Explaining piano roll
Place notes over four bars: the site names each chord, its role and the key, live.
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Detected key: A minorRelative: C major, with the same notes. The chord that sounds like home decides between the two.
Ami
FVI
CIII
GVII
RootThirdFifthSeventhNot in the chord
Bar 1
Ami
Tonic, rest
This is home: the chord the loop falls back to, dark and stable.
Bar 2
FVI
Sixth degree, departure
It shares two notes with the tonic: the ear hears it as a warmer, sadder version of home, the favorite move of moody trap.
Bar 3
CIII
Third degree, rest
The relative major: a brief moment of light in the middle of the dark color.
Bar 4
GVII
Seventh degree, tension
A whole step below the tonic: it climbs back home without the drama of a true dominant.
Click a cell to add or remove a one-beat note; click a note name on the left to hear it. Each bar is analyzed as soon as you change a note.
Used in: How to Read and Write Chord Symbols, Harmonic Rhythm: When to Change Chords, How to Write a Melody Over Chords