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Resolution in Music: The "Five" Chord

  1. As Table 43 below shows, the notes comprising the "five" chord (chord with the 5th note of the scale as its root) include scale degree 7 and scale degree 2. Both of these notes point strongly to the tonic note of the key, scale degree 1. "Point strongly" means that they sound unstable and "seek" resolution to the tonic note. In general, resolution in music means moving from an unstable, "unresolved" or dissonant sound to a resolved, consonant sound.

TABLE 43 Notes Comprising the Five Chord

Table showing harmonic degree of the five-chord used in the V-I chord change.

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