Neapolitan sixth

You can use it to modulate (or rather, approach) the minor sixth degree used in first inversion, where the second degree of the scale descends by a semitone. It works starting from the major mode.

In the case that we were in C major, you could have an F in the bass and above it a D-F-B, which becomes Bb... if you were instead in C minor, you would already have a Bb, so it would involve using the chord freely, as De la Motte says.

Try posting a bass fragment so I can try to harmonize it, maybe we'll understand each other better.

I suggest you delve deeper into the harmonization of the Neapolitan scale, in which—as Dante says between the lines—the second degree is lowered by a semitone with a third and sixth chord, a modal reminiscence within a tonal framework that owes its name (Neapolitan) to the widespread use this school made starting from the 17th century (see Provençal) and which raged in its use throughout the 18th century, especially in times of sicilianas and arias with elegiac and sentimental content.

You will find beautiful examples also in Romantic music, first and foremost the beginning of the first Ballade in G minor Op. 23 by F. Chopin, just to be clear, and in the coda of the first movement of Sonata No. 17 Op. 31 No. 2 in D minor by Beethoven. Obviously, here we cannot speak of Romanticism but of the transition to Romanticism (Sturm und Drang).

Anyway, the ideal is always to seek corroboration in the repertoire

It does not appear to me to be a modulating chord; rather, it is the Neapolitan sixth formed on the subdominant (IV degree) of the minor mode, using the minor sixth instead of the fifth as the third note of the chord. Practically speaking, the Neapolitan sixth resolves to the dominant of the key (and thus often prepares the perfect cadence).

A well-written wiki article

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accordo_di_sesta_napoletana

The Neapolitan sixth chord is built on the lowered II degree of the Neapolitan minor scale, with the VI minor degree. It is in first inversion and will have the number 3-6 as a first inversion triad.

This chord rests on the IV degree of the Neapolitan minor scale, and has an interval of a minor third and a minor sixth.

For example, in the key of G minor, the bass of the Neapolitan sixth chord is C, the minor 3rd is Eb, and the minor sixth (which forms a minor second interval with the tonic) is Ab. The resolution is on the V degree (which makes the consonant compound cadence) from which one arrives at the I degree.

thank you all for the help.

My doubt arises from a discussion I had with a friend of mine who will shortly be taking complementary harmony exams at the conservatory, which will include modulation tests even to distant keys. His teacher advised performing these modulations using the Neapolitan sixth chord. This is where my doubts began because I have studied that it is mostly better to modulate using the diminished seventh chord. For this reason, I was trying to deepen my understanding of the modulating aspect of this chord, but it seems to me that modulation is not its primary prerogative.

Altered sixth chords, like the German sixth, French sixth, etc. ... or specifically the Neapolitan sixth?

Why is it that with the German sixth (or French) you can go anywhere?

Yamashita, the most interesting thing is that the Neapolitan sixth places us in front of a major chord built on the lowered second degree of a minor key. So much color!

As we know, one can modulate through common chords, so in A minor you will have a D-F-Bb chord (II6), Bb major... which you can also find in keys other than A minor. If it can serve as a modulating bridge for you, all the best; but it must be managed.

Therefore, Bb major, due to the effect of the Neapolitan scale, can be found in A minor but also:

- in G minor or Bb major (2 circle of fifths)

- in F minor if you consider the IV major (4 circle of fifths)

but also in nearby keys like

- in D minor, VI degree

Etc.

But in reality, Neapolitan sixth or not, reasoning through common chords you can always modulate... the problem is managing the tension and not placing chords randomly; therefore, in teaching, the most common use is the classic VI II6 (bII6) V and cadence

AbateFaria wrote:

Altered sixth chords, like the German sixth, French sixth, etc. ... or specifically the Neapolitan sixth?

Because with the German sixth (or French) you can go anywhere

My doubts regarding the modulating characteristics of the Neapolitan sixth arise from a discussion I had with a friend, whose teacher seems to praise its modulating qualities.

as far as augmented sixth chords are concerned, I know well that they are very suitable for modulations.

Gerardo wrote:

Yamashita, the most interesting thing is that the Neapolitan sixth presents us with a major chord built on the lowered second degree of a minor key. So, color!

As we know, one can modulate through common chords, so in A minor you will have a D-F-Bb chord (II6), Bb major... which you can also find in keys other than A minor. If it can serve as a modulating bridge, fine; but it must be managed.

