Advanced High School · HARMONIC ANALYSIS

Advanced Harmony

Explore Roman numerals, voice leading and chromatic harmony, one step at a time.

Set up your harmony challenge

DifficultyMode — Practice or Test/HomeworkQuestions

Read the key and exact note spellings carefully. Optional audio is available for selected examples; answers do not depend on listening. Homework allows three plays per example.

Identify the harmony

About this tool: practice Roman numerals, inversions, sevenths, suspensions and chromatic harmony. The lowest note is the bass; uppercase numerals mean major and lowercase mean minor. Start with fundamentals, then explore secondary dominants. Selected topics support AP Music Theory skill practice, while some advanced topics go beyond that framework. See the U.S. learning path. These short analysis examples do not assess four-part writing or replace a full course.

Learning guide · need a hand?

Advanced Harmony: a quick guide

Your goal

Work out what a chord is doing in its key. Use all the notes, their spellings and the lowest note to help you.

Try an example

In C major, E–G–C with E at the bottom is C major in first inversion. It is still chord I, but its third, E, is now the bass note.

Easy to mix up

The lowest note is not always the root. Identify the chord notes first, then check which one is in the bass. A sharp or flat may point to a change of key or a borrowed chord.

A tip for your next go

Ask yourself: what key am I in, which notes are here, and which is lowest? Build up from Roman numerals and inversions to suspensions and chromatic chords.