<Dd> The degrees listed according to function, in hierarchical order according to importance or centeredness (related to the tonic): I, V, IV, vi, iii, ii, vii . The first three chords are major, the next three are minor, and the last one is diminished . </Dd> <Dl> <Dd> The tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, in root position, each followed by its parallel . The parallel is formed by raising the fifth a whole tone; the root position of the parallel chords is indicated by the small noteheads . </Dd> </Dl> <Dd> The tonic, subdominant, and dominant chords, in root position, each followed by its parallel . The parallel is formed by raising the fifth a whole tone; the root position of the parallel chords is indicated by the small noteheads . </Dd> <P> In the US the minor mode or scale is considered a variant of the major, while in German theory it is often considered, per Riemann, the inversion of the major . In the late 18th and early 19th centuries a large number of symmetrical chords and relations were known as "dualistic" harmony . The root of a major chord in root position is its bass note, but, symmetrically, the' root' of a minor chord in root position is the fifth (for example CEG and ACE). The plus and degree symbols, + and, are used to denote that the lower tone of the fifth is the root, as in major, + d, or the higher, as in minor, d . Thus, if the major tonic parallel is the tonic with the fifth raised a whole tone, then the minor tonic parallel is the tonic with the US root / German fifth lowered a whole tone . </P>

A chord that functions to send the harmony back to the tonic is called a