In Tonal Harmony, the chords used in a composition are usually generated from an underlying scale. Because these chords are all from the same scale, they can easily be organized into a strong chord progression.

Since these chords are so basic to music harmony, it is important to be very familiar with their sound, and memorize their exact position in the scale. Only two scales are reqired to generate all the basic chords found in music. These are the major scale and harmonic minor scale. These two scales together generate 11 fundamental chords, comprising both triads and seventh chords. The study of harmony is concerned mainly with arranging these chords in meaningful sequences.

Click [here] to see an interactive pop-up of all the 7th chords generated by the major, harmonic minor, melodic minor and harmonic major scales. Please note that the melodic minor and harmonic major scales do not add any new chords to the collection, but merely suggests alternative ways of pairing different chords together in a choird sequence.