What does “resolve” mean in the context of music theory?
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Resolution is when a note or chord changes from dissonance to consonance – from an unstable, tension-heavy sound to one that is more relaxed and stable. Some chords sound pleasant to us (like the classic tonic chord, made of notes 1-3-5 of a major scale), while some sound unpleasant to us (like the dominant, which contains the fifth, seventh, and second/ninth). This is a factor of the intervals between the notes and the relationships between their sound waves – but that’s all beyond ELI5. The idea is that some notes go well with others and some go less well, and some sound *really* weird together.
But that weirdness is part of what makes music interesting. If it always went from pretty chord to pretty chord, it would sound boring. We mix in some dissonant notes in there to make things tense and interesting, but usually come back to a pleasant mix in the end, *resolving* that tension.
Of course, what a pleasant resolution is depends largely on context and preference. A resolution in jazz, for example, might just mean moving from one *very* dissonant chord to a slightly less dissonant chord, because a large part of what makes jazz great is finding enjoyment in those less-traditional sounds. A classical orchestra is more likely to move from a *somewhat* dissonant chord, back to a very pleasant chord to resolve, because classical music (in general) is a bit more likely to use those traditional voicings.
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