Chord Functions for Musical Analysis

CHARLES LEINBERGER, PH.D.
Chord Functions for Musical Analysis

Use this table to determine the function of a chord once you know the type of chord, its root, and on what scale degree the root is located.

		Triads									Seventh Chords
Scale Degree		+		M				m	d		M⁷₊₅ (+M⁷)		Mm⁷₊₅ (+m⁷)	M⁷ (MM⁷)		⁷ (Mm⁷)				⁷_b5 (Mm⁷_b5) or Fr⁷ (Fr⁺⁶)	m^M7 (mM⁷)	m⁷ (mm⁷)	^ø7 (dm⁷)		°⁷ (dd⁷)
1	Tonic			I		V/iv		i						I⁷		V⁷/IV		V⁷/iv			i^M7	i⁷
#1	Raised Tonic								vii°/ii																vii°⁷/ii
b2	Lowered Supertonic			N										N⁷		Gr⁺⁶/I, It⁺⁶/I
2	Supertonic			V/V				ii	ii°	vii°/III						V⁷/V				Fr⁷ (Fr⁺⁶)		ii⁷	ii^ø7	vii^ø7/III	vii°⁷/III
#2	Raised Supertonic								vii°/iii																vii°⁷/iii
b3	Lowered (Minor) Mediant	bIII+	III+	bIII		III					bIII⁷₊₅	III⁷₊₅		III⁷	bIII⁷	V⁷/VI
3	Mediant			V/vi				iii	vii°/IV	vii°/iv						V⁷/vi						iii⁷	vii^ø7/IV		vii°⁷/IV	vii°⁷/iv
4	Subdominant			IV		V/VII		iv						IV⁷		V⁷/bVII		IV⁷	V⁷/VII			iv⁷	Till Eulenspiegel
#4	Raised Subdominant								vii°/V														vii^ø7/V		vii°⁷/V
5	Dominant	V+		V				v	vii°/VI				V⁷₊₅			V⁷				Fr⁷/I (Fr⁺⁶/I)		v⁷	vii^ø7/VI		vii°⁷/VI
#5	Raised Dominant								vii°/vi																vii°⁷/vi
b6	Lowered (Minor) Submediant			bVI		VI								VI⁷	bVI⁷	Gr⁺⁶, It⁺⁶, V⁷/N							Tristan
6	Submediant			V/ii				vi	vi°	vii°/VII						V⁷/ii						vi⁷	vi^ø7	vii^ø7/VII	vii°⁷/VII
b7	Subtonic			bVII	V/bIII	VII	V/III									bVII⁷	V⁷/bIII	VII⁷	V⁷/III
7	Leading Tone			V/iii		Fate			vii°							V⁷/iii							vii^ø7		vii°⁷

Blue cells indicate diatonic functions in major keys. Some of these chords also have a chromatic function in minor keys.

Yellow cells indicate diatonic functions in minor keys only (natural, harmonic or melodic).

Green cells indicate diatonic functions in either major or minor keys (blue + yellow = green).

Therefore, major keys include diatonic functions in Blue and Green. Minor keys include diatonic functions in Yellow and Green.

Purple cells indicate chromatic functions in major keys only. All chromatic functions are dependent upon the chord resolving logically.

Orange cells indicate chromatic functions in minor keys only. All chromatic functions are dependent upon the chord resolving logically.

Dark gray cells indicate chromatic functions in either major or minor keys. All chromatic functions are dependent upon the chord resolving logically.

Therefore, major keys include chromatic functions in Purple and Gray. Minor keys include chromatic functions in Orange and Gray.

Light gray cells include functions for chords that are traditionally non-functional, but have been given programmatic meaning, such as Fate, Till Eulenspiegel, and Tristan.

Empty cells indicate that there are no logical functions for particular chord types on a those scale degrees.

Flats appear as lower-case letter "B"s. (There is no HTML code for a flat sign.)

Abbreviations used on this table:
Chord	Intervals Above the Root
Chord	Third	Fifth	Seventh
+ = Augmented Triad	Major	Augmented
M = Major Triad	Major	Perfect
m = minor Triad	Minor	Perfect
d = Diminished Triad	Minor	Diminished
M⁷₊₅ = Augmented-Major seventh chord (+M⁷)	Major	Augmented	Major
Mm⁷₊₅ = Augmented-minor seventh chord (+m⁷)	Major	Augmented	Minor
M⁷ = Major-Major seventh chord (MM⁷)	Major	Perfect	Major
⁷ = Major-minor seventh chord (Mm⁷)	Major	Perfect	Minor
⁷_b5 = Major-minor seventh chord with diminished fifth (Mm⁷_b5) or Fr⁷ (French seventh), often appears in second inversion as Fr⁺⁶	Major	Diminished	Minor
m^M7 = minor-major seventh chord (mM⁷)	Minor	Perfect	Major
m⁷ = minor-minor seventh chord (mm⁷)	Minor	Perfect	Minor
^ø7 = diminished-minor seventh chord (half-diminished) (dm⁷)	Minor	Diminished	Minor
°⁷ = diminished-diminished seventh chord (fully-diminished) (dd⁷)	Minor	Diminished	Diminished

Charles Leinberger's Music Home Page
Modulation Types for Musical Analysis
Examples of Modulation Types for Musical Analysis (PDF)
Dr. Edward Murphy's "Sonata Form" Essay
Instrument Transpositions for Musical Analysis
CHARLESL@UTEP.EDU
This page was updated 20 April 2009.