Root Progressions

Question 1

three primary motions of root movement

Answer 1

• root movement by descending fifth
• • ascending fourth and descending fifth are the same thing for this category
• root movement by descending third
• root movement by ascending second

Question 2

moving between areas of the phrase

Answer 2

• expansions to tonic (I-vi) down a 3rd
• tonic to predominant (I-IV) down a 5th
• tonic to predominant (I-ii) up a 2nd
• expansions to predominant (IV-ii) down a 3rd
• predominant to dominant (IV-V) up a 2nd
• predominant to dominant (ii-V) is down a 5th
• PAC is (V-I) is down a 5th

Question 3

Progressions - Motions by descending 5ths

Answer 3

• because this motion is cyclical, this can go through all the chords in a key. Both major and minor
• not all motion by 5th is equally strong, because the leading tone viio-iii is not found in music often
• – iii-vi is not used very often
• chords that are used commonly
• • I-IV (i-iv)
• • vi-ii (VI-ii)
• • ii-V (iio-V)
• • V-I (V-i)
• voice leading for descending fifth pairs holds the common tone in one voice and moves all other voices to the nearest chord member
• when the chordal seventh is added, the fifth of the V7 is omitted frequently. Or else parallel fifths occur

Question 4

what are the most common sets of chords in a descending-fifths chain in a major key?

Answer 4

I-IV
vi-ii
ii-V
V-I

Question 5

a descending-fifth root progression is always in _____

Answer 5

• root position

Question 6

when writing progressions of ascending thirds and descending fifth, what must stay in the same voice as the other voices move to the closest chord?

Answer 6

• common tone

Question 7

within a phrase, ascending root progressions by a second are not common because of the issues with parallel:

Answer 7

• fifths and octaves

Question 8

Complete the following Chain of major and minor descending-fifth root progressions
Major: I - IV - _ - iii - vi - _
Minor: _ - iv - viio - III - _ - iio - V - i

Answer 8

• viio; ii; i; VI