In pop music context, wouldn't a more "proper" analysis be a tritone substitution because pop music doesn't necessarily follow traditional classical voice leading that closely? This is also the same reason why I wouldn't apply figured bass symbols to pop music either. (Well, I guess when it comes to Muse it's debatable, because the harmonies are certainly classical influenced and they use more "melodic" basslines. The bass could be seen as the foundation of harmony instead of as emphasizing chord tones. This is where the original figured bass symbols come from. Instead of chord symbols or Roman numerals there was just a bassline with figured bass symbols written over it.) We are not really talking about polyphonic voice leading/counterpoint (that classical music is pretty much based on), so using classical terminology may be a bit confusing. I wouldn't call it a mistake, I just think it would be more accurate to use more appropriate terminology for the music style. So in the key of C, an Ab7 would be a tritone substitution for D7. Those chords have the same tritone in them - F# is the 3rd of D7 and the 7th of Ab7 (enharmonically) and C is the 7th of D7 and the 3rd of Ab7. This tritone creates tension that wants to resolve. Because both chords have the same tritone in them, both of them naturally resolve to the same chord. The "augmented 6th" chord is not the only tritone substitution that is used but it is one of the most common ones. The tritone substitution explanation makes sense especially in the Beatles song where the E7 is followed by a Bb7. But yeah, we are basically talking about the same concept but a different way of looking at it.
You're right, of course, about the multiplicity of accounts for a similar structure/phenomena, though my real intent here is to bridge different approaches for understanding harmony. Conventionally students learn one system for analyzing classical music, and another for popular music, perhaps another for jazz, with the tacit assumption that one is inherently irrelevant for the other, which is certainly not true. Mozart didn't think in terms of Roman numeral analysis, theorists superimpose this framework for its explanatory power. Polyphonic voice leading can offer an interesting take on pop music, just as modern chord theory can comment on medieval monody, for example. My ultimate goal is to help DIY musicians see the flexibility of these systems, so they can form their own music theory that serves their unique musical goals that push beyond any single stylist convention.
Here's the thing, Aug6 and tritone sub are two separate concepts that developed totally independently of each other, in classical and jazz. Interestingly they turned out to work the same way
As a jazz guy, this is just a tritone sub to me, but I was always confused by this notion of aug 6ths, so thanks for bringing the world back into focus.
MusicTheoryAdvanced the thing that’s interesting about “Dead and Lovely” is that the Ab7 is doing two different things functionally in a minor blues context. In bars 5 and 6 it’s a bVI7 chord, which is a subdominant function in minor blues, and standing in for the Fm. It then turns into a sub V7/V in the cadence. It’s fascinating to see that both of those are “German + 6” chords, although I still think any Ab yr gonna call a 6 chord ought to have an F in it.
I believe that some of you are mistaken. The Ger+6 is a predominant chord that, when moving directly to V, opens to an octave of the fifth scale degree via the interval of an augmented sixth that is found between b6-#4. In "proper" 4-part voice leading> b6 resolves down to 5 in the bass, while #4 resolves to 5 in an upper voice. This is absolutely the case for The Beatles example if you want to see what I mean. In pop chart notation, the chord is often spelled enharmonically as a dominant-7th chord built on the b6 scale degree. It is not, however, understood this way in counterpoint. What some of you are referring to as a "tritone sub" is different. The reason it is called a tritone substitution is because the root of the dominant-7th chord is the interval of a tritone away from scale degree 5. This translates to a bII7 in Roman numerals, which means that the resolution is bII7-I, not "bVI7"-V, which would be a true Ger+6. I believe the reason for the confusion is because both harmonies resolve in a similar way. The tritone sub is a substitution for the dominant (or possibly function as a dominant prolongation), while the Ger+6 has a predominant function that resolves to a harmony built on scale degree 5 (often the V(7) chord). Cheers.
Wow! Mind blown! Blackout is one of my favourite Muse songs. I especially love that F+ chord. Augmented chords are so rarely used. I never knew there was a German Augmented 6th as well!
One very very important aspect besides the chord itself in classical music is voice leading (which he also didn't mention big enough) which makes it a bit more complicated. In C major the top voice would preferably always use that F#-G whereas the base that Ab-G which makes that chord so distinct.
Once you realise C7 as a first chord of the Blues is a Tonic chord with a blue note added. The same applies to F7: IV chord with a blue note added. From that I fail to see that a lowered VI chord (in major) or a regular VI chord in minor - with a Gb added to it (it really is very, very rarely an F#) must be perceived as an Augmented Sixth chord. It is simply a Blues chord. The enharmonic reality decides. Please listen ........ I know harmony is harmony, but in 20th century popular music a lot of music is drenched in blues - it seems that by ignoring that and trying to superimpose a classical nomenclature and concept over a blues phenomenon is misguided.
