- Does the leading tone have to resolve to the tonic?
- How do you resolve leading tone chords?
- Does leading tone always resolve?
Does the leading tone have to resolve to the tonic?
The typical rule is that the leading tone must resolve up to tonic when it is in an outer voice (that is, the soprano or bass). If the leading tone is in an inner voice, it can resolve down a third to the fifth of the tonic chord (a so-called "sprung" or "frustrated" leading tone).
How do you resolve leading tone chords?
Most of the tones in a fully-diminished leading-tone chord have a strong tendency to resolve to the pitches of a tonic triad. The leading tone, for example, is pulled towards scale degree ^1 . The seventh of the chord ( ^6 ) resolves like any other seventh: down by step (in this case to ^5 ).
Does leading tone always resolve?
The leading tone should almost always resolve to scale-degree 1 except when “springing” a leading tone in an inner voice (see below). ... It's also possibel to resolve scale degree ^2 (re) to scale degree ^1 (do). This often necessitates the use of an incomplete tonic chord.