The original meaning of the term is a chord in first inversion, in other words with its third in the bass and its root a sixth above it. This is how the term is still used in classical music today, and in this sense it is called also a chord of the sixth.[3]
In modern popular music, a sixth chord is any triad with an added sixth above the root as a chord factor.[4] This was traditionally (and in classical music is still today) called an added sixth chord or triad with added sixth[5] since Jean-Philippe Rameau (sixte ajoutée) in the 18th century. It is not common to designate chord inversions in popular music, so there is no need for a term designating the first inversion of a chord, and so the term sixth chord in popular music is a short way of saying added sixth chord. There are three main types of added sixth chords: major sixth, minor sixth and minor flat sixth.
In early music, what is today called a sixth chord or first inversion in classical music was considered an autonomous harmonic entity with the root named by the bass, while it was later simply considered an inversion of a chord with the bass being the third (not the root) and the root being the sixth (not the bass). A first-inversion C major chord is shown below.
Alternatively, rather than as a six three chord, the note may be analyzed as a suspension or appoggiatura, "first resolved and later... retained as a part of the chord, no resolution taking place."[6]
The dominant chord's fifth may be substituted by the chord's sixth, analyzed as its thirteenth:[7]
Added sixth chords
In jazz, what is called a sixth chord was traditionally called an "added sixth chord". As the name suggests, this is a triad with an added sixth interval.
Major sixth
The major sixth chord is a major triad and the additional sixth interval is major. For example, a major sixth chord built on C (denoted by C6, or CM6) consists of the notes C, E, G, and the added major sixth A.
These are the same notes as those of an A minor seventh chord – whether such a chord should be regarded as an added sixth chord or a seventh depends on its context and harmonic function. To explain the analyses as added sixth chords, against common practice period theory,[8] provides the example of the final tonic chord of some popular music being traditionally analyzable as a "submediantsix-five chord" (added sixth chords by popular terminology), or a first inversion seventh chord (possibly the dominant of the supertonic V/ii). According to the interval strengths of the added sixth chord, the root of the strongest interval of the chord in first inversion (CEGA), the perfect fifth (C–G), is the root (C).
Minor sixth
The minor sixth chord (sometimes: minor major sixth, or minor/major sixth) consists of a minor triad with a tone added a major sixth above the root. Thus in C, it contains the notes C, E♭, G, and A.
This chord might be notated Cm6, CmM6, Cmin/maj6, Cmin(maj6), etc. Note that Cm6 has the same notes as F9 with the root omitted, i.e. the notes F (omitted), A, E♭, C, and G. These notes form a tetrad with several enharmonic equivalents: C–E♭–G–A might be written as Cm6, F9, F9 (no root), Am7♭5, B7♭9, A♭Maj7♭9, or Balt. Many jazz chord charts use these chord notations indiscriminately, particularly in the choice of minor sixth versus dominant ninth chords. Thus, in some cases when a Cm6 is indicated, the F9 is in fact a better harmonic choice, i.e. closer to the composer's harmonic intent; or vice versa. Analysis of the movement of the root, in the presence of dominant-functioning harmonies, will generally indicate which enharmonic chord is the appropriate notation choice. In some cases, the harmony is ambiguous.
Just like the minor is to the major, the minor sixth can be considered to be similarly related to the dominant seventh.
Unlike the major sixth chord which is often substituted for a major triad, the minor sixth is more versatile and plays a number of different harmonic roles due to its identity as an inversion of the half-diminished seventh chord. The presence of the perfect fifth interval over the root also means that this voicing is more stable than the half-diminished seventh chord. An extension of the concepts of major and minor to tetrads, referred to as otonality and utonality respectively, considers this chord to be the utonality to the dominant seventh chord.
Minor flat sixth
The minor flat sixth chord is a minor triad and the additional sixth interval is minor, which is referred to as a flat sixth. Thus in C, it contains the notes C, E♭, G, and A♭.
