Augmented sixth chord 1

Augmented sixth chord

In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an
augmented sixth above its "root" or bass tone (see below). This chord
has its origins in the Renaissance,[1] further developed in the Baroque,
and became a distinctive part of the musical style of the Classical and
Romantic periods.[2]

Resolution and chord construction

The augmented sixth interval is typically between the sixth degree of
the minor scale (henceforth 6) and the raised fourth degree
The interval of an augmented sixth normally
(henceforth 4). With standard voice leading, the chord is followed
resolves outwards by semitone to an octave. Play
directly or indirectly by some form of the dominant chord, in which
both 6 and 4 have resolved to the fifth scale degree (henceforth 5).
This tendency to resolve outwards to 5 is why the interval is spelled as an augmented sixth, rather than
enharmonically as a minor seventh (6 and 5). Although augmented sixth chords are more common in the minor
mode, they are also used in the major mode by borrowing 6 of the parallel minor scale.[3]

Double-diminished triad
In music theory, the double-diminished triad is an archaic concept and term referring to a triad, or three note chord,
which, already being minor, has its root raised a semitone, making it doubly diminished. However, this may be used
as the derivation of the augmented sixth chord.[4]
For example, F-A-C is a minor triad. F-A-C is a doubly diminished triad. Note that it is enharmonically
equivalent to G-A-C (incomplete dominant seventh, missing E). A-C-F is an Italian augmented sixth chord.

Standard harmonic function

From the Baroque to the Romantic period, augmented sixth chords have had the same harmonic function: as a
chromatically altered predominant chord (typically, an alteration of ii , IV , vi7 or their parallel equivalents in
the minor mode) leading to a dominant chord. This movement to the dominant is heightened by the semitonal
resolution of both 6 to 5 and 4 to 5; essentially, these two notes act as leading-tones. This characteristic has led
many analysts to compare the voice leading of augmented sixth chords to the secondary dominant V of V because of
the presence of 4, the leading-tone of V, in both chords. In the major mode, the chromatic voice leading is more
pronounced because of the presence of two chromatically altered notes, 6, as well as 4, rather than just 4 in the
minor mode.
During the Romantic period, the augmented sixth harmony increased in ambiguity as composers explored other
functional possibilities outside of its role as a predominant. See #Extended functions.
Augmented sixth chord 2

Variants
There are several variants of the augmented sixth chord. Though each is named after a European nationality,
theorists disagree on their precise origins and have struggled for centuries to define their roots, and fit them into
conventional harmonic theory.[3][5][6]

Italian sixth
The Italian sixth (It or It ) is derived from iv with an altered
fourth scale degree, 4: 614; ACF in C major. This is the
only augmented sixth chord comprising just three distinct notes; in
four-part writing, the tonic pitch is doubled.

Examples

The second movement of Beethoven's piano sonata in F-sharp major,

op. 78, begins with an Italian sixth chord:

The Italian sixth moving to V. Play

French sixth
The French sixth (Fr or Fr ) is similar to the Italian, but with an
additional tone, 2: 6124; ACDF in C major. The
notes of the French sixth chord are all contained within the same whole
tone scale, lending a sonority common to French music in the 19th
century (especially associated with Impressionist music).[7]

Examples

Richard Wagner's famous Tristan chord (indicated below with Tr)

from the opening of his opera, Tristan und Isolde, can be interpreted
as a French sixth in the key of A minor (F-A-B-D) with an upwardly
The French sixth chord; the distinguishing
resolving appoggiatura in the upper voice. Note that the D resolves
tone is highlighted in blue. Play
downwards to D instead of E:
Augmented sixth chord 3

