Musicianship:

Harmonic Function,
Modal Interchange, and Tensions
Lesson 1 Study Guide
The Key of Eb Major

The key of Eb Major has three flats – Bb, Eb, and Ab:

W W H W W W H

Eb Ab Bb Eb

F G C D


Relative Minor: C Minor

Related Major and Minor keys share the same key signature and the same notes. To
find the relative minor of a Major key, start on the tonic and go down 3 half steps. For
example, the relative minor of Eb Major is C Minor:

Eb D Db C

1H 2H 3H


Eb Major and C Minor share the same key signature and the same notes:

C Minor
Eb Major
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Tensions

Tensions are notes that add color or interest to a chord. In lesson, we discussed the
tension 9, which is the 9th scale degree of a chord scale. For example, below is an Eb
Major scale. If we take the root, 3rd, 5th, and 7th from this scale, we would have an
EbMaj7:

EbMaj7

th
If we take the 9 scale degree in the Eb Major scale and add it to the EbMaj7, we create
an EbMaj9:

EbMaj9

Notice the 2nd scale degree and the 9th scale degree are the same note – F:

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Below are the diatonic 7th chords in Eb Major with 9ths added (Note that D-7b5 does
not have a 9th since 9ths are not commonly added to -7b5 chords):

You may also voice these chords in the 7-9-3-5 voicing:

Harmonic Function

Harmonic Function describes how a chord is related to the other chords in a particular
key. For example, you may be familiar with the terms tonic, subdominant, and
dominant:

Tonic: the tonal center or root of a key

Subdominant: The fourth scale degree or chord in a key, which often leads to the
dominant

Dominant: The fifth scale degree or chord in a key, which often resolves to the tonic.

In the key of Eb Major, EbMaj7 is the tonic, AbMaj7 is the Subdominant, and Bb7 is the
Dominant:







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