Chordal seventh resolution is the voice-leading rule that the seventh of a seventh chord (a dissonant tendency tone) resolves down by step into the next chord. In V7 to I, scale degree 4 (the seventh of V7) steps down to scale degree 3 (the third of tonic).
The chordal seventh is the note a seventh above the root of any seventh chord. Because it forms a dissonance against the root, it's a tendency tone, meaning your ear expects it to move somewhere specific. That somewhere is down by step. In the most common case, V7 resolving to I, the chordal seventh is scale degree 4 (fa), and it falls to scale degree 3 (mi), the third of the tonic chord.
Think of the seventh as a note leaning downhill. The leading tone in the same V7 chord leans uphill toward tonic, the seventh leans downhill toward the third, and together they squeeze the music into the tonic chord. That pull is what makes a dominant seventh sound like it has to resolve. The rule isn't limited to V7 either. Any chordal seventh in common-practice part writing (ii7, vii°7, secondary dominants like V7/V) resolves down by step into the next harmony, and breaking that rule costs you points on the part-writing FRQs.
This concept lives in the heart of AP Music Theory's harmony and voice-leading units (Units 4-7), which build directly on the seventh-chord construction you learn in Unit 3. The CED expects you to treat the chordal seventh as a tendency tone with one correct resolution, and it shows up everywhere: realizing figured bass, harmonizing a melody with Roman numerals, and analyzing why a progression sounds finished or unfinished. It also explains bigger ideas. Why does V7 to I sound so conclusive at a cadence? Because two tendency tones (the leading tone and the chordal seventh) resolve at the same moment. Why does an incomplete tonic chord sometimes appear in part writing? Often because the seventh and leading tone both had to resolve correctly, leaving the fifth out. Once you internalize this one rule, a huge chunk of common-practice voice leading starts making sense instead of feeling like a pile of arbitrary do's and don'ts.
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view galleryTendency Tones (Units 4-7)
The chordal seventh is one of the two big tendency tones, alongside the leading tone. Tendency tones are notes with a strong gravitational pull toward a specific resolution, and the seventh's pull is always down by step.
Dominant Seventh Chord (Units 3-4)
V7 is where you'll apply this rule most often. Its seventh is scale degree 4, which forms a tritone with the leading tone. The seventh falling to 3 while the leading tone rises to 1 is what resolves that tritone and locks in the tonic.
Voice Leading (Units 4-7)
Seventh resolution is a non-negotiable voice-leading rule, right up there with avoiding parallel fifths and octaves. When you part-write any seventh chord, trace the seventh into the next chord and make sure it steps down before you check anything else.
Leading Tone (Units 4-7)
The leading tone is the seventh's partner tendency tone, but it pulls the opposite direction (up to tonic). Resolving both correctly often forces an incomplete tonic chord with a tripled root, which the AP rubric accepts.
Chordal seventh resolution is tested most directly on the part-writing FRQs: the figured bass realization and the Roman numeral progression. The rubrics award and deduct points based on voice leading, and an unresolved or upward-moving chordal seventh is a classic error that costs you. Multiple-choice questions get at it too, usually by showing a four-voice excerpt and asking you to spot the voice-leading error, or by asking which note of a V7 chord resolves to which note of tonic. Your job is concrete: identify which voice has the seventh, then make that voice step down into the next chord. On harmonization questions, this rule also constrains your chord choices, since a melody note that's a chordal seventh needs to step down in the next measure.
Both are tendency-tone rules inside the same V7 chord, but they move in opposite directions. The leading tone (scale degree 7) resolves UP by half step to tonic, while the chordal seventh (scale degree 4 in V7) resolves DOWN by step to scale degree 3. A quick check that works in any key is that the leading tone climbs and the seventh falls. Mixing these up is one of the fastest ways to lose part-writing points.
The chordal seventh of any seventh chord resolves down by step into the next chord, with almost no exceptions in common-practice part writing.
In V7 to I, the seventh is scale degree 4 and it resolves down to scale degree 3, the third of the tonic chord.
The chordal seventh and the leading tone are the two main tendency tones, and they resolve in opposite directions (seventh down, leading tone up).
Resolving both tendency tones in V7 often produces an incomplete tonic chord with a tripled root and no fifth, which is correct, not an error.
This rule applies to every seventh chord, including ii7, vii°7, and secondary dominants like V7/V, not just the dominant seventh.
On the part-writing FRQs, always locate the seventh in each seventh chord and confirm it steps down before checking for parallels.
It's the rule that the seventh of a seventh chord, a dissonant tendency tone, resolves down by step into the next chord. In V7 to I, scale degree 4 falls to scale degree 3.
No, not in the common-practice style AP Music Theory tests. The seventh resolves down by step, and writing it upward is a voice-leading error that the part-writing rubrics penalize.
They're both tendency tones in V7, but the leading tone (scale degree 7) resolves up by half step to tonic, while the chordal seventh (scale degree 4) resolves down by step to scale degree 3. Same chord, opposite pulls.
Because resolving the leading tone up and the seventh down often leaves no voice free to cover the fifth of tonic. An incomplete tonic with a tripled root is acceptable and common on the AP part-writing FRQs.
Yes. Every chordal seventh resolves down by step, including in ii7, vii°7, and secondary dominants like V7/V. V7 just gets the most attention because it's the most common seventh chord in the progressions you part-write.
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