Instances of the sixth chord crop up in popular music towards the end of the 19th century, for example in Johann Strauss II’s "The Blue Danube" waltz.[9]Richard Taruskin sees Strauss’s use of the added sixth chord as the “one stylistic idiosyncrasy… that went from him into the general idiom of European (or European-style) music, and that is the freedom with which the sixth degree of the scale is harmonized.” [10]
Johann Strauss II, the Blue Danube WaltzStrauss Blue Danube
The sixth chord was a common feature of the harmony of jazz and popular music during the entire twentieth century. One of the attractions of the chord is its tonal ambiguity. The harmony contains within it aspects that are both major and minor. Kurt Weill’s song "Mack the Knife" from the Threepenny Opera (1928) uses the chord from the start, resulting in "a sort of bitonality: A minor in the melody, C major in the harmony."[11]
Beethoven Sonata in E♭, Op 31 No 3 openingBeethoven Sonata in E♭, Op 31 No 3 opening
According to Denis Matthews, "the most striking moment in the sonata is its opening, where an ambiguous added-sixth chord on the subdominant resolves itself through a series of halting steps, rhythmically and harmonically, towards the tonic."[19]
In the opening section of his Fantasy-Overture, Romeo and Juliet, Tchaikovsky uses the minor added sixth chord to striking effect:
Debussy frequently used the sixth chord, for example in his piano preludeGeneral Lavine-Eccentric (1913), whose idiom alludes to the popular idioms of cakewalk and ragtime of the early 1900s. The following passage "is in F major; its seeming pentatonicism (C–D–F–G–A) is found to be the outline of the tonic added sixth chord, plus the G as passing tone…"[20]
Debussy, from 'General Lavine - eccentric'Debussy, from 'General Lavine - eccentric'
Maurice Ravel’s 1920 ballet La Valse, which contains subtle echoes of the late 19th century Viennese Waltz,[21] incorporates added sixth chords in its harmony:
From Ravel, La ValseFrom Ravel, La Valse
The timeless, meditative closing bars of Gustav Mahler’s song "Abschied" from Das Lied von der Erde (1909) fully exploit the expressive power and ambiguity of the sixth chord. "The final sonority, the famous added-sixth chord, is particularly ingenious... because it fuses the two principal keys of Das Lied (A minor and C major)."[22]
Mahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chordMahler, Das Lied von der Erde, final chord
Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto (1935) ends with a "tonic triad of B flat, with added sixth [that] follows a harmonic progression found frequently in 1930s dance-band arrangements."[23] However, Richard Taruskin points out that Berg's "chord thus created, B flat, D, F, G had an important poetic resonance", as it echoes the ending of Mahler's "Abschied."[24]Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements (1945) "incorporates elements of American popular music, most famously the final chord, a Hollywood added-sixth chord of ever there was one."[25] (Stravinsky himself later criticized his choice of the final D♭ sixth chord as ‘commercial.’ [26]) Messiaen’s "Louange à l’immortalité de Jésus", the final movement of his Quartet for the End of Time (1941) opens with a meditative theme "played entirely over a 6-4 chord with added sixth" [27]
Special kinds of sixth chords
The Neapolitan sixth is the first inversion of a major triad built on the flattened supertonic (second degree of the scale) – a Neapolitan sixth in C major, therefore, consists of the notes F, A♭, and D♭.
There are a number of augmented sixth chords. Each of them has a major third and augmented sixth above the bass. When these are the only three notes present, the chord is an Italian sixth; when an augmented fourth is added above the bass, the chord is a French sixth; while adding a perfect fifth above the bass of an Italian sixth makes it a German sixth (the etymology of all these names is unclear). All usually have the ♭ (sixth degree of the scale, A♭ in C major, for example) as the bass note – in this case, they tend to resolve to the dominant.
Sixth factor
The sixth factor of a chord is six scale degrees above the root. Conventionally, the sixth is third in importance to the root, fifth, and third, being an added tone. It is generally not allowed as the root since that inversion resembles a seventh chord on the sixth rather than an added tone on the original note. In jazz chords and theory, the sixth is required due to it being an added tone.
The quality of the sixth may be determined by the scale or may be indicated. For example, in a major scale, a diatonic sixth added to the tonic chord will be major (C–E–G–A) while in minor it will be minor (C–E♭–G–A♭).
The sixth is octave equivalent to the thirteenth. If one could cut out the notes in between the fifth and the thirteenth and then drop the thirteenth down an octave to a sixth, one would have an added sixth chord (C–E–G–B♭–D′–F′–A′ minus B♭–D′–F′ = C–E–G–A).
In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds together in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harmonic objects such as chords, textures and tonalities are identified, defined, and categorized in the development of these theories. Harmony is broadly understood to involve both a "vertical" dimension (frequency-space) and a "horizontal" dimension (time-space), and often overlaps with related musical concepts such as melody, timbre, and form.
In music theory, a leading tone is a note or pitch which resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper leading tone, respectively. Typically, the leading tone refers to the seventh scale degree of a major scale, a major seventh above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the leading tone is sung as si.
A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a dominant seventh chord: a major triad together with a minor seventh. However, a variety of sevenths may be added to a variety of triads, resulting in many different types of seventh chords.
In music, a chord is a group of two 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 the music theory of harmony, the root is a specific note that names and typifies a given chord. Chords are often spoken about in terms of their root, their quality, and their extensions. When a chord is named without reference to quality, it is assumed to be major—for example, a "C chord" refers to a C major triad, containing the notes C, E, and G. In a given harmonic context, the root of a chord need not be in the bass position, as chords may be inverted while retaining the same name, and therefore the same root.
In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass tone. This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, was further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical and Romantic periods.
