Although it is sometimes indicated by an "N" rather than a "♭II",[2] some analysts prefer the latter because it indicates the relation of this chord to the supertonic.[3] The Neapolitan chord does not fall into the categories of mixture or tonicization. Moreover, even Schenkerians like Carl Schachter do not consider this chord as a sign for a shift to the Phrygian mode.[3] Therefore, like the augmented sixth chords it should be assigned to a separate category of chromatic alteration.
In European Classical music, the Neapolitan most commonly occurs in first inversion so that it is notated either as ♭II6 or N6 and normally referred to as a Neapolitan sixth chord.[4] In C major or C minor, for example, a Neapolitan sixth chord in first inversion contains an interval of a minor sixth between F and D♭.
The Neapolitan sixth chord is an idiom specific to classical music. Other music traditions often feature ♭II harmonies (ex. D♭ major chord in the keys of C major or C minor), but usually in root position. These are sometimes referred to as "Neapolitan" chords, but these rarely follow the classical voice-leading and chord functions described below. For examples and discussion, see Tritone substitution, or the section "In popular music" below.
Origin of the name
Especially in its most common occurrence (as a triad in first inversion), the chord is known as the Neapolitan sixth:
It is called a "sixth" because the interval between the bass note and the root of the chord is a minor sixth. For example, in the key of C major or C minor the chord consists of D♭ (the root note), F (the third of the triad), and A♭ (the fifth of the triad)– with the F in the bass, to make it a ♭II6 rather than a root-position♭II. The interval of a minor sixth is between F and D♭.
Harmonic function
In tonalharmony, the function of the Neapolitan chord is to prepare the dominant, substituting for the IV or ii (particularly ii6) chord. For example, it often precedes an authentic cadence, where it functions as a type of subdominant (IV). In such circumstances, the Neapolitan sixth is a chromatic alteration of the subdominant, and it has an immediately recognizable and poignant sound.
For example, in C major, the IV (subdominant) triad in root position contains the notes F, A, and C. By lowering the A by a semitone to A♭ and raising the C to D♭, the Neapolitan sixth chord F–A♭–D♭ is formed.
In C minor, the resemblance between the subdominant (F–A♭–C) and the Neapolitan (F–A♭–D♭) is even stronger since only one note differs by a half-step. (The Neapolitan is also only a half-step away from the diminished supertonic triad in minor in first inversion, F–A♭–D, and thus lies chromatically between the two primary subdominant function chords.)
The Neapolitan sixth chord is particularly common in minor keys. As a simple alteration of the subdominant triad (iv) of the minor mode, it provides contrast as a major chord compared to the minor subdominant or the diminished supertonic triad.
Further harmonic contexts
A common use of the Neapolitan chord is in tonicizations and modulations to different keys. It is the most common means of modulating down a semitone, which is usually done by using the I chord in a major key as a Neapolitan chord (or a flatted major supertonic chord in the new key, a semitone below the original).
Occasionally, a minor seventh or augmented sixth is added to the Neapolitan chord, which turns it into a potential secondary dominant that can allow tonicization or modulation to the ♭V/♯IV key area relative to the primary tonic. Whether the added note were notated as a minor seventh or augmented sixth largely depends on how the chord resolves. For example, in C major or C minor, the Neapolitan chord with an augmented sixth (B♮ added to D♭ major chord) very likely resolves in C major or minor, or possibly into some other closely related key such as F minor.
However, if the extra note is considered an added seventh (C♭), this is the best notation if the music is to lead into G♭ major or minor. If the composer chose to lead into F♯ major or minor, very likely the Neapolitan chord would be notated enharmonically based on C♯ (for example: C♯–E♯–G♯–B), although composers vary in their practice on such enharmonic niceties.
Another such use of the Neapolitan is along with the German augmented sixth chord, which can serve as a pivot chord to tonicize the Neapolitan as a tonic (Playⓘ). In C major/minor, the German augmented sixth chord is an enharmonic A♭7 chord, which could lead as a secondary dominant to D♭, the Neapolitan key area. As the dominant to ♭II, the A♭7 chord can then be respelled as a German augmented sixth, resolving back to the home key of C major/minor.
Minor Neapolitan chord
Sometimes one encounters a minor triad on the Neapolitan second degree rather than the major: for example, a D♭ minor chord in the key of C major or C minor. Sometimes this is enharmonically respelled as occurring on the sharpened tonic, i.e. a C♯ minor chord in C major or C minor. This has the same function as the major Neapolitan but is considered more expressive.[6]
Voice leading
Because of its close relationship to the subdominant, the Neapolitan sixth resolves to the dominant using similar voice-leading. In the present example of a C major/minor tonic, the D♭ generally moves down by two steps to the leading tone B♮ (creating the expressive melodic interval of a diminished third, one of the few places this interval is accepted in traditional voice-leading), while the F in the bass moves up by step to the dominant root G. The fifth of the chord (A♭) usually resolves down a semitone to G as well. In four-part harmony, the bass note F is generally doubled, and this doubled F either resolves down to D or remains as the seventh F of the G-major dominant seventh chord. In summary, the conventional resolution is for all upper voices to move down against a rising bass.
