Roman numerals are often used to refer to the seven scale degrees or/and their naturally occurring chords. So the Leading tone leads to the tone(ic). It wants to resolve, move, or lead directly to the tonic, thereby relieving melodic tension. Because itвЂ™s so close to the tonic it has a definite pull. The Leading tone of Major, a Major-seventh interval above the tonic, can also be seen as residing one half-step or semitone below the tonic.YouвЂ™ll hear much about the Dominant degree, and the importance of the perfect-fifth interval generally, as you go. So the scale degreeвЂ™s name has definite meaning. The fifth, in relation to the Tonic of the scale, is literally considered to be a dominant force in Western music. The Dominant (the fifth or V) is the perfect-fifth interval of the scale.Similarly the Sub-Medient is midway between the Tonic and Sub-Dominant (but moving from the Tonic down a P-5th.) So Sub-Medient means middle-below. The Mediant is midway between the Tonic and Dominant (moving from Tonic up a P-5th). The Supertonic lies just above the Tonic and the Subdominant is just below the Dominant. First, the prefixes super (meaning above) and sub (meaning below) are easy clues.See the patterns and relationships highlighted in Figure 1 and read the following. The following memory aids will help you remember the names of the scale degrees. Figure 1 and Figure 2 list those formal scale degree names. Tonic and Supertonic for the first and second degrees of the scale. The seven tones or degrees of the Western scale are often referred to by their technical or formal names, e.g. Scale degree names and Roman numeral designates Formal scale degree names So this is where we really begin to see what Western music theory and composition is all about. Common chord progressions, then, are the next larger building blocks of composition. Chord progressions are short strings of these naturally occurring chords. TheyвЂ™re the stock formula, the raw material, the pallets, and the jumping off point for artistic modification. in thirds) above the degrees of the Major and minor scales are the primary building blocks of composition. Triads and seventh chords that occur naturally (i.e. With our knowledge of those elements weвЂ™ll be able to identify the greater pallet of triads that occur naturally on the scale degrees of the Major scale.ДЇinally, from that greater pallet of natural triads of Major, weвЂ™ll isolate some simple chord progressions and play them on Viola da Gamba or Lute. WeвЂ™ll combine everything weвЂ™ve learned so far: everything about the the, the Cipher formula and the Cipher SystemвЂ™s fretboard components, and everything about intervals, scales and root-position triads. WeвЂ™ll begin at the beginning with some basic terminology first, and then some root position triads in progression. Here weвЂ™ll explore some elementary chord progressions for Viola da gamba or Lute. Triads of Major and some basic progressions And you most certainly neednвЂ™t to be forced to learn to read music before being вЂњpermittedвЂќ to learn such things. You only have to know and understand one instance of a given pattern of music to know all incarnations (all keys or spellings) of that pattern. WhatвЂ™s most important is to understand the terminology ( interval number-names specifically) and to understand whatвЂ™s going on in any one scale or key or chord. Furthermore, we only have to give minimal attention to letter spellings, focusing instead on numbers only and good numbers in particular. This large section of the web site presentation, which covered intervals, scales, chord construction, triads, and more, was meant to demonstrate that The Cipher System is indeed capable of transmitting (quickly and painlessly) both the fundamentals of music theory and itвЂ™s application to the (any) fretboard - and without having to learn to read staff notation first, nor have to study the piano keyboard first. This is the conclusion of our вЂќOnce around the track with Cipher SystemвЂќ (Viola da Gamba and Lute edition) which began at the Music Theory Elements page. Chord Progressions for Viola da Gamba and Lute - triads of C Major on Bass ViolД«ut applicable generally to any Gamba or Lute

Viola melodic minor scales