ABSTRACT
Knowing what makes a good harmonic “progression” is a useful tool in music reading skills. This will prove especially beneficial in dictation. Simply stated, a progression is the strongest type of harmonic motion, in which each chord moves to the next closest chord to tonic in descending-fifth root movements. But since not all progressions are confined to root movements of a descending fifth, another way to determine good harmonic progressions is to classify each diatonic functional harmony and its relationship to tonic. There are three classifications that have specific behaviors: the tonic class; the predominant class; and the dominant class. This chapter outlines the behaviors of these classes. An exercise is provided to analyze melodies for their implied harmonic progressions.
