Resolving º7 chords
º7 chords are pretty neat. You can resolve them in many different ways.
Consider Cº7 = C Eb Gb Bbb = C Eb Gb A. Via voice leading, and assuming we drop no voices (i.e. only considering 4-note chords), we can go to:
- C6 =
C E G A - C7 =
C E G Bb - Cm6 =
C Eb G A - Cm7 =
C Eb G Bb - Db(add9) =
Db Eb F Ab - Db(m11) =
Db Fb Gb Ab - D7 =
D F# A C - Dm7 =
D F A C - Eb6 =
Eb G Bb C - Eb7 =
Eb G Bb Db - Ebm6 =
E Gb Bb C - Ebm7 =
E Gb Bb D - F7 =
F A C Eb - Fm7 =
F Ab C Eb - Gb6 =
Gb Bb Db Eb - Gb7 =
Gb Bb Db E - Gbm6 =
Gb Bb Db Eb - Gbm7 =
Gb Bb Db E - Ab7 =
Ab C Eb Gb - Abm7 =
Ab B Eb Gb - A6 =
A C# E F# - A7 =
A C# E G - Am6 =
A C E F# - Am7 =
A C E G - B7 =
B D# F# A - Bm7 =
B D F# A
If we say º7 is our tonic then this table summarizes where you can go from there:
| Chord | Resolutions |
|---|---|
| I | 6, dom7, m6, m7 |
| bII | add9, m(add11) |
| II | dom7, m7 |
| bIII | 6, dom7, m6, m7 |
| III | add9, m(add11) |
| IV | dom7, m7 |
| bV | 6, dom7, m6, m7 |
| V | add9, m(add11) |
| bVI | dom7, m7 |
| VI | 6, dom7, m6, m7 |
| bVII | add9, m(add11) |
| VII | dom7, m7 |
So, you can find your way to literally any other scale degree. This means that you can use a º7 chord to move to any other key. Neat!