In any key, each chord plays a role in a small story: leaving home, building tension, coming back. You don't need the names — listen for the pull.

  1. Home (I — C in the key of C): settled and finished. Most songs start and end here.
  2. Away (IV — F): open and hopeful, a step out of the house.
  3. Tension (V — G): wants to go home. Ending a part here makes you lean forward.
  4. The sad cousin (vi — Am): the same family as home, but minor — emotional, reflective. It can stand in for home.
  5. The softer ones (ii — Dm, iii — Em): gentler versions of away and tension, for variety.

How a phrase ends is like punctuation. Tension to home (G to C) is a full stop: the strongest ending. Away to home (F to C) is a gentle full stop, the soft 'amen' ending. Ending on tension (on G) is a comma or a question — perfect at the end of a verse, right before the chorus. Tension to the sad cousin (G to Am) is a plot twist: it sounds like it's going home, then swerves.