Under it all, four voices move by the smoothest legal route. The tool below drills the grammar.
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Unit 4 harmonic grammar, from your own notes
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Three jobs sort every chord
Function reduces the chord catalogue to three jobs: tonic (I, sometimes vi) rests; predominant (IV, ii) prepares; dominant (V, vii diminished) demands resolution home. The traffic flows one way, tonic to predominant to dominant to tonic, and hearing a chord's job matters more than naming its root. Given a progression, label jobs first; errors of function outrank errors of spelling on the rubric.
Cadences are punctuation, and each mark is defined
The cadence taxonomy is exact: perfect authentic stacks V to I in root position with the soprano landing on the tonic, a full stop; imperfect authentic weakens one condition; the half cadence parks on V, a comma; deceptive swerves V to vi; plagal closes IV to I. Definitions are graded literally, so learn the conditions as a checklist and classify by eliminating, soprano note first.
Phrases pair into periods: question and answer
An antecedent phrase asks, typically ending on a half cadence; a consequent answers, closing authentically: together a parallel period when they open alike, contrasting when they differ. The unit's analysis questions hand you eight bars and ask for the map: phrase boundaries, cadence types, period class. Mark the cadences first and the architecture labels itself.
SATB voice leading: the rules of the road
Four voices, soprano, alto, tenor, bass, each in range, move by the smoothest available route: keep common tones, step where possible, leap sparingly. The prohibitions are the famous part of voice leading: no parallel fifths or octaves between any voice pair, no overlapping voices, spacing kept inside an octave between upper neighbours. The rules exist for independence: four lines that sing, not one chord machine.
Tendency tones have appointments
The leading tone resolves up to tonic, in outer voices without exception; the seventh of a V seven resolves down by step. Doubling follows function, double the root as default, never the leading tone, and the errors the exam plants are exactly these: an unresolved leading tone, a doubled tendency tone, fifths hiding between tenor and bass. Error spotting drills, find the mistake in four bars, are the unit's assessment currency.
What to photograph for Harmony and Voice Leading I
Your function charts and part writing rules. Related: Unit 3, photo to quiz and pricing.
Sources used on this page
- College Board, AP Music Theory
- Function (music)
- Cadence
- Voice leading
- Period (music)
- Active recall
- Spaced repetition
- Testing effect
- Forgetting curve
- Generation effect
- Judgment of learning
- Metacognition
- Desirable difficulty
- Distributed practice
- Formative assessment
- Flashcard
- Cloze test
- Multiple choice
- Test (assessment)
- Educational assessment
- Advanced Placement
- Curriculum
- Study skills
- Study guide
- Note-taking
- Overlearning
- Instructional scaffolding
- Item analysis
- Mastery learning
| Element | The definition | The graded check |
|---|---|---|
| Tonic function | Home, rest | I opens and closes |
| Predominant | Prepares dominant | IV or ii before V |
| Perfect authentic | Root position V to I, soprano on tonic | All conditions met |
| Half cadence | Parks on V | The comma of phrases |
| Deceptive cadence | V to vi swerve | Expectation priced |
| Parallel fifths | Forbidden motion | Check every voice pair |
What does AP Music Theory Unit 4 cover?
Functional harmony's foundations: tonic, predominant and dominant jobs, the cadence taxonomy, phrases and periods, and SATB voice leading rules.
What makes an authentic cadence perfect?
Three conditions: V to I, both in root position, soprano ending on the tonic. Weaken any one and it is imperfect.
How do phrases form a period?
Antecedent asks, usually to a half cadence; consequent answers with an authentic close; parallel or contrasting by how they open.
Why are parallel fifths forbidden?
They collapse two voices into one sound, destroying the independence four part writing exists to preserve.
Which tones have mandatory resolutions?
The leading tone rises to tonic, outer voices without exception, and a dominant seventh's seventh falls by step.
Can I build questions from my own Unit 4 notes?
Yes. Whatever you upload sets the boundary. Photograph the pages or send the chapter as a PDF and the questions stay inside it.
Last updated: 2026-08-15