But that blues was also influenced by western music right? It began as a modal northwest african thing with microtones and all that, then at some point they started going to the 4th from time to time and then they added the classic 5-4-1 (or any of the other cadences in classical music!) which in the end became jazz and then influenced pop music!
There are lots of rock songs that use the #5 AC/DC's Live Wire, The Vaughan Brothers' White Boots, Del Shannon's Runaway, and The Venture's version of Walk Don't Run are four that I can name off the top of my head. Live Wire uses it in a #5, I, #5, 5 turnaound sequence, White Boots uses it in a b7, I, b7, #5, 5 turnaround sequence, and both Runaway and Walk Don't Run use it in -1, b7, #5, 5 verse sequences.
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a *very* good example of this. (A-natural minor; goes from Fde+6 to E7. In fact, it's literally in the repeating chord-progression...So it's not difficult to notice to the sufficiently-trained ear.) And the following example isn't precisely an augmented-sixth chord, per se; but it seems to me that it resolves very similarly (i.e. the "root" going down one semi-tone and the highest-numbered chord-member going up by one): "What It Takes" by Aerosmith. At the end of each chorus, there's a B-natural half-diminished chord that resolves to a B-flat major chord. It's really interesting. The only thing is that from there, it doesn't resolve like a dominant. Instead, it's, like, a chromatic mediant: it goes to D-flat major and then back to F-natural major from the B-flat major chord. So I guess it's an interesting tid-bit. I don't know--but even besides this interesting "augmented-sixth"-style progression, the song is very interesting for analysis. For example: it modulates from the verse to the chorus by going to IV in G-natural (V in F-natural) to IV in F-natural and then to I.
A good example can be found in the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, at the end of the "Galileo" section. Once students hear that example, they usually start to hear it.
The relabelling of the 7th as an augmented 6th doesn't make a lot of sense, it would suggest it's the next note from the 5th in a scale based on the chord, and that there is some other kind of 7th in that scale. Also, most of these tunes are in aeolian mode (ie natural minor), so a chord on b6 is very much part of the key.
The seventh is the root of the chord that you're resolving to. I find augmented sixth chords make the most sense if you think of them as being built on the second scale degree of Neapolitan minor (Phrygian #7), since an augmented sixth chord occurs naturally there. If you count the scale degrees, you'll see that it has to be a sixth, not a seventh.
I always thought of it as a sharp dominant chord. it's used in minor scale chord sequences which can be used in their natural major/minor states or as all major chords. when used in a turnaround it has a very strong pull to the dominant chord.
I think the way the chords are used in the examples is more of a SubV7. I haven't seen or used the european augmented 6ths in like 4 years, so, I might be wrong.
That's what I was thinking, a tritone sub for the V of V. Though having the root and fifth where they are is certainly a different sound from a II7 V7 i.
have to correct my earlier comment, you cant really call it a neapolitan also: the aug. sixth idea "died" in the 20th century in favour of tritone subs, at least in the heads of most musicians (from the jazz era for example), classically trained people may think of both as seperate historical devices, so mozarts peculiarity was not resolving the parallel fifths resulting from aug sixths and jazz musicians dont give a fuck about that to begin with so both thought of that chord in a different way there are interesting similarities aswell: the fr 6+ uses a b5 (enharmonic #4) just like jazz musicians playing mixolydian #11 (#4) over tritone subs which is pretty common
Hi! Nice video, but in the last example you are complicating things a little bit too much in the analysis, the muse fragment is simply in G minor and instead of resolving into g minor it goes back to Bb major that can be explained in many ways. Cool videos anyway. Cheers!
No it's not, the piccadilly is when you have the same chord at the end but major, if this song had finished in a G major chord it would be a piccadilly third (tierce picarde).
Don't bait me with thumbnails that are unrelated to the content of your video. Was really looking forward to seeing a kanye song analyzed but nah. All I got was Muse.
I don’t know if it was mentioned in an annotation (I’m watching on iOS) but the green bar was nowhere near following along with the music in the Los Lonely Boys song. Great video though!
Mega Josh same thing happened for me. I thought I for sure heard it then when he showed the chords it was not the bar I had heard it, then when he replayed it, it was on the part I heard but not the bar from earlier.
A note (forming the basis for a mnajor chord) which is a half tone above the dominant is an augmented firth or minor sixth from the tonic. So why this preposterous and unnecessary confusion of calling it an augmented 6th? No entiendo!!
A MAJOR is the dominant? I thought it was A minor..... what video lesson can I watch to learn about what I'm figuring out wrong? Anyone got some advice?
