Irregular Resolution on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
In 
Type I is common from the 18th century; Type II may be found from the second quarter of the 19th century; Type III may be found from the mid-19th century. The composer Richard Edward Wilson is responsible for the categorization.
The most important irregular resolution is the deceptive cadence, most commonly V7–vi in major or V7–VI in minor.Owen, Harold (2000). ''Music Theory Resource Book'', p.132. . Irregular resolutions also include V7 becoming an
In music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
, an irregular resolution is resolution by a dominant seventh chord
In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad ...
or diminished seventh chord
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the diminished seve ...
to a chord
Chord may refer to:
* Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously
** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning
* Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve
* Chord ( ...
other than the tonic. Regarding the dominant seventh, there are many irregular resolutions including to a chord with which it has tones in common or if the parts move only a whole or half step. Chadwick, George Whitefield (2008). ''Harmony, a Course of Study'', p.160. . Consecutive fifths and octaves, augmented intervals, and false relation
A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance.
The term describes a "chromatic contradiction" ...
s should still be avoided. Voice leading
Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and count ...
may cause the seventh to ascend, to be prolonged into the next chord, or to be unresolved.Foote, Arthur (2007). ''Modern Harmony in its Theory and Practice'', p.93ff. .
The following resolutions to a chord with tones in common have been identified:
*Type I, in which the root
In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...
motion descends by minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
. C, E, G, B would resolve to C, E, G, A; two tones are common, two voices move by half-step in contrary motion
In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general movement of two melodic lines with respect to each other. In traditional four-part harmony, it is important that lines maintain their independence, an effect which can be achieved by the judic ...
.
*Type II, in which the root motion rises by minor third. C, E, G, B would resolve to D, E, G, B; again, two tones are common, two voices move by half-step in contrary motion.
*Type III, in which the root moves a tritone
In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three ad ...
(two minor thirds) away. C, E, G, B would resolve to C, E, F, B = A; again, two tones are common (with enharmonic change), two voices move by half-step in contrary motion.
Type I is common from the 18th century; Type II may be found from the second quarter of the 19th century; Type III may be found from the mid-19th century. The composer Richard Edward Wilson is responsible for the categorization.
The most important irregular resolution is the deceptive cadence, most commonly V7–vi in major or V7–VI in minor.Owen, Harold (2000). ''Music Theory Resource Book'', p.132. . Irregular resolutions also include V7 becoming an augmented sixth
In classical music from Western culture, an augmented sixth () is an interval produced by widening a major sixth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an A6 not ...
pecifically a German sixth">German_sixth.html" ;"title="pecifically a German sixth">pecifically a German sixththrough enharmonic equivalence or in other words (and the adjacent image) resolving to the I chord in the key the augmented sixth chord (FACD) would be in (A) rather than the key the dominant seventh (FACE) would be in (B).
See also
*Neapolitan chord
In Classical music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered ( flatted) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is ...
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irregular Resolution Chord progressions Harmony