Chords, keys and harmony across styles
Harmony is what happens when notes sound together. A handful of chords, arranged differently, produces a hymn, a blues and a pop chorus.
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Understand chords, keys and scales, and how harmony is used within different styles of music
Key learning points
- • Scales and keys
- • Triads and chord numbering
- • Cadences and expectation
- • Harmony across styles
This lesson at a glance
- 30 minutes
- 25 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- Marked quiz at the end
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
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Part 1 of 25
Visual introductionPicture this
Chords, keys and harmony across styles
Harmony is what happens when notes sound together. A handful of chords, arranged differently, produces a hymn, a blues and a pop chorus.
In a nutshell
Understand chords, keys and scales, and how harmony is used within different styles of music
What you already know
Part 2 of 25
Before we start
What you already know
You should already be able to read basic staff notation and identify pitch.
Key words
Part 3 of 25
Key words
Words you'll need today
- Triad
- A three-note chord built in thirds.
- Key
- The home note and scale a piece is based on.
- Cadence
- A chord pair that ends a musical phrase.
- Progression
- A sequence of chords.
Reset break
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Pause
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Learning cycle
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Learning cycle 1 of 2
Building chords and keys
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 25
Learn
Scales and keys
A major scale follows a fixed pattern of tones and semitones, giving each key its own set of sharps or flats shown in the key signature. Minor scales use a different pattern and are usually described as darker. The tonic is the home note: music tends to sound resolved when it returns there.
Explore the idea
Part 7 of 25
Learn
Triads and chord numbering
A triad stacks the first, third and fifth notes of a scale. Building a triad on each degree gives the chords of the key, numbered with Roman numerals: in a major key, chords I, IV and V are major and ii, iii and vi are minor. Numbering rather than naming lets you transpose a progression into any key.
Reset break
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Pause
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Quick check
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Quick check
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Learning cycle
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Learning cycle 2 of 2
Harmony in different styles
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
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Pause
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Explore the idea
Part 13 of 25
Learn
Cadences and expectation
A cadence is how a phrase closes. V to I sounds finished; IV to I sounds gentler; ending on V leaves the phrase open, which is why verses often hang before a chorus. Composers use expectation deliberately: an interrupted cadence substitutes an unexpected chord and surprises the listener.
Explore the idea
Part 14 of 25
Learn
Harmony across styles
Blues uses dominant-seventh chords on I, IV and V, giving its characteristic edge. Pop frequently loops I-V-vi-IV. Jazz extends chords with sevenths and ninths and substitutes freely. Modal folk avoids the strong pull of V to I, and much non-Western music organises pitch through mode and drone rather than functional harmony.
Quick check
Part 15 of 25
Reset break
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Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Quick check
Part 17 of 25
Common mix-ups
Part 18 of 25
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- People often think minor simply means sad. It is a different scale pattern, used expressively in many ways.
- People often think a key signature only shows sharps or flats. It identifies the key and its home note.
Challenge round
Part 19 of 25
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Reset break
Part 20 of 25
Pause
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Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Challenge round
Part 21 of 25
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
Minor ____ use a different pattern and are usually described as darker.
Building a triad on each degree gives the ____ of the key, numbered with Roman numerals: in a major key, chords I, IV and V are major and ii, iii and vi are minor.
Modal folk avoids the strong pull of V to I, and much non-Western music organises pitch through mode and drone rather than functional ____.
Challenge round
Part 22 of 25
Game · Recall cards
A triad is built from scale degrees...
Card 1 of 4
Exit quiz
Part 23 of 25
Exit quiz
Show what you've learned
6 questions, marked together at the end. Nothing is timed.
1. The tonic is...
2. Roman numerals are useful because they...
3. An interrupted cadence...
4. Blues harmony commonly uses...
5. Jazz typically extends chords with...
6. Modal folk music often avoids...
Mastery quiz
Part 24 of 25
Marked quiz
End of lesson quiz: Chords, keys and harmony across styles
4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.
1. A triad is built from scale degrees...
2. In a major key, chord V is...
3. A perfect cadence is...
4. A common pop loop is...
Lesson round-up
Part 25 of 25
Lesson round-up
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