German sixth
The German sixth (Gr or Ger ) is also like the Italian, but with
an added tone 3: 6134; ACEF in C major. In
Classical music, however, it appears in much the same places as the
other variants, though perhaps less used because of the contrapuntal
difficulties outlined below. It appears frequently in the works of
Beethoven. The German sixth chord contains the same notes as a
dominant seventh chord, though it functions differently.
It is more difficult to avoid parallel fifths when resolving a German
sixth chord to the dominant, V. These parallel fifths, referred to as
Mozart fifths, were occasionally accepted by common practice
The German sixth; the distinguishing tone is
composers. There are two ways they can be avoided: highlighted in blue. Play
1. The 3 can move to either 1 or 2, thereby generating an Italian or
French sixth, respectively, and eliminating the perfect fifth between 6 and 3.[8]
2. The chord can resolve to a "six-four" chord, functionally either as a cadential six-four intensification of V, or as
the second inversion of I; the cadential six-four, in turn, resolves to a root-position V. This progression ensures
that, in its voice leading, each pair of voices moves either by oblique motion or contrary motion and avoids
parallel motion altogether. In minor modes, both 1 and 3 do not move during the resolution of the German sixth
to the cadential six-four. In major modes, 3 can be enharmonically respelled as 2 if it resolves upwards to 3,
similar in voice leading to the resolution of French sixth to the cadential six-four. This respelled chord is
sometimes referred to as the English, Swiss or Alsatian sixth chord, or as a "'doubly augmented sixth chord"', as
it contains two augmented intervals. However, other sources describe it as a German sixth.[9]

The German sixth is typically followed by a I

chord to avoid parallel fifths.

German sixth chord respelled with doubly

augmented fourth (highlighted in blue) for
voice-leading purposes. Also referred to as
English, Swiss or Alsatian.
Augmented sixth chord 4

Examples
A German sixth can be found in the high passage heard twice in the "Passepied" from Debussy's Suite
Bergamasque.
A German sixth chord from Michael Haydn's Requiem in C minor, first movement:

Other variants
Other variants of augmented sixth
chords are sometimes found in the
repertoire, and are sometimes given
whimsical geographical names. For
example: 4672;
(FABD) is called by one
source an Australian sixth.[10] Such
anomalies usually have alternative
interpretations.

( Listen)
"Inverted" augmented
sixth chords
Augmented sixth chords are occasionally used with a different chord member in the bass. Since there is no consensus
among theorists that they are in root position in their normal form, the word "inversion" isn't necessarily accurate,
but is found in some textbooks, nonetheless. Sometimes, "inverted" augmented sixth chords occur as a product of
voice leading.
The French philosopher composer, Jean-Jacques Rousseau considered that the chord could not be inverted
(Dictionnaire de Musique). Seventeenth-century instances of the augmented sixth with the sharp note in the bass are
generally limited to German sources.[11]
Augmented sixth chord 5

Examples
Tchaikovsky's, Symphony no. 5 (op. 64, I), Allegro con anima (bars 34).
The following excerpt shows an augmented sixth chord in inversion used by Bach. At the end of the second
measure, the augmented sixth is inverted to create a diminished third or tenth between the bass and the soprano
(CE); these two voices resolve inward to an octave:

Excerpt from Bach's Mass in B minor

"Roots" of augmented sixth chords

Simon Sechter, in 'Die Grundstze der musicalischen Komposition', explains the chord of the French Sixth
ACDF in the key of C as being a chromatically altered version of a seventh chord on the second degree of
the scale, and therefore gives the root as 'D'. The German Sixth ACEF is explained as a chromatically
altered ninth chord on the same root, but with the root omitted. (In Sechter's theory, the diminished seventh chord
FACE is invariably described in the same way, i.e. a ninth chord on D with the root omitted, hence its
equivalence to the augmented sixth.)
The tendency of the interval of the augmented sixth to resolve outwards is therefore explained by the fact that the
A, being a dissonant note, a diminished fifth above the root (D), and flatted, must fall, whilst the F - being
chromatically raised - must rise.
On the contrary, Tchaikovsky considers the augmented sixth chords, rather than being built on the minor sixth
degree (A in C), as being altered dominants.[12] In his Guide to the practical study of harmony considers the
augmented sixth chords to be inversions of the diminished triad and of dominant and diminished seventh chords with
the second degree chromatically lowered, and accordingly resolving into the tonic. He notes that, "some theorists
insist upon [augmented sixth chord's] resolution not into the tonic but into the dominant triad, and regard them as
being erected not on the altered 2-nd degree, but on the altered 6-th degree in major and on the natural 6-th degree in
minor", yet calls this view, "fallacious", insisting that a, "chord of the augmented sixth on the 6-th degree is nothing
else than a modulatory degression into the key of the dominant".[13] This would make the chord of the augmented
sixth a member of a large group of chords with an altered second degree (which includes the Neapolitan chord). For
an exhaustive discussion of the possibility of augmented sixth chords resolving to tonic (or other scale degrees), see
Daniel Harrison's article, "A Supplement to the Theory of Augmented-Sixth Chords."
Augmented sixth chord 6

