Musical tension begins once you play and leave the I Chord… from that very moment, you’ll be looking for a way to get back home – back to the I Chord. Tension can also come from instrumentation, dynamics, feel, mood, and/or atmosphere. But regardless of where the tension comes from, you want it resolved.

Think of the way a story develops. It begins calmly, (through what is called rising actions) builds to a peak or climax, and then through falling action gradually resolves. The I Chord is the exposition and the resolution – you want to start where it’s calm and then end where it’s calm. Your climax is where you have the most tension (the V Chord). William McDowell’s “My Desire“ is a great example of the intensity progression from exposition to resolution.

In “Beethoven’s 5th Symphony“, when you get towards the end of the piece, you hear the V to I cadence leading to the Minor I, and then the sequence repeating. This sequence builds several layers of tension that pushes the listener to question when the piece will conclude. The listener hears the musical tension and anticipates the release.

You can extend the V to I sequence by adding the II and creating the II-V-I sequence. This sequence using scale degree names is “Super Tonic Chord”, “Dominant Chord”, and “Tonic Chord”. This sequence is a favorite standard progression in Jazz and is used often at the end of songs, although it can be used anywhere within a song. This sequence is used across many genres.

The IV Chord is just a step beneath the V Chord in intensity. This scale degree is named “Sub-Dominant” or “Pre-Dominant Chord” because of it’s relationship to the V Chord. The example progression is a I-IV-V sequence, which in scale degree names is “Tonic Chord”, “Sub-Dominant Chord”, and “Dominant Chord”. This sequence is commonly used in hymns, children’s songs and the Blues. Mariah Carey’s “Silent Night” includes the I-IV-V sequence.

“The Deceptive Cadence”, more commonly the V to VI, is a sequence that is used to deceive the listener… They get something other than the V to I sequence. The relationship between the VI and the I is interesting: In a major key, they both have a tonic function, so both can appear as the I Chord. The V Chord in the V to VI cadence can serve as a pivot for a key change. This sequence will effectively take you from the major to the relative minor. “You Lost Me“ by Christina Aguilera is a great example of this musical tension technique.

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