introduction

diatonic

chromatic

At first glance, you may wonder what this example is doing in the section on seconds. There are no seconds between consecutive chords but there is a major or minor second between each repetition of the two bar sequence on which this passage is based. The descending fifth acrosss the first two bars (I - IV, written as an ascending fourth) is repeated a tone higher (ii - V). This happens twice more, and the last repetition leads into a proper perfect cadence - the same descending fifth that has just been sequentially repeated.

You should compare the effect of this passage, which contains one of the most common types of sequence, with that the second example on the chain of fifths page.

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