Music Theory | ABRSM Grade 8 Music Theory Complete Course

Explore extended dominants—V9, V11, and V13—by adding ninths, elevenths, and thirteenths to dominant chords in major and minor keys, including chromatic alterations and cadential guidance.

Chromatic chords add color by using notes outside the prevailing key without modulating, including Neapolitan sixth chords, borrowed chords, and secondary dominants with chromatic voice leading.

Borrowed chords from the parallel key color music as chromatic chords without changing the key, with examples in C major like C minor, D diminished, F minor, and A-flat major.

Explains minor chord four as a chromatic borrowed chord from the parallel minor in major keys, root preserved and third lowered, resolving downward to four–one or four–five progressions.

Explore the flattened submediant as a borrowed chord from the parallel minor, written as flat six, with Schubert’s Gondoliera in C major moving between one and flat six.

Explore the diminished supertonic (ii°) as a borrowed chord from the parallel minor in major keys, its voice-leading, inversion options, and its use as a substitute for a minor.

Explore how secondary dominants—chromatic major triads and dominant sevenths—color progressions like 2–5–1 without true modulation.

Explore how scale degrees form major, minor, diminished, and augmented triads, extending to four-note chords with sevenths and root alterations. Beethoven and Reinecke illustrate chromatic passing and augmented auxiliary chords.

Learn how baroque and classical modulations favor dominant, subdominant, and relative keys, then explore distant chromatic mediant, mediant modulations, pivot notes, direct modulations, and 20th-century no-common-note keys.

Master the figured bass 4-3 suspension in a root-position G major chord, where the fourth (C) resolves to the third (B) and is prepared in previous chord, with A43 suspension.

Explore the 9-8 suspension in figured bass, where the ninth above the bass resolves to the eighth in a G major chord, with the A suspended and prepared.

Explore the figure 7-6 suspension in first inversion chords; the seventh suspends and resolves to the sixth in a d minor example, prepared in the previous chord.

Analyze the five over four figured bass as a 5/4 suspension. Observe how the fourth is the suspended note and the fifth the triad's fifth, resolving in Baroque cadences.

Learn how the figured bass figure five enforces a fifth in root-position triads for continuo realization, guiding harmony and melodic writing in ABRSM Grade 8 theory examples.

Explore three-part harmony in ssb and sab textures, focusing on baroque trio sonata practice, cross-sounding upper parts, leading-note behavior, and how seven chords and note omission work with continuo.

Explore how perfect fifths and octaves function in three-part textures, identifying consecutive and exposed intervals to avoid between any pair of parts, with guidance on exceptions in baroque contexts.

Explore how voice leading in minor keys uses melodic and harmonic minor notes, raising sixth and seventh when appropriate, and resolves dissonances by step within functional harmony.

Spot false relations by scanning scores for same-letter notes with different alterations in different parts, especially in chromatic passages or minor keys, and distinguish close proximity clashes from chromatic changes.

Explore inverted cadences, less stable than root-position cadences, ending or approaching final chords with first inversion chords to convey movement or softness, as five to one and six to five.

Explore how harmonic rhythm governs chord changes across bars and beats. Mozart's dance K 605 trio shows inversions and bass movement that illustrate regular and irregular harmonic rhythm.

Learn to analyze chromatic music by separating bass, melody, and middle parts, establish a functional harmonic structure, and identify decoration and chromatic appoggiaturas that shape the harmony.

Discover the baroque trio sonata: three written parts with continuo improvisation, figured bass, and shared textures, featuring common instruments and contrapuntal or homophonic textures and a Corelli example.

Separate harmony from decoration to reveal the main melody skeleton in a Telemann trio sonata, then move mainly by step with occasional thirds, cadence leaps, and decorative notes.

Create and decorate two skeletons in a baroque style, outlining chords, suspensions, and melodic decoration while avoiding parallel fifths and octaves for a clear, linked harmony.

Analyzes how perfect fifths and octaves behave in a three-part texture, emphasizing avoidance of consecutive fifths and octaves and recognizing concealed and exposed intervals.

Explore baroque decorative figures: common melodic patterns used to ornament melodies, based on fragments of scale or arpeggio, and how to align decorations with harmony.

Explore dominant seventh, supertonic seventh, and related diminished, fully diminished, and half-diminished chords, including secondary dominants, with inversion figures and leading-note harmony.

Explore how to correctly approach and exit seventh chords in Baroque harmony, including preparation, leaps, and voice-leading with five-seven and dominant seventh progressions.

Explore diminished seventh chords, built on the seventh degree and formed by flattening the seventh in major keys. Discover harmonic equivalents, chromatic use, and dramatic climaxes.

Explore suspensions, a kind of dissonance that requires preparation in the same part and a stepwise resolution; learn 4–3, 9–8, and 7–6 suspensions, dash notation, and chaining.

Sort out the key and chords from the figured bass, assign roman numerals, and note chromatic changes and temporary modulations in G minor and related keys.

Explore composing by numbers by applying voice-leading rules to fill incomplete bars, prepare and resolve dissonances, and rise leading tones to the tonic in chords with sevenths and ninths.

Explore how baroque dissonances are treated in a grade eight trio sonata, focusing on added seventh and ninth chords, suspensions, bass line handling, and voice-leading preparation and resolution.

Master leading note voice leading in trio sonata texture by resolving the leading note to the tonic in chords five, five, seven, and seven diminished, while tracking modulations.

Analyze triad harmony by identifying roots, thirds, and optional fifths in chords, including suspensions. Move smoothly by seconds or thirds while avoiding consecutive and augmented intervals.

Maintain momentum in a trio sonata by keeping a steady quaver rhythm across parts, with limited homorhythmic sections, and craft complete chords through careful note choices, especially around the cadence.

Walk through a trio sonata in e minor, identifying dissonances, preparation notes, and resolutions across bars. Analyze six five figures, sevenths, suspensions, and modulations within the ABRSM grade 8 context.

Explore a staggered trio-sonata opening, implement imitation and smooth stepwise voice-leading, and resolve cadences using suspensions, inversions, and chords from E major to B minor through bar nine.

Analyze how texture defines the piano sound, from a single note to multiple notes, often 1–4, and learn to identify and change texture between polyphonic and homophonic sections using clues.

Learn how to craft smooth voice leading in four-part harmony, balancing melody, bass, and inner parts with stepwise motion, prudent leaps, and proper dissonance resolution to avoid unwanted parallels.

Master notation essentials for abrsm grade 8, including stem direction rules, beaming of groups, chord spacing with seconds, and the use of courtesy accidentals to avoid confusion.

Identify patterns in rhythm and melody and learn to shape phrases with balanced pairs. See how imitation, sequences, and increasing tension drive cadences and modulation.

Explore the Alberti bass, a four-note broken-chord pattern used in classical piano left hand. Alternates lowest, highest, middle, highest to form a bassline and drive harmony.

Analyze a Diabelli rondeau by examining melody shape, rhythm beaming, and harmony. Note upbeat rhythms, leaps, cadences, and chromatic passages to inform modulation and voice leading.

Explore a worked example of bar-by-bar voice leading and harmony in g major, reusing material, crafting an upbeat, resolving leading notes, and using quavers to align with bar 15.