Therefore, Bb major, due to the effect of the Neapolitan scale, can be found in A minor but also:

- in G minor or Bb major (2 circle of fifths)

- in F minor if you consider the IV major (4 circle of fifths)

but also in nearby keys like

- in D minor, VI degree

Etc.

But in reality, Neapolitan sixth or not, reasoning through common chords you can always modulate ...the problem is managing the tension and not placing chords randomly; therefore, in teaching, the most common use is the classic VI II6 (bII6) V and cadence

Thanks Gerardo.

Regarding the possibilities of modulation via the Neapolitan sixth, see measure 26 of the Largo appassionato from Beethoven's Sonata op. 2 no. 2: from F# minor to G major.

It is important to consider, as a comment above already points out, the Neapolitan scale which used to have the II degree at a semitone distance from the tonic. If we consider this origin, it is not about the famous “lowered” II degree, so often cited in numerous texts, but a true and proper II degree. Of the Neapolitan scale. The consequences of using this II degree, which is not part of the 2 modes used in the tonal system, are known and well-studied. Clearly, it was also used by classical-romantic composers for modulation.

I had become curious to understand when the Neapolitan sixth actually dates back to... Schoenberg (Harmony Manual p. 296) questions its "ideal" birth, rather than historical, stating that it is actually a conceptual error to consider the Neapolitan sixth chord as being built on the "lowered" second degree. Primarily, Schoenberg links it to the VI degree of the minor scale (harmonic or melodic). He then says that, in practice, it is considered a "representative," or rather a substitute, of the II degree. Moving forward, and more or less foreshadowing his ideas of pantonality, he ventures to say that in Gregorian modes, and ideally in all scales, it would make sense to consider the II degree as being made of two interchangeable sounds, D and Db in the case of a scale on C. And then he says that one day, perhaps, the theory of degrees will be adapted not to diatonic scales but to chromatic ones...

Anyway, Schoenberg's theory tends to include all foreign chords. Often abusing historical arguments (he traces them back to modes, but it makes no sense) but grasping a fundamental point: chords foreign to the underlying tonalities are not used any less than natural chords; in fact, they are used more.

However, I have remained curious to understand what the (traced) origins of the Neapolitan scale are. It could derive from the Phrygian mode, but I don't know

Clearly Schoenberg, despite great competence and intellect, always played to his own advantage. The Neapolitan minor scale was composed as follows (ascending example on C): C, D♭, E♭, F, G, A♭, B, C. Since triads are built on the degrees of the scale, the second degree is a major triad that results from being built a semitone above the tonic. If we take this as a reference point, it is neither an anomaly nor a lowered II degree, but a II degree.

The issue to be debated is the use of this inverted triad in a tonal context when using the minor mode (non-Neapolitan). Beethoven and Chopin did so because of its strong attraction in preparing the dominant. And due to a historical fact, the Neapolitan school was so important from an international point of view that it left its sonority—in this case one of its most typical ones—as a legacy to those composers who did not adopt its scale but found it very effective to use the lowered II harmonically (within their system).

This scale does not have a true equivalent among the modes. It is true that it resembles the Phrygian, but the descending Neapolitan minor scale is composed as follows: C, B♭, A♭, G, F, E♭, D♭, C.

In this sense, I agree with Schoenberg: the chord is an expression of a scale only on a theoretical level, not on a practical one. And in fact, I must say that I have never come across harmony treatises stating that the Neapolitan sixth is a direct reference to the Neapolitan scale. If it were, we would have to "postulate" a sort of modulation every time it is used. And a significant modulation at that, since we are talking about a minor key. But this makes no sense; we are even talking about a major chord, which, if inserted into a cadence as usually happens, gives me no reference to a hypothetical minor scale, whether Neapolitan or otherwise.

It is a problem that, by training, I would be inclined to resolve historically. But I have no information regarding this; I have never dealt with Neapolitan music, but perhaps in the 1600s there actually was a Neapolitan minor scale upon which this chord was normally built, and since Neapolitan music traveled the world, everyone else in Europe knew of its existence.

