Potential Energy of Harmony

Classical western harmony is very rarely stagnant. It is built upon building tension, then releasing that tension.

The circle of fourths shows this momentum. Each chord is the dominant of the next tonic when you travel clockwise around the circle:

This also works diatonically (within a given key):

A progression releases harmonic stress. A retrogression increases harmonic stress.

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McHose Classifications

Allen McHose (Eastman School of Music)

• Studied the movement of chord roots.
• Chord quality is not as important as root movement.

Possible Chord Movements

Movement among classifications could be described in one of the following ways, from most commonly occurring to least commonly occurring:

1. Progression
2. Repetition
3. Elision (skipping a class)
4. Retrogression

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Tendencies of Major Scale Tones