V7 and the Cadential 64 (5̂  in the Bass)

In this module, the focus is on the dominant function so as to discuss its meaning and potential. While the triad has been the foundation of the study because of its stability, it occasionally becomes necessary to destabilize the triad, to render it more dissonant, and the primary means of accomplishing this is by adding a fourth note, a chordal seventh. The seventh of the V⁷ (4̂) resolving to the third of I (3̂) in the soprano is an essential voice leading connection and each subsequent resolution uses brackets to show in which voice the 4̂–3̂ resolution occurs. In addition to V⁷, this module also introduces the cadential ⁶4_{. The cadential ⁶4 is so named because it is an embellishment of V or V⁷ at a cadence.}