Triads on every degree
A triad: root, 3rd and 5th
Stack two 3rds on a root: you get its 3rd and its 5th.
These colours mean the same thing in every Grade 6 lesson.
Four kinds of triad
A triad is major, minor, diminished or augmented: the 3rd and the 5th above the root decide which.
- Major: a major 3rd and a perfect 5th above the root.
- Minor: a minor 3rd and a perfect 5th.
- Diminished: a minor 3rd and a diminished 5th.
- Augmented: a major 3rd and an augmented 5th.
Grade 5: chords I, II, IV and V
At Grade 5 you named these four chords in any key, in root position, first inversion (b) and second inversion (c).
At Grade 5 you also learned the figures 5 over 3, 6 over 3 and 6 over 4, the perfect, plagal and imperfect cadences, and every interval, augmented and diminished ones included. Grade 6 adds III, VI and VII, the minor key in full, figures with accidentals, four-part writing and seventh chords.
Every degree in a major key
Three major (I, IV and V), three minor (II, III and VI) and one diminished (VII), in every major key.
The new chords at Grade 6 are III, VI and VII. VI is the one you will use most: it shares two notes with I, so it can stand in for it, as in the interrupted cadence (V to VI).
You try In D major, what kind of triad is chord VI?
Show the answer
Minor. VI is minor in every major key.
Every degree in a minor key
Raise the 7th (the harmonic minor): V becomes major, VII diminished and III augmented.
In a minor key the chords come from the harmonic minor, with the 7th raised. The ABRSM Grade 6 book keeps every numeral in upper case and adds the quality in brackets where it differs from the major key: II(dim.), III(aug.), V(maj.), VI(maj.), VII(dim.).
When a part rises from the 6th through the 7th to the tonic, the 6th is raised as well (the melodic minor), which changes II and IV.
You try In E minor, what kind of triad is chord V?
Show the answer
Major. The raised 7th, D sharp, is its 3rd.
VII goes in first inversion
VII is diminished: put its 3rd in the bass (VIIb), so the diminished 5th, from root to 5th, moves up away from the bass.
VII holds the leading note and the 4th degree, two notes of V7: it sounds like a dominant chord without its root, so it leads to I just as V does. Use it in first inversion (VIIb), with its 3rd in the bass. II in a minor key is diminished, so it too is used as IIb, a strong approach to V.
This matters as soon as you read a figured bass: the figures tell you which notes to add, the key tells you the quality, and the quality tells you which note to double (usually the root).
You try In G major, which note of chord VII goes in the bass?
Show the answer
The 3rd, giving VIIb.
Leave out III in a minor key
III in a minor key is augmented and leads nowhere, so Grade 6 leaves it out.
III in a minor key is augmented, because the raised 7th is its 5th. In a major key III is a minor chord, used sparingly: it shares two notes with both I and V and adds little of its own.
Where the course is going
Grade 5 asked you to recognise; Grade 6 asks you to write, and harmony comes first.
About the Grade 6 exam
The exam is one written paper with five questions, lasting three hours.
- 3 hours
- one written paper
- 5 questions
- harmony, a melody, reading scores
Start here: this course begins with harmony
- HarmonyQuestion 1: Figured bassWriting chords in four parts that move well, read from a bass and its figures.
- HarmonyQuestion 2: Harmonise a melodyChoosing chords that fit a melody and lead to a cadence.
- CompositionQuestion 3: Write a melodyShaping a melody for an instrument, with phrases, a change of key and performance directions.
- AnalysisQuestion 4: Score analysisReading a score: naming chords, cadences, intervals, ornaments and terms.
- AnalysisQuestion 5: Score analysis, several partsReading a score for voices or several instruments: clefs, transposing instruments and the composer's devices.
Next exam in the UK: 10 November 2026, 17:00
Booking for it closed on 7 October 2026. ABRSM has not yet published the next year's dates. Results usually come about four weeks after the exam (about six weeks outside the UK). Other countries have their own dates: ABRSM exam dates and fees.
Checked against the ABRSM syllabus and exam dates, 8 October 2026. Source: ABRSM Music Theory qualification specification.
Grade 5: recognise
- Name the chord
- Name the cadence
- Name the interval, key, term or instrument
Grade 6: write
- Write the chords above a bass
- Choose chords for a melody
- Compose a melody that changes key
This question is in Brainlag Music