In a minor key, the dominant would normally be a minor chord. However, the resolution sounds "better" if it's a major chord, because then you have a note one half step below the tonic, resolving up to the tonic. The sharpening of the third of the dominant (or the seventh of the scale) in a minor key is called the harmonic minor scale.
What is that 70's song classic rock song with the augmented chord? In the verse it alternates 4 beats each between the major chord and the augmented chord. Hard to be more descriptive...
In the song Muse by Blackout the 1 chord is G minor, and B flat major is where it modulates to, therefore the Eb7 DOES fit the criteria for the augmented 6th. You're welcome.
Great video. Now I finally know what an augmented 6th chord is. Is the German version the most popular in pop music? The augmented 6th also seems to resemble the tritone sub for the V of V. Is it the same thing? What chordscales would you recommend for improvising over the Gr+6 chord?
Yeah, the German one would be more common, because 1) it's a standard dominant 7 chord, and 2) it's most similar to the Tritone substitution, which is what it's more likely to be called in a jazz context. In that jazz context however, it can be altered like any other dominant (a b5 might resemble the French 6th, with a ninth). The point here is that what's fundamentally interesting about this structure is nothing new, it has a multiplicity of names and variations, and is likely to remain musically interesting for the foreseeable future.
I’ve watched 2 theory videos today where an augmented chord is used in place of a regular dominant chord.. is there a rule about this or is it more about creating smooth voice leading in one of the parts?
I dont believe augmented 6 is an appropriate way to analyze many of these examples because while they all show the bass resolves down to scale degree 5, the seventh of the chord (as its described in this video, otherwise known as raised scale degree 4) does not resolve up to scale degree 5. raised scale degree leading up to scale degree 5 is integral to the augment 6 chord. Unless this occurs, i tend to think it is more appropriate to think of a seventh chord built upon scale degree 6 as really just an embellished seventh chord built on scale degree 6.
Ignore the trolls.. the context of this excellent and eloquently explained / illustrated video is that it builds from the previous video where you provide clear description (based in classical theory) of the different types of augmented 6th chords and how they function as pre-dominants in cadential windups / chord substitution - these build on your equally well explained and illustrated (in classical notation then popular chord chart contexts) videos on secondary dominants. Great examples, great level of challenge and thank you for taking the time to create and put this out there (for free!!) - you should make a Udemy course - would be nice to do another video on arranging / orchestrating these concepts with conventions of part writing for different instrument families etc.. anyway, top video and thank you ✨🙏🏻 ✨
I haven't seen the other video you mentioned but you explained it a lot closer to this music mechanics intuitive understanding of chord changes than the narrator did.
Aug6 parce que cet accord qui a pour fonction V/V contient l'intervalle de sixte augmentée. Et cet intervalle se résout chromatiquement à la fois vers le haut et vers le bas pour former une octave, celle de la fondamentale de l'accord de dominante. Par exemple dans l'exemple des Beatles, le Sib et le Sol# (6xte aug) se résolvent sur l'8ve La-La.
Je crois que tu as confondu; le V/V est l'équivalent d'un "II 7", dans l'exemple des beatles (en ré min) il s'agit d'un "Mi 7" qui devient un "Mi 7/b9", et le "Mi 7/b9" est une substitution tritonique d'un "Si b 7" et "Si b" est le "bVI" de Ré !
Je sais très bien que V/V est équivalent à II, et c'est vrai qu'en ré mineur Sib est le bIV mais ici ce n'est pas le propos. Je répète donc ma réponse à ta question, l'accord de 6xte augmentée s'appelle comme ça parce qu'il contient cet intervalle. Et cet accord, depuis l'époque classique est utilisé en tant que V/V pour pimenter une cadence avec un chromatisme à la basse. Car le fait que Sib soit le bIV de ré ça n'explique pas pourquoi l'accord ici Sib-Ré-Fa-Sol# se nomme "Aug6"... Je te conseille de regarder l'autre vidéo que ce garçon a fait sur le sujet, ruclips.net/video/IijEiB8DNYo/видео.html
En réalité ce que je trouve perturbant c'est de faire référence à une "sixte augmentée" intervalle qui n'existe pas réellement, et encore moins dans ce cas précis où l'accord est un accord dominant ! Si l'accord à une sixte augmentée (ce qui équivaut à une b7) cela suppose que si on ajoute une 7ème à cet accord elle serait automatiquement majeure, or ça n'est possible d'ajouter une 7ème majeure à un accord dominant, je pense qu'il s'agit juste d'une erreur de notation de sa part, je ne remet pas en doutes tes connaissances ! En ce qui me concerne, la sixte augmentée qui, au passage est un enrichissement n'a rien à faire ici ! Il s'agit d'un bVI 7 et de ces substitutions ! Je ne vois pas pourquoi il le note Sib Ré Fa