BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
161 / 18210 · Module 5 — Harmonic Function: Tonic, Predominant, Dominant, and Why Chords “Want” to Go Somewhere← prev⊞ allnext →

5.39Your harmonic vocabulary so far

In C major you now know:

Tonic

C, Am, Em

Predominant

Dm, F

Dominant

G, G7, B°

That is already enough to construct a surprising amount of music.

And now the giant chord chart should look less like:

dozens of independent chord names

and more like:

groups of chords creating routes between stability and tension.