Simple chord progressions
Harmonise a short melody with chords I, IV and V and play the progression.
Harmonising a melody
To harmonise a melody is to choose chords for it. For simple melodies the three primary triads are enough.
- For each main note of the melody, find the triads that contain it.
- If there are two options, choose by sense: the tonic at the start and the end, the dominant just before the end.
The melody E – F – D – C in C major: E is only in T, F only in S, D only in D, and C is in T and S, but the end of the phrase needs the tonic.
The melody: E – F – D – C
Its chords: T – S – D – T
The melody with its chords
Practice: A chord for a note
Practice: Two options
The natural order
The functions follow each other in a familiar order: T → S → D → T. The subdominant leads to the dominant, the dominant to the tonic. The reverse step D → S is less common and sounds like a "step back"; that is the sound of the blues, for example.
A good progression begins and ends on the tonic, with the dominant (or the subdominant, for a soft ending) before the final tonic.
Neighbouring chords sound more connected when they share a note and that note stays put. T and S share the tonic; T and D share the fifth of the tonic. S and D share nothing, so between them the upper voices move against the bass.