When it is tuned normally, four of the instrument's six strings are part of the tonic chord.
Chords function by leading the music towards or away from a particular tonic chord.
Roman numerals and numbers are used to describe the relationship of a particular chord to the tonic chord.
In a jazz or blues song, the tonic chord may be a dominant seventh chord.
It should be stressed that in some tunes the harmonic pattern is shifted, so the tonic chord does not necessarily fall at the end.
His own amateur group, composed of kids fresh out of high school, was better at keeping the key and homing on the tonic chord.
Below all chords, a pedal consisting of the tonic chord's root is played.
The song has an unusual harmonic device in that the bridge ends on the tonic chord, rather than the more usual dominant.
The first tonic chord in root position appears towards the end of the recapitulation.
Although in some practices, the fifth may be omitted from the tonic chord.