Editing Chord progression (section)

==Harmonizing the scale==
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
As well as the cyclical underpinning of chords, the ear tends to respond well to a linear thread; chords following the scale upwards or downwards. These are often referred to as step progressions<ref>{{Cite web|title=12. Basic Two-Voice Interval Progressions|url=https://milnepublishing.geneseo.edu/fundamentals-function-form/chapter/12-basic-two-voice-interval-progressions/|access-date=18 September 2020|publisher=Milne Library|language=en-US|last1=Mount |first1=Andre }}</ref> because they follow the steps of the scale, making the scale itself a [[bassline]]. In the 17th century, descending bass lines found favour for [[Division (music)|"division]]s on the ground", so that [[Pachelbel's canon]] contains very similar harmonizations of the descending major scale.

At its simplest, this descending sequence may simply introduce an extra chord, either III or V, into the I–vi–IV–V type of sequence described above. This chord allows the harmonization of the [[Subtonic|seventh degree]], and so of the bass line I–VII–VI....

The finale measures of the first movement of [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s [[Piano Concerto in G (Ravel)|Piano Concerto in G]] feature the harmonization of a descending hybrid scale ([[Neapolitan scale|phrygo-major]]). In this special case, Ravel used a parallel series of major triads (G F{{music|sharp}} E D C B{{music|flat}} A{{music|flat}} G).