Care must be taken to avoid consecutive fifths when moving from the Neapolitan to the cadential 6 4. The simplest solution is to avoid placing the fifth of the chord in the soprano voice. If the root or (doubled) third is in the soprano voice, all upper parts simply resolve down by step while the bass rises. According to some theorists, however, such an unusual consecutive fifth (with both parts descending a semitone) is allowable in chromatic harmony, so long as it does not involve the bass voice. (The same allowance is often made more explicitly for the German augmented sixth, except in that case it may involve the bass – or must, if the chord is in its usual root position.)
Inversions
The ♭II chord is sometimes used in root position (in which case there may be even more concessions regarding consecutive fifths, similar to those just discussed). The use of a root position Neapolitan chord may be appealing to composers who wish for the chord to resolve outwards to the dominant in first inversion; the flatted supertonic moves to the leading tone (in C major, D♭ to B) and the flatted submediant may move down to the dominant or up to the leading tone (A♭ to either G or B).
In very rare cases, the chord occurs in second inversion; for example, in Handel's Messiah, in the aria "Rejoice greatly". This occurs in measure 61, where the Bb in the bass with an Eb major chord above it is a second-inversion Neapolitan chord within the D-minor key of the aria's B section.[7]
In classical music
From the early 17th century onwards, composers became aware of the expressive power of the Neapolitan chord, especially to convey moments of intense feeling.
Baroque period
In his oratorio Jephte, Giacomo Carissimi portrays the grief-stricken tears ("lachrimate") of Jephtha’s daughter and her companions at the prospect of her brutal fate. According to Richard Taruskin, "The daughter's lament... makes especially affective use of the ‘Phrygian’ lowered second degree at cadences, producing what would later be called the Neapolitan (or ‘Neapolitan sixth) harmony."[8] (B♭ in the key of A minor).
In his opera King Arthur, Henry Purcell features the chord (D♭ in the key of C minor) among a range of "daring chromatic harmonies"[9] and "strange sliding semitones"[10] to evoke the sensation of intense cold in Act 3 Scene 2, when the spirit of Winter, the awe-inspiring "Cold Genius" is aroused from its slumbers.
In contrast to Purcell, the opening movement of "Summer" from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, "a four-note descent transformed by Neapolitan-sixth harmony"[11] enhances the sensation of weariness and languor under the hot sun (A♭ in the key of G minor). As the sonnet accompanying the music puts it:
Sotto dura Staggion dal Sole accesa Langue l' huom, langue 'l gregge, ed arde il Pino;
(Under a hard season, fired up by the sun Languishes man, languishes the flock and burns the pine.)
Paul Everett describes the above passage as "a set of disarmingly 'slow' gestures, metrically dislocated, that must represent the lethargy of the anxious man as much as the oppressive heat of an airless day."[12]
In J.S. Bach’s St Matthew Passion, No. 19, the episode conveying Christ's agony in the garden of Gethsemane, the Neapolitan chord (G♭ in the key of F minor) is used on the word "Plagen" (torments) in the chorale harmonization sung by the chorus:
According to John Eliot Gardiner, "The answering soft-voiced chorus... imbues [the music] with a mysterious quality, almost as though a muted drama is taking place at a distance from the main action – Christ's ‘Agony in the Garden’ and his acceptance of his role as Saviour."[13]
Classical period
The Neapolitan chord was a favourite idiom among composers in the Classical period. In his Piano Sonata in C minor, "a masterpiece of tragic power,"[14]Haydn uses the chord (D♭ in the key of C minor) as he brings the opening statement of his first subject to a close:
The first movement of Haydn's Piano Sonata in C minor, mm. 5–8
Haydn makes more extended use of this chord in the finale of the sonata to powerful and dramatic effect:
Haydn from C minor Sonata finaleHaydn from C minor Sonata finale
Wilfrid Mellers sees the apparent tranquillity of these bars as "deceptive, since in bar 3 the bass's F sharp is harmonized not as a subdominant but, with the quaver triplet's D flattened as a first inversion of the Neapolitan chord of D major. The implied progression from D natural to the cadential B sharp delivers a small stab to the nervous system."[15]
Beethoven’s Appassionata Sonata, Op. 57 uses the Neapolitan chord on a broader harmonic canvas. Both the first and last movements of the sonata open with a phrase repeated a semitone higher (G♭ in the key of F minor).[16]
A powerful example from Schubert comes in his single movement Quartett-Satz (1820). The opening "has a dramatic intensity... which is all the more powerful because it begins quietly."[18] The passage culminates in a Neapolitan chord (D♭ in the key of C minor):
According to Roger Scruton, "It is as though a spirit had arisen out of the turbulent clouds and suddenly burst forth into the light – the clouds formed from the key of C minor, the spirit itself, released at last, being in the negation of C minor, namely D flat major."[19] Scruton sees the "semitone conflict" that recurs in different keys as the movement progresses as a unifying feature that has "penetrated the whole structure of the piece."[20]
Romantic period
In the fourth scene of Richard Wagner’s opera Das Rheingold, the earth Goddess Erda prophesies the impending doom of the Gods. Wagner's orchestration here juxtaposes two significant dramatic leitmotifs, the one ascending to represent Erda and the other, "a descending variant of Erda's motive played over a chord of the Neapolitan sixth"[21] with the intention of conveying their ultimate downfall[22] to ominous and chilling effect. (D in the key of C♯ minor):
↑ Oswald Jonas (1982). Introduction to the Theory of Heinrich Schenker (1934: Das Wesen des musikalischen Kunstwerks: Eine Einführung in Die Lehre Heinrich Schenkers), Translated by John Rothgeb.[full citation needed]: p.29n29. ISBN0-582-28227-6.