But if we postulate the existence and widespread knowledge of this scale, then we cannot limit ourselves to taking just one chord from it... in addition to a major chord on the II degree, we would have a major chord with a diminished fifth on the V degree (!) and a diminished triad with a diminished third on the VII (!!). Now, since we are talking about significant collateral events—that is, two of the most important chords that drastically change their own nature—in my opinion, the Neapolitan scale is not a true tonal scale. Perhaps it was used only for melodic purposes, or rather, THAT second degree there was used only for melodic purposes and supported by chords on the II. But regardless of the fact that anything is possible in history, I have strong doubts that dominant chords constructed that way could have been used intensively. I mean, a diminished fifth on the V?! In a period when people were still "afraid" of discovered fourths?

I continue to think that things went differently (but these are just suppositions lacking historical data, alas):

1) a normal Phrygian cadence, in the modal sense, starting from a minor sixth dyad (let's assume F-Db) can resolve to a fourth dyad (G-C), precisely because there would be the Phrygian tenorizans clause (Db-C) and the Phrygian cantizans clause (F-G);

2) the fundamental "core" of a Neapolitan sixth chord is its minor sixth, since it is always in first inversion, and its "traditional" resolution is to the second inversion of the tonic chord, which has the discovered fourth;

3) it is probable, then, that one day someone wanted to replicate the effect of the Phrygian cadence but by transporting it into a tonal situation, and thus did so with inverted triads;

4) the choice of the major fifth was mandatory, obviously, otherwise it would have become an augmented triad;

5) and when one day someone asked "but how do we justify this chord in tonal theory?"—and they likely asked this very, very late, since Rameau calmly admitted chords with an added sixth (though, if I'm not mistaken, he only considered major sixths)—then they said "let's build it on the second degree of the Neapolitan scale and say that it must obligatorily be in first inversion."

A bit of a complicated explanation, but I hope I have hit the mark...

cesarecomposer wrote:

The Neapolitan minor scale was composed as follows (ascending example on C): C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, B, C.

Could you cite a handful of pieces that use this scale?

thallo wrote:

But this makes no sense; we are even talking about a major chord, which if inserted into the cadence, as usually happens, gives me no suggestion of a hypothetical minor scale, neither Neapolitan nor otherwise.

In reality, it seems more coherent to interpret it not as a major chord, but as a minor chord, precisely in the sense of Rameau that you cited. It would therefore not be an inversion, but a sixth chord in root position: its characteristic is that instead of the major sixth (F - Ab - D) it has the minor sixth (F - Ab - Db).

"Could you cite a handful of pieces that use this scale?"

Numerous pieces have used this second degree, not only for harmonic purposes but also melodically to convey a certain pathos.

From a harmonic point of view, if one does not consider this scale—which in my opinion is at the origin of this practice—but exclusively the tonal rules in the minor mode (Rameau), this chord can also be a minor sixth and not an inversion. But it is like trying to justify in every possible way something that is not easily justifiable.

Beyond the fact that it sounds very good when preparing the dominant in the minor mode, there must be a reason for it.

Clearly, this is an opinion. The use of this chord and even the derivation of its name have always been the subject of great debate among scholars who have drawn different conclusions. I know well that my idea does not align with the dominant doctrine, but a study based on theories by Rameau and those close to the Neapolitan school has formed this idea in me.

cesarecomposer wrote:

Numerous pieces have used this second degree, not only for harmonic purposes but also melodically to convey a certain pathos.

I am not interested in the degree, but in the scale you were talking about: in which pieces can I find the aforementioned scale C - Db - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C / C - Bb - Ab - G - F - Eb - Db - C?

thallo wrote:

I had become curious to understand when the Neapolitan sixth actually dates back to...

A trace

Xenakis wrote:

I suggest you delve deeper into the harmonization of the Neapolitan scale, in which—as Dante says between the lines—the second degree is lowered by a semitone with a third and sixth chord, a modal reminiscence within a tonal framework that owes its name (Neapolitan) to the widespread use this school made of it starting from the 17th century (see Provençal) and which raged in its use throughout the 18th century, especially in times of sicilianas and arias with elegiac and sentimental content.

it doesn't resolve the doubts, unfortunately... at least two doubts: whether the Neapolitan sixth chord is the harmonization of a degree of the Neapolitan scale or, rather, an "autonomous" chord; and what its precise origins are, that is, from which scale-mode the Neapolitan scale derives, whether the hypothesis of the scale is correct, or from which cadential sequence - modal clausula - the chord arrives (and in what way it arrives).

Then, obviously, it would be interesting to find Neapolitan pieces to analyze, to understand the "philological" use of this chord. Perhaps things by this Provenzale (I imagine Francesco Provenzale), of whom I know nothing quite...