Resolution (music)

Resolution in western tonal music theory is the "need" for a sounded chord to move to a more final sounding one. Resolution has a strong basis in tonal music, since atonal music does not follow the outlines of tonal music patterns.

For example in the cadence IV-V, which is an imperfect cadence, a chord following this candence can be made to sound final or resolved with a tonic I chord.

Resolution can be used to create musical interest. Where a melody or chordal pattern is expected to resolve to a certain note or chord, a different but similarly suitable note can be resolved to instead, creating an interesting and unexpected sound.

The concept of "resolution", and the degree to which resolution is "expected", is contextual as to culture and historical period. In a classical piece of the Baroque period, for example, an added sixth chord (made up of the notes C, E, G and A, for example) has a very strong need to resolve, while in a more modern work, that need is less strong - in the context of a pop or jazz piece, such a chord could comfortably end a piece and have no particular need to resolve.