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roman numeral

A chord named by its scale degree instead of its letter, so the name survives a key change.

A way of naming a chord by its position in the key (I, IV, V) instead of its letter, so the name describes the chord's job and survives any transposition. A I to V to vi to IV is the same progression in every key. Case carries quality: uppercase major, lowercase minor.

Learn it: Roman numerals

The one-sentence definition at the top is the same one the Theory Aide extension shows as a tooltip inside Ableton Live. Hover any dotted term for its own.