↑ Clendinning, Jane Piper (2010). The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN978-0393930818.
↑ Bartlette, Christopher, and Steven G. Laitz (2010). Graduate Review of Tonal Theory. New York: Oxford University Press, pg 184. ISBN978-0-19-537698-2
↑ Mellers, W. (1983, p.77) Beethoven and the Voice of God. London, Faber.
↑ Mellers, Wilfrid. (1983, p.102) Beethoven and the Voice of God. London, Faber.
↑ Drabkin, William. "Neapolitan sixth chord". In Deane L. Root. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 8 June 2007. (subscription required)
↑ Westrup, J. (1969, p.19) Schubert Chamber Music. London, BBC
↑ Scruton, R. (2018, p.131) Music as an Art. London, Bloomsbury Continuum
↑ Scruton, R. (2018, p.133) Music as an Art. London, Bloomsbury Continuum
↑ Von Westernhagen, C. (1976, p.56) The Forging of the "Ring". Cambridge University Press.
↑ Donington, R. (1963, p.278) Wagner's Ring and its Symbols. London, Faber.
↑ Blatter, Alfred (2012). Revisiting Music Theory: A Guide to the Practice
The major scale is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at double its frequency so that it is called a higher octave of the same note.
An altered chord is a chord that replaces one or more notes from the diatonic scale with a neighboring pitch from the chromatic scale. By the broadest definition, any chord with a non-diatonic chord tone is an altered chord. The simplest example of altered chords is the use of borrowed chords, chords borrowed from the parallel key, and the most common is the use of secondary dominants. As Alfred Blatter explains, "An altered chord occurs when one of the standard, functional chords is given another quality by the modification of one or more components of the chord."
In music, a chord is a group of three or more notes played simultaneously, typically consisting of a root note, a third, and a fifth. Chords are the building blocks of harmony and form the harmonic foundation of a piece of music. They can be major, minor, diminished, augmented, or extended, depending on the intervals between the notes and their arrangement. Chords provide the harmonic support and coloration that accompany melodies and contribute to the overall sound and mood of a musical composition. For many practical and theoretical purposes, arpeggios and other types of broken chords may also be considered as chords in the right musical context.
In music, modulation is the change from one tonality to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature. Modulations articulate or create the structure or form of many pieces, as well as add interest. Treatment of a chord as the tonic for less than a phrase is considered tonicization.
Modulation is the essential part of the art. Without it there is little music, for a piece derives its true beauty not from the large number of fixed modes which it embraces but rather from the subtle fabric of its modulation.
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In music, the submediant is the sixth degree of a diatonic scale. The submediant is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or because its position below the tonic is symmetrical to that of the mediant above.
In music, the supertonic is the second degree of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as re.
The term sixth chord refers to two different kinds of chord, the first in classical music and the second in modern popular music.
In music, a triad is a set of three notes that can be stacked vertically in thirds. Triads are the most common chords in Western music.
Chromaticism is a compositional technique interspersing the primary diatonic pitches and chords with other pitches of the chromatic scale. In simple terms, within each octave, diatonic music uses only seven different notes, rather than the twelve available on a standard piano keyboard. Music is chromatic when it uses more than just these seven notes.
In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad together with a minor seventh, denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7". In most cases, dominant seventh chord are built on the fifth degree of the major scale. An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G7, having pitches G–B–D–F:
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root:. For example, the diminished seventh chord built on B, commonly written as Bo7, has pitches B-D-F-A♭:
In music, a minor seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, a minor third, a perfect fifth, and a minor seventh. In other words, one could think of it as a minor triad with a minor seventh attached to it.
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Jazz chords are chords, chord voicings and chord symbols that jazz musicians commonly use in composition, improvisation, and harmony. In jazz chords and theory, most triads that appear in lead sheets or fake books can have sevenths added to them, using the performer's discretion and ear. For example, if a tune is in the key of C, if there is a G chord, the chord-playing performer usually voices this chord as G7. While the notes of a G7 chord are G–B–D–F, jazz often omits the fifth of the chord—and even the root if playing in a group. However, not all jazz pianists leave out the root when they play voicings: Bud Powell, one of the best-known of the bebop pianists, and Horace Silver, whose quintet included many of jazz's biggest names from the 1950s to the 1970s, included the root note in their voicings.
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