# Roman numeral analysis

Root position triads of the C major scale with Roman numerals.[1]
File:Scale degree Roman numerals minor.png
Root position triads of the C minor scale with Roman numerals.

In music, Roman numeral analysis involves the use of Roman numerals to represent chords. In this context, Roman numerals (I, II, III, IV, ...) typically denote scale degrees (first, second, third, fourth, ...). When a Roman numeral is used to represent a chord, it is meant to indicate the scale degree corresponding to its root note, which is the note on which the chord is built. For instance, III is the Roman numeral which denotes either the third degree of a scale, or the chord built on that degree. In many cases, uppercase Roman numerals (such as I, IV, V) represent major chords while lowercase Roman numerals (such as i, iv, v) represent the minor chords (see Major and Minor below for alternative notations); elsewhere, upper-case Roman numerals are used for all chords.[2]

In the most common day-to-day use, Roman numerals allow musicians to quickly understand the progression of chords in a piece. For instance, the standard twelve bar blues progression is denoted by the Roman numerals I7 (first), IV7 (fourth), and V7 (fifth). In the key of C (where the notes of the scale are C, D, E, F, G, A, B), the first scale degree (Tonic) is C, the fourth (Subdominant) is F, and the fifth (Dominant) is a G. So the I7, IV7, and V7 chords are C7, F7, and G7. Similarly, if one were to play the same progression in the key of A (A, B, CTemplate:Music, D, E, FTemplate:Music, GTemplate:Music) the I7, IV7, and V7 chords would be A7, D7, and E7. In essence, Roman numerals provide a way to abstract chord progressions, by making them independent of the selected key. This allows chord progressions to be easily transposed to any key.

## Overview

Roman numeral analysis is the use of Roman numeral symbols in the musical analysis of chords. In music theory related to or derived from the common practice period, Roman numerals are frequently used to designate scale degrees as well as the chords built on them.[2] In some contexts, arabic numerals with carets are used to designate scale degrees (Template:Music);{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}}[citation needed] }} theory related to or derived from jazz or modern popular music may use Roman numerals or arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, etc...) to represent scale degrees (See also diatonic function). In some contexts an arabic number, or careted number, may refer also to a chord built upon that scale degree.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}}[citation needed] }} For example, ${\displaystyle {\hat {1}}}$ or 1 may both refer to the chord upon the first scale step.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}}[citation needed] }} Gottfried Weber's Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst (Theory of Musical Composition) (Mainz, B. Schott, 1817–21) is credited with popularizing the analytical method by which a chord is identified by the Roman numeral of the scale-degree number of its root.{{ safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= {{#invoke:Category handler|main}}{{#invoke:Category handler|main}}[citation needed] }} However, the practice originated in the works of Abbé Georg Joseph Vogler, whose theoretical works as early as 1776 employed Roman numeral analysis (Grave and Grave, 1988) [3]

## Common practice numerals

Roman numeral analysis symbols[4][5]
Symbol Meaning Examples
Uppercase Roman numeral Major triad I
Lowercase Roman numeral Minor triad i