AP® Music Theory · Unit 5 · Topic 5.2
The vi (VI) Chord
The vi chord is built on the sixth scale degree and shares two notes with I and two different notes with IV, so it can stand in for tonic or lean toward the predominant, but it never closes a phrase.
The vi chord is a minor triad built on the sixth scale degree. In D major that is B minor: B, D, F sharp. Look at what it shares with I, the D major triad D-F sharp-A: both chords contain D and F sharp, two of three notes. That overlap is why vi feels like a shadow version of tonic, a chord wearing the tonic's clothes without being the tonic itself.
vi also shares notes with IV. In D major, IV is G major: G-B-D. Compare that to vi, B-D-F sharp: they share B and D, a different pair of common tones than the ones vi shares with I. So vi sits at a hinge point, close kin to tonic on one side and close kin to the predominant on the other, which is exactly why it slides so easily into a circle progression heading toward the dominant.
This double relationship is why vi shows up constantly as a way station, especially after V in a deceptive cadence, and before IV or ii as part of a predominant chain. Composers use V-vi when they want the pull of a cadence without the full stop, keeping the phrase alive and pushing it forward into more harmony. That unresolved quality is also its limit: because vi lacks tonic's own root in the bass and never delivers full closure, it cannot end a phrase on its own.
Key terms
- vi chord
- The minor triad built on the sixth scale degree of a major key.
- Deceptive cadence
- A V-vi progression that sets up the expectation of V-I but resolves to vi instead, leaving the phrase unresolved.
- Common tone
- A note shared between two chords that can be held in the same voice when moving from one to the other.
- Predominant function
- The role of chords like ii, IV, and vi that lead harmonically from tonic toward the dominant.
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End of topic.