDS

A half diminished chord is found on the second degree (iiø7) of a harmonic minor scale and from theseventh degree (viiø7) of a major scale. The half diminished chord is more often used as a iiø7 chordin minor than as a viiø7 in major. The fact that relative major and minor keys share the same half di-minished chord is significant. This chord is often used as the common or pivot chord when modulatingfrom the major to its relative minor. It is often accurate to assume that a half diminished chord is apointer to a minor key, so that Eø7 is more likely the iiø7 of D minor than the viiø7 of its relative F ma-jor.

FULLY DIMINISHED CHORDS

The only place within the major/minor system that a fully diminished seventh chord can be found is onthe seventh degree (vii°7) of harmonic minor. This is an often misunderstood chord. It can be spelledin many different ways and still sound the same when heard out of context. It is the chord sound that ismost often violated by the “Ghoti” principle. The vii°7 chord, B°7, must be spelled: B-D-F-Ab in order tobe from the key of C minor. Play these notes on the keyboard and they sound the same as a D°7, F°7 orE#°7, and Ab°7 or G#°7. All of these chords should be spelled differently according to their function. TheD°7 is the vii°7 of Eb minor and should be spelled D-F-Ab-Cb which corresponds to the key to which itpoints. F°7 is the vii°7 of Gb minor which is the key of nine flats! The chord would be spelled F-Ab-Cbb-Ebb.While most of us would prefer to see the Fn rather than E#, E# is the better choice for spelling this chord.The E#°7 (E#-G#-B-D) is the vii°7 of F# minor, which with only three sharps, is a much easier key to thinkabout than nine flats. Using the same logic, G#°7 (G#-B-D-F) is a better choice than Ab°7, since G#°7 is thevii°7 of A minor, with a no sharps or flats key signature, rather than Ab°7 (Ab-Cb-Ebb-Gbb) the vii°7 of Bbb

minor with its twelve flats. The fully diminished chord may be used in inversion and this often leads tothe spelling errors. It may take some deciphering to accurately identify the fully diminished seventhchord in some instances, but let logic and simplicity prevail.

In a passage like Cm - B°7 - Cm, the function of the diminished chord is clear. Trouble may arise ifsome of these chords are to be played in an inversion. If the passage asks that the chords be played withdifferent bass notes (shown on the bottom of the slash with the chord on top) the diminished chord isoften misspelled as : Cm/Eb - D°7 - Cm. The D°7 may sound like a B°7 in first inversion, but it may bemisleading as labeled. A D°7 is really the vii°7 of Eb minor suggesting six flats. It would be more clearlylabeled: Cm/Eb - B°7/D - Cm. It has been argued that this labeling is unnecessary as the D°7 and B°7chords are enharmonically the same pitches. It will be easier to determine the key if the diminishedseventh chords are labeled more accurately, but in real world musical settings, be prepared for unusualspellings.

MAJOR SEVENTH CHORDS

To determine whether a Bbmaj7 chord is a I or IV in major or a bVI in minor, the surrounding chordsmust be taken into consideration. Bbmaj7 is the I chord in the key of Bb (2b), the IV chord in the key of F(1b), and the bVI chord in the key of D minor (also the key of one flat, but with the leading tone C#). Thedifference between one flat and two flats is the En or Eb. Any dominant chord will readily identify thekey. Bbmaj7 is a I chord when an F7 is present, a IV chord when a C7 is present, and a bVI chord whenA7 is present. An Fmaj7 would mean the Bbmaj7 chord is a IV chord. The presence of an Eø7 couldmean the Bbmaj7 chord is from F major or D minor, so another chord would be needed to clarify thekey. The determination can be made by looking for chords that contain either a Cn or a C#, the pitch dif-ference between F major and D minor. Those chords are C#°7, C7, or A7.