An added tone chord, or added note chord, is a non-tertian chord composed of a triad and an extra "added" note. Any tone that is not a seventh factor is commonly categorized as an added tone. It can be outside the tertian sequence of ascending thirds from the root, such as the added sixth or fourth, or it can be in a chord that doesn't consist of a continuous stack of thirds, such as the added thirteenth. The concept of added tones is convenient in that all notes may be related to familiar chords.
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The thirteenth is most commonly major or minor.
In music theory, a ninth chord is a chord that encompasses the interval of a ninth when arranged in close position with the root in the bass.
The ninth chord and its inversions exist today, or at least they can exist. The pupil will easily find examples in the literature [such as Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht and Strauss's opera Salome]. It is not necessary to set up special laws for its treatment. If one wants to be careful, one will be able to use the laws that pertain to the seventh chords: that is, dissonances resolve by step downward, the root leaps a fourth upward.
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:
In Classical music theory, a Neapolitan chord is a major chord built on the lowered (flattened) second (supertonic) scale degree. In Schenkerian analysis, it is known as a Phrygian II, since in minor scales the chord is built on the notes of the corresponding Phrygian mode.
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.
In music theory, chord substitution is the technique of using a chord in place of another in a progression of chords, or a chord progression. Much of the European classical repertoire and the vast majority of blues, jazz and rock music songs are based on chord progressions. "A chord substitution occurs when a chord is replaced by another that is made to function like the original. Usually substituted chords possess two pitches in common with the triad that they are replacing."
In music, a guitar chord is a set of notes played on a guitar. A chord's notes are often played simultaneously, but they can be played sequentially in an arpeggio. The implementation of guitar chords depends on the guitar tuning. Most guitars used in popular music have six strings with the "standard" tuning of the Spanish classical guitar, namely E–A–D–G–B–E' ; in standard tuning, the intervals present among adjacent strings are perfect fourths except for the major third (G,B). Standard tuning requires four chord-shapes for the major triads.
The harmonic minor scale is a musical scale derived from the natural minor scale, with the minor seventh degree raised by one semitone to a major seventh, creating an augmented second between the sixth and seventh degrees.
In music theory, the half-diminished seventh chord is a seventh chord composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh. For example, the half-diminished seventh chord built on B, commonly written as Bm7(♭5), or Bø7, has pitches B-D-F-A:
In music theory, an inversion is a rearrangement of the top-to-bottom elements in an interval, a chord, a melody, or a group of contrapuntal lines of music. In each of these cases, "inversion" has a distinct but related meaning. The concept of inversion also plays an important role in musical set theory.
Musicians use various kinds of chord names and symbols in different contexts to represent musical chords. In most genres of popular music, including jazz, pop, and rock, a chord name and its corresponding symbol typically indicate one or more of the following:
↑ Cope (1997). Techniques of the Contemporary Composer, p.40-41. New York, New York: Schirmer Books. ISBN0-02-864737-8.
↑ Van der Merwe, P. (1989, p.231) The Popular Style; the Antecedents of Twentieth Century Popular Music. Oxford University Press.
↑ Taruskin, R. (2010, p. 649) The Oxford History of Western Music, Volume 3, The Nineteenth Century. Oxford University Press.
↑ Van der Merwe, P. (1989, p.232) The Popular Style; the Antecedents of Twentieth Century Popular Music. Oxford University Press.
↑ Schuller, G. (1989, p.674) The Swing Era: The development of Jazz 1930-1945. Oxford University Press
↑ Mellers, W. (1973, p.33). Twilight of the Gods: the Beatles in Retrospect. London, Faber
↑ Brown, C. (2020, p.122) One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time. London, 4th Estate.
↑ Fujita, T., Hagino, Y., Kubo, H. and Sato, G. (1989, p.376) The Beatles Complete Scores. Milwaukee, Hal Leonard
↑ Fujita, T., Hagino, Y., Kubo, H. and Sato, G. (1989, p.282) The Beatles Complete Scores. Milwaukee, Hal Leonard
↑ Derek B. Scott, Sounds of the metropolis: the nineteenth-century popular music revolution in London, New York, Paris, and Vienna, Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2008, ISBN 0-19-530946-4, ISBN 978-0-19-530946-1, 304 pages (page 7)
↑ Deruchie, A. (2009, p. 97) "Mahler’s farewell or The Earth’s Song? Death, Orientalism and Mahler’s ‘Der Abschied’", Austrian Studies, Vol. 17, Words and Music, pp. 75-97.
↑ Pople, A. (1991, p.60) Berg Violin Concerto, Cambridge University Press.
↑ Taruskin, R. (2010, p717) The Oxford History of Western Music: Music in the Early Twentieth Century. Oxford University Press.
↑ Cross, J. (2015, p. 144) Igor Stravinsky. London, Reaktion Books.
↑ Stravinsky I., and Craft, R. (1968, p.51) Dialogues and a Diary. London, Faber.
↑ Griffiths, P. (1985, p.103) Olivier Messiaen and the Music of Time. London, Faber.
External links
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