Music Theory II: A College Companion Course

Explore non chord tones such as passing tones and neighbor tones as melodic links, and classify them by accented or unaccented and diatonic or chromatic.

Explain the apology tour and escape tone as non chord tones, showing accented and unaccented forms and how they are approached by a leap or step within basic harmony.

Explore suspensions as a complex non-chord tone, from preparation and held tones to stepwise resolution, and compare roman numeral analysis with chord-symbol labeling in harmonic context.

Explore anticipation and pedal tones as non chord tones that precede chord changes and resolve within progressions, with examples from fugue two.

Learn to add non chord tones to chorale harmonizations, using passing tones, suspensions, and anticipations to mask or avoid consecutive fifths and octaves, while maintaining a continuous composite quarter-note rhythm.

Explore add and sus chord symbols derived from torsion triads, by adding a fourth or replacing the third with a fourth or a second; examine inversions and quartal harmony.

Explore how figured bass suspensions interpret intervals such as 9–8 and 7–6, hold notes, and resolve to the octave and tonic through a dominant seventh.

Learn all seven seventh chords and their figured bass inversions, from dominant seventh to augmented major seventh, and how inversions 6-5, 4-3, and 2 signal their bass.

Explore seventh chords in lead sheet symbols, including dominant, major, minor, half-diminished, and fully diminished sevenths, with diatonic context, notation conventions, and inverted chords.

Explore diatonic seventh chords on each scale degree across major, natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, including major seventh, minor seventh, half-diminished, and dominant seventh forms.

Explore roman numerals for seven-chord inversions (7–6–5–4–3–4–2). Learn how capital M attaches to the seventh in root-position, augmented major 7th on the lowered mediant, and diminished chords with slash.

Explore the fully diminished seventh leading-tone chord and its resolution to the tonic, detailing tendency notes, voice leading, inversions, and symmetry.

Explore the fully diminished seventh chord’s symmetry and inversion, and its four-note collection, then visualize it on the circle of fifths as a cycle of minor thirds.

Explore the half diminished seventh chord in major and melodic minor keys, its dominant function, and voice-leading techniques to resolve to the tonic while avoiding parallel fifths.

Explore the supertonic seventh chord, its common inversions, and voice-leading tendencies toward the dominant, including 2-7, 2-6-5, and cadential spellings such as add six and six-four progressions.

Explore subdominant seventh chords and their major minor, major major, and minor minor variants, noting how the third resolves differently from a dominant seventh in minor context, with voice-leading tips.

Explore submediant seventh chord, its triad feel with a seventh, and progressions to IV and ii in major and minor keys, including half-diminished seventh as a bridge to leading tones.

Explore median seventh chords in the common practice era, used in circle progressions, resolving to a sub median seventh chord or to a four chord, with voice-leading and leading-tone considerations.

Explore secondary dominants and how chromatic chords create temporary dominants, analyze them with roman numerals, and connect to closely related keys and the circle of fifths.

Explore secondary leading-tone chords as borrowed diminished dominants, analyze Beethoven's inversions, and show how harmonic-minor borrowing and parallel keys affect tendency notes and chord function.

Explore how secondary chords enhance harmonies by replacing diatonic chords with secondary dominants, extending progressions, and maintaining function and voice leading within circle of fifths progression.