MINOR SEVENTH CHORDS

Because a minor seventh chord can occur as a ii7, iii7, vi7 in major and a iv7 in minor, it is a bit moredifficult to make a determination of the correct key. An Am7 chord could be the ii7 or G major (1#), theiii7 chord in the key of F (1b), the vi7 chord in the key of C major, and the iv7 chord from the key of Eminor (also the key of one sharp, but with the leading tone D#). Dominant chords are the easiest indica-tors, so look for them first. The presence of a D7, C7, G7 or A7 will establish the key. If the dominantchords are not present, look for chords which contain the difference pitches between the keys. Considerthese possibilities:

Am7 with chords that contain F# and Dn will be from the key of G:Am7 (Bm7 Gmaj7 D7)ii7 (iii7 Imaj7 V7)

Am7 with chords that F# and D# will be from the key of E minor:Am7 (B7 D#°7)iv7 (V7 vii°7)

Am7 with chords that contain Bn and Fn will be from C major:Am7 (Bø7 G7)vi7 (viiø7 V7)

Am7 with chords that contain Bb will be from F major:Am7 (Bbmaj7 Gm7 Eø7 C7)iii7 (IVmaj7 ii7 viiø7 V7)

Am7 with an F#ø7 could be in the key of G major or E minor.

Am7 with an Fmaj7 or Dm7 could be in the key of F or C major.

Am7 with an Em7 or Cmaj7 could be in the key of G or C major.

These lists of possibilities makes finding the correct key look more difficult than it actually is. Mostpieces stay in or stay close to one key. More familiarity with the diatonic chords of keys makes themeasier to recognize in groups and common progressions. These chords do not occur out of context, andthere will almost always be enough information to make the correct decision regarding key signatures.



CHORD IDENTIFICATION PRACTICE SOLVED

CHORD FUNCTION KEYGm7 ii7 FC#7 V7 F#

Ebmaj7 IV Bb

Eø7 viiø7 FD7 V7 GFm7 iii7 Db

Bb7 V7 Eb

Fmaj7 IVmaj7 CBm7 iii7 GAbm7 ii7 Gb

Amaj7 Imaj7 ACm7 vi7 Eb

CHORD FUNCTION KEYCm7 ii7 Bb

Dbmaj7 IV Ab

Dø7 viiø7 Eb

A7 V7 DFmaj7 I FF#m7 iii7 DFm7 vi7 Ab

F#ø7 viiø7 GAm7 vi7 C

Cmaj7 IVmaj7 GG7 V7 CCø7 viiø7 Db

CHORD FUNCTION KEYDmaj7 I D

Ab7 V7 Db

Em7 iii7 CDm7 vi7 FEbm7 ii7 Db

Dm7 iii7 Bb

Db7 V7 Gb

Gm7 vi7 Bb

Bbmaj7 IV FC#7 V7 F#

Dbmaj7 I Db

Bbm7 ii7 Ab

CHORD FUNCTION KEYF7 V7 Bb

Abma7 IV Eb

Abma7 I Ab

Am7 ii7 GE7 V7 A

Bm7 vi7 DC7 V7 F

Dm7 ii7 CGmaj7 IV DBm7 ii7 AFm7 ii7 Eb

Cm7 iii7 Ab

CHORD FUNCTION KEYCmaj7 I C

Eb7 V7 Ab

Em7 vi7 GG#m7 ii7 F#

Ebmaj7 I Eb

Gm7 iii7 Eb

Fm7 vi7 Ab

Bbmaj7 I Bb

Bbm7 ii7 Ab

C#m7 iii7 AGbmaj7 IV Db

F#m7 vi7 A

CHORD FUNCTION KEYEm7 ii7 DF7 V7 Bb

Am7 ii7 GC7 V7 FG7 V7 C

Gm7 ii7 FD7 V7 G

Cm7 ii7 Bb

Dm7 ii7 CA7 V7 D

Gmaj7 I GDmaj7 IV A



CHORDS FUNCTION KEYDm7 - Em7 ii7 - iii7 CF#m7 - G#m7 ii7 - iii7 EAm7 - Bbmaj7 iii7 - IV FGmaj7 - A7 IV - V7 DDm7 - Bø7 ii7 - viiø7 C

Ebmaj7 - Gm7 I - iii7 Eb

Ebmaj7 - Gm7 IV - vi7 Bb

CHORDS FUNCTION KEYAmaj7 - Dmaj7 I - IV ADbmaj7 - Bbm7 I - vi7 Db

Dbmaj7 - Bbm7 IV - ii7 Ab

Ebmaj7 - Dm7 IV - iii7 Bb

Ebmaj7 - Dø7 I - viiø7 Eb

Cm7 - F7 ii7 - V7 Bb

Gm7 - C7 ii7 - V7 F

Documents

Chapter.05.pdf