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Tonic & dominant: home and away
Every major scale has two anchor notes. Degree 1 is the tonic — the home note you already know. Degree 5 is the dominant — home’s opposite pole. The push and pull between them powers almost all music.
Plain prints every note in black, without the color coding.
Listen
Play each example here, or download it as an MP3 (audio) or a MIDI file.
Meet the two poles
- The C major scale: tonic C (1), dominant G (5)0:08
Two chords, two feelings
- The home chord, I: C–E–G0:08
- The away chord, V: G–B–D0:08
Question → answer: the musical full stop
- V then I: away, then home0:08
- Home, away (hang there), home again: I – V – I0:13
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Free to use in your own lessons and practice. Made by the teachers at Tissimo.