Functional harmony refers to the structural role of chords in Western music. As instrumental music became more prominent, composers began to consider harmony's organizing properties rather than just melody and counterpoint. Certain chords emerged as having functional identities, allowing compositions to be built from the syntactic relationships between chords. This shifted music's vertical, or harmonic, aspect to be as important as its horizontal melodic development.

9. Functional Harmony Music’s Underlying Structure Due to its origins in vocal music, for centuries Western music prioritized matters of melody and counterpoint With the increasing importance of instrumental music, and the nature of certain “harmonic” instruments, composers began to respond to the structuring qualities of harmony Functional Harmony: Refers to the nature of certain chords to assert certain functions, so that a composition can be built out of the syntactic ordering and relationships amongst chords. Rather than simply resulting from the “correct” combination of multiple melodies, the vertical (or “harmonic”) aspect of music asserted a strong functional identity

10. Instrumental vs. Vocal William Hogarth A Chorus of Singers Three Female Musicians Anonymous

11. Giovanni Gabrieli (c. 1555-1612) San Marco, Venice By Pierre-Auguste Renoir

12. Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)

15. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Ospedale della Pietà