AUGMENTED SIXTH CHORDS Please also see your reading about augmented sixths, which is here.

Note: throughout this handout, I deal with voice-leading issues. Try to understand the voice leading and get it right, but these issues are not as important, to me, as you understanding what notes are in what chord, and how the chord functions. Think of the usual pattern of classical chord progressions. For major keys, its iii vi ii/IV V(7)/viio I ? (We also learned that we can go from IV to I, and from V to vi.) Weve studied the movement of the dominant chords (V, V7, viio) to the tonic. But take another step back: the ii and IV chords help set up the dominant chords. We can use Neapolitan sixth chords (which we studied last week) and augmented sixth chords to intensify a cadence by setting up the V chord in a more striking way. There are three basic types of augmented sixth chords. The most basic of these is the Italian augmented sixth chord, which we will call It+6. To make one, follow this process. Lets pretend were in the key of D major. 1) Make a IV chord: G B D. 2) Make it minor: G Bb D. (If youre already in a minor key, the iv chord will already be minor, so you can skip this step.) 3) Put it in first inversion: Bb D G. 4) Raise the root by one half step (but use the same scale degree): Bb D G#. This is our Italian augmented sixth chord. The name augmented sixth comes from the interval between the Bb and G#. When writing the chord for four voices, we will typically double the tonic (which is D), like so:

(As always, you should play through these at the piano.) Notice that we put the Bb in the bass. We have to do this. We can put the G# in any of the three upper voices. The two voices that form the augmented sixth, the Bb and G#, explode outward by half step to become the roots of the dominant chord. Meanwhile, the tonic notes in the augmented sixth chord move by step to become the third and fifth of the dominant chord.

There are a couple other augmented sixth chords. As long as we remember how to make the It+6, the other ones are pretty easy to make. For a French augmented sixth chord (Fr+6), just begin with the It+6. When we wrote it for four voices, we doubled the tonic. Keep one of those tonics and change the other one to the second degree of the scale. Or, as it pertains to the example above, take one of the Ds and make it an E.

Here we moved the D in the tenor voice up to E. Then we just keep that voice on E for the V chord. The third type of augmented sixth chord is the German augmented sixth (Ger+6). For this one, we replace the second degree of the scale from the Fr+6 (in the answer above, its the E) and replace it with the lowered third degree (which would be F in this case). Because going from the Ger+6 directly to V will produce parallel fifths (dont worry about it), the Ger+6 will often be followed by the I64 chord. Remember, the I64 chord often functions as a decorated version of the V chord. We double the fifth in that chord, which we dont usually do, so that the doubled notes become the roots of the V chord and the other two voices move down by step.

Ger+6

I6 4

Sometimes composers would decide they didnt like the augmented unison in the tenor voice above (F natural to F sharp) and would fix that by changing the enharmonic spelling of the Ger+6 like so:

So theyd turn the F natural into an E#. As with Neapolitan sixth chords, augmented sixth chords basically work the same way in parallel minor keys. So in D minor, the three augmented sixth chords would be the same ones we just made in the key of D major (except we dont have to worry about changing the F to E# in the Ger+6, because F is already in the i64 chord). Lets try some exercises. Fill in the missing Ger+6 here.

Now fill in the missing It+6:

Now try the same example again but do a Fr+6 instead:

Well talk about the answers on Tuesday.