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Be Careful with Chromatic Chords—Tonality Can Become Fuzzy
Less frequently, exiting from the circular harmonic scale involves a chord other than the tonic. Figure 73 below shows some examples.
FIGURE 73: Four Chord Map Examples of Chromatic Chord Progressions Involving Non-tonic Exits
Like second progressions, chromatic progressions stick out. Chromatic chords are foreign to the key, so they command listener attention.
However, tonality can easily get fuzzy and fall apart with clumsy handling of chromatic chords. That’s why it’s prudent, when introducing a chromatic chord, to return to the circular harmonic scale quickly, usually within a bar or two. If this doesn’t happen, it probably means the tonality (key) is changing (modulation).