Questions: Dominant Seventh Chord Resolution

Question 1

In a V7 chord resolving to I in C major (G–B–D–F resolving to C major), the chordal seventh (F) must resolve to which note and in which direction?

• A. Up to F#, because the leading tone's upward pull draws adjacent voices upward as well
• B. Down to E (scale degree 3), because the seventh resolves downward by step to the third of the tonic chord
• C. Down to D, because the seventh always falls to the nearest chord tone available in I
• D. Up to G, returning to the root of the dominant chord via contrary motion with the bass

Answer: (B)

The seventh of V7 (F, scale degree 4 in C major) is an active tone that resolves downward by step to scale degree 3 (E), the third of the tonic chord. This is the mandatory voice-leading direction. Resolving F upward to F# is the most common student error: F# is not a member of the C major tonic triad and creates a voice-leading problem rather than resolving one. The tritone in V7 (between B and F) resolves by both tones moving inward: the leading tone B moves up to C, and the seventh F moves down to E.

Question 2

In four-part writing, why is the fifth of the V7 chord routinely omitted when resolving to I?

• A. Because the fifth of V7 forms a tritone with the root, creating additional dissonance that must be avoided
• B. Because resolving both active tones correctly — leading tone up to tonic, seventh down to third — leaves no voice available to supply the fifth of the tonic chord without parallel fifths, so the fifth of V7 is dropped and the tonic chord is completed with a tripled root
• C. Because the fifth of V7 is enharmonically equivalent to a tone in the tonic chord and would create octave parallels
• D. Because listeners cannot perceive the fifth in a four-voice texture and its omission goes unnoticed

Answer: (B)

In a complete V7 chord (G–B–D–F in C major), correct resolution accounts for three voices: G resolves to C (root of I), B resolves up to C (leading tone to tonic), and F resolves down to E (seventh to third of I). Three voices arrive on C, C, and E. The fourth voice, D, has nowhere to go cleanly — moving it to G would typically produce parallel fifths with another voice. The standard solution is to omit D from V7 entirely (writing G–B–F) and resolve to an incomplete tonic with tripled root and single third. The ear supplies the missing fifth from harmonic expectation.

Question 3

In a deceptive cadence (V7 resolving to vi), the leading tone abandons its normal half-step upward resolution because the destination chord has changed.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: False

False. In the deceptive cadence, the leading tone still resolves upward by half step — it just arrives on a different chord member than expected. In C major resolving V7 to Am (vi): B still moves up to C (now the third of Am rather than the root of C major), and F still moves down to E (now the fifth of Am). The 'deception' is entirely in the bass, which moves from G to A instead of G to C. The tritone resolution — the internal voice-leading logic — proceeds normally, which is why the deceptive cadence sounds harmonically satisfying despite the harmonic surprise.

Question 4

The dominant seventh chord (V7) is structurally singular in tonal harmony because it contains a tritone that creates mandatory directional resolution for two distinct active tones simultaneously.

• T. True
• F. False

Answer: True

True. The tritone between the leading tone (scale degree 7, the third of V7) and the fourth scale degree (the chordal seventh of V7) is the source of V7's exceptional drive. Scale degree 7 must resolve upward by half step to the tonic; scale degree 4 must resolve downward by step to scale degree 3. This dual, directed resolution distinguishes V7 from all other chords in the diatonic system — it contains two active tones with specific mandatory destinations, not one.

Question 5

Explain why resolving the seventh of V7 upward rather than downward is considered an error in tonal voice leading, using C major as your example.

Model answer: The seventh of V7 in C major is F (scale degree 4). Its mandatory resolution is downward by step to E (scale degree 3, the third of the tonic chord C–E–G). If F resolves upward, it moves to F#, which is not a diatonic member of C major and is not a chord tone of the C major triad. This creates a non-harmonic tone that typically generates parallel fifths or other voice-leading problems with adjacent voices. The downward resolution is not arbitrary — it is the direction that completes the tritone's inward motion (B up to C, F down to E) and lands on an actual chord tone of the tonic.

Each active tone in V7 has a specific voice-leading tendency: the leading tone's entire function is to 'lead' upward by half step to the tonic, and the chordal seventh follows the convention that dissonant sevenths resolve downward by step. Treating the seventh as a free tone and moving it upward violates both the directional tendency and the harmonic goal — the resulting F# does not belong in the tonic chord and leaves the resolution incomplete.