EpISODE 65 The AUGMENTED 6TH (+6) CHORD PT.1

HOSTS- Jeremy Burns, Matthew Scott Phillips

 

TYPE- Theory

 

DURATION- 66:08

 

BUMPER MUSIC- "A Lamentation For Lindsay" (Area 47)

ANNOUNCER- Mike Cunliffe 

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DESCRIPTION

The augmented 6th (+6) chord is a very tense predominant chord. Like most chromatic chords, it can add motion and color to your chord progressions. In this episode we will discuss the 3 main types of augmented six chords:

Italian, French and German.

KEY WORDS DIATONIC- When a triad, chord or melody consists of notes solely from the given key, it is considered to be DIATONIC. CHROMATIC- When a triad, chord or melody consists of notes from outside the given key, it is considered to be CHROMATIC. TONICIZATION- When a chord, other than the tonic of the given key, is temporarily given a tonic function. AUGMENTED 6TH CHORDS- These chords are built with a b6 and a #4. ITALIAN AUGMENTED 6TH CHORD- This chord is built with a b6 and a #4. It also includes the TONIC. FRENCH AUGMENTED 6TH CHORD- This chord is built with a b6 and a #4. It also includes the TONIC and the SUPERTONIC (scale degree 2). GERMAN AUGMENTED 6TH CHORD- This chord is built with a b6 and a #4. It also includes the TONIC and the flatted MEDIANT (scale degree b3). TONIC ( I )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 1 of the given key. SUPERTONIC ( ii )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 2 of the given key. MEDIANT ( iii )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 3 of the given key. SUBDOMINANT ( IV )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 4 of the given key. DOMINANT ( V )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 5 of the given key. SUBMEDIANT ( vi )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 6 of the given key. SUBTONIC ( VII )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree b7 of the given key. LEADING TONE ( viiø7 )- A note in a melody or a chord in a progression based on scale degree 7 of the major key or #7 of a minor key. SEVENTH ( 7 )- This would be the 4th chord tone added to a TRIAD. It will be a 7th above the root of the given chord. It can be major, minor, augmented or diminished. *It should be noted that all the above Roman numeral examples given were shown as uppercase (major) or lowercase (minor) as they relate to the MAJOR SCALE, as seen below: I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii° - I In the MINOR SCALE, the diatonic chords will be built as seen below: i - ii° - III - iv - v - VI - VII - i EXAMPLES
-This chord is one of PREDOMINANT function. It wants to move to the V chord. -Below we see the three most common AUGMENTED 6th chords. -The ITALIAN AUGMENTED 6th chord (m.1) includes the b6 and a #4 and the TONIC (D, in this case). To make this a 4 part texture, it is recommended that we double the root. -The FRENCH AUGMENTED 6th chord (m.2) includes the b6 and a #4 and the TONIC (D, in this case) and scale degree 2 (E, in this case). Because this chord contains 4 notes, no doubling is necessary. -The GERMAN AUGMENTED 6th chord (m.3) includes the b6 and a #4, the TONIC (D, in this case) and the flatted scale degree 3 (F natural, in this case). Because this chord contains 4 notes, no doubling is necessary.

VOICE LEADING CONSIDERATIONS

-The Italian +6 chord only contains three notes. In a 4 part texture, it is well advised to double the TONIC. -The #4 will resolve up to the ROOT of the V chord (scale degree 5). --The b6 will resolve down to the ROOT of the V chord (scale degree 5). -There is more flexibility in the inner voices, but you should still consider all the voice leading conventions. -Moving from the GERMAN +6 chord to the V chord can often result in PARALLEL 5ths. However, in these circumstances, it is typically permissible. Parallel 5ths can be avoided by adding a cadential (I 6/4) chord before it moves to V. Below is the chord progression for our bumper theme, in D minor, "A LAMENTATION FOR LINDSAY" (Intro) i - i - i - i - It+6 - V - VII -It+6 - V7 - i Fr+6 - V - VII -Fr+6 - V7 - i Gr+6 - V - VII -Gr+6 - V7 - i THINGS TO REMEMBER

-Practice writing progressions using the any or all of the +6 chords.

 

-For a challenge, see if you can adhere to all the voice leading conventions while writing your piece.

MUSIC STUDENT 101

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