Extended functions
In the late Romantic period and other musical genres, especially jazz, other harmonic possibilities of augmented
sixth variants and sonorities outside its function as a predominant were explored, exploiting their particular
properties. An example of this is through the "reinterpretation" of the harmonic function of a chord: Since a chord
could simultaneously have more than one enharmonic spelling with different functions (i.e., both predominant as a
German sixth and dominant as a dominant seventh), its function could be reinterpreted mid-phrase. This heightens
both chromaticism by making possible the tonicization of remote keys, and possible dissonances with the
juxtaposition of remotely related keys.

Enharmonic equivalency of the French sixth

The French sixth has two characteristics in common with the diminished seventh chord:
1. Both chords are constructed of two superimposed tritones; in the French sixth, between 62 (AD) and
14 (CF). Thus, both have inversional symmetry;
2. Both are enharmonically equivalent at the tritone; i.e., both chords transposed up or down a tritone will result in
the same pitches as the original.
As with the diminished seventh chord, the latter property allows the chord to be used in modulating to very remote
keys. For instance: 6124; (ACDF in C), could be interpreted identically in F if reordered and
respelled as DFGB, i.e., the French sixth of the IV key area, displaced an interval of a tritone relative to
the tonic key, I.

Dominant functions
All variants of augmented sixth chords are closely related to the
applied dominant V7 of II; both Italian and German variants are
enharmonically identical to dominant seventh chords. For example, in
the key of C (I), the German sixth chord, ACEF, could be
German sixth, G-B-C-E, and equivalent
reinterpreted as ACEG, the applied dominant of D (V/D). [14]
dominant seventh, F-A-C-E, Play.
Classical harmonic theory would notate the "tritone substitute" as an
augmented sixth chord on 2. The Augmented sixth chord can either be
the It+6 enharmonic to a dominant 7th chord without the 5th, Gr+6,
enharmonically equivalent to a dominant 7th chord with the 5th, or
Fr+6 enharmonically equivalent to the Lydian dominant without the
5th, all of which serve in a classical context as a substitute for the
secondary dominant of V.[16][17]

Below is the original dominant-tonic progression, that progression with

Irregular resolution through augmented sixth
the tritone substitution, and the same progression with the substitution [15]
equivalence Play.
notated as an Italian augmented sixth chord:
Augmented sixth chord 7

Original V7-I Play, tritone substitution (V7/V-I) Play, augmented sixth chord (It6-I) Play.

French sixth sonority as dominant

In jazz, the French sixth sonority functions as a dominant instead of a predominant chord; exploiting the
enharmonically equivalent property of the French sixth is a common technique is referred to as tritone substitution.
The French sixth sonority, for example ACDF in the key of C, is interpreted as a specific variation of a
dominant seventh chord in the following keys:
V7 of D with 4; A as the root: ACDG; or
V7 of G with 4; D as the root: DFGC.
This chord is called the Lydian dominant (A711D711), see jazz chord.
These functions could also be spelled as a dominant seventh with a flatted fifth:
V7 of D, with 5; A as the root: ACE G; or
V7 of G, with 5; D as the root: DFAC.
and could be notated A75 and D75. This spelling does not suggest the Lydian-dominant mode, but it does suggest
a dominant function. Also, CE and FA are inverted augmented sixths (diminished thirds), where CD and
FG are inverted minor sevenths (major seconds).

Augmented sixths built on scale degrees other than 6

The augmented sixth chord may be built on notes other than 6. Often, this is the result of a temporary tonicization,
and the resulting augmented sixth chord is borrowed from the key of the secondary dominant which follows it.
However, there are examples in the literature of these chords appearing without such a context. Schubert used it in
some of his last compositions in dramatic final cadences.

Examples
An Italian sixth chord built on scale degree 2 in Schubert's piano sonata D.959, preceded by a II chord in root
position (BDF). Here the Italian sixth chord functions as a substitute for the dominant, with which it shares
the third and seventh (GD), maintaining the expected Neapolitan inflection (BG); the usual IIV7I
becomes IIIt+6I:

References
[1] Andrews, Herbert Kennedy (1950). The Oxford Harmony. 2 (1 ed.). London: Oxford
University Press. pp.4546. OCLC223256512.
[2] Andrews 1950, pp.4652
[3] Aldwell, Edward; Carl Schachter (1989). Harmony and Voice Leading (2 ed.). San
Schubert's A major sonata, D. 959. Diego, Toronto: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp.478483. ISBN0-15-531519-6.
OCLC19029983.
Augmented sixth chord 8

[4] Ernst Friedrich Richter (1912). Manual of Harmony, p.94. Theodore Baker.
[5] Gauldin, Robert (1997). Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music (1 ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. pp.422438. ISBN0-393-97074-4.
OCLC34966355.
[6] Christ, William (1973). Materials and Structure of Music. 2 (2 ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. pp.141171. ISBN0-13-560342-0.
OCLC257117. Offers a useful, detailed explanation of augmented sixth chords as well as Neapolitan sixth chords.
[7] Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting Music Theory: a Guide to the Practice, p.144. ISBN 978-0-415-97440-0. "One may note that the French
sixth contains the elements of a whole tone scale commonly associated with French impressionistic composers."
[8] Benjamin, Thomas; Michael Horvit & Robert Nelson (2008). Techniques and Materials of Music: From the Common Practice Period
Through the Twentieth Century (7 ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson & Schirmer. p.165. ISBN978-0-495-18977-0. OCLC145143714. Beethoven
frequently moves from one form of the chord to another in such a way, sometimes passing through all three.
[9] Drabkin, William. Augmented sixth chord (http:/ / www. oxfordmusiconline. com/ subscriber/ article/ grove/ music/ 01517?). Grove Music
Online (subscription needed). Accessed March 2012.
[10] Burnard, Alex (1950). Harmony and Composition: For the Student and the Potential Composer. Melbourne: Allans Music (Australia).
pp.9495. OCLC220305086.
[11] Ellis, Mark (2010). A Chord in Time: The Evolution of the Augmented Sixth from Monteverdi to Mahler, pp. 92-94. Farnham: Ashgate.
ISBN 978-0-7546-6385-0.
[12] Roberts, Peter Deane (1993). Modernism in Russian Piano Music: Skriabin, Prokofiev, and Their Russian Contemporaries, p.136. ISBN
0-253-34992-3.
[13] Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilyich [1871] trans Emil Krall and James Liebling, Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony, . [ISBN 0486442721.]
[14] Benward & Saker (2008). Music in Theory and Practice, Vol. II, p.222. ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0.
[15] Owen, Harold (2000). Music Theory Resource Book, p.132. ISBN 0-19-511539-2.
[16] Satyendra, Ramon. "Analyzing the Unity within Contrast: Chick Corea's Starlight", p.55. Cited in Stein.
[17] Stein, Deborah (2005). Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-517010-5.
Article Sources and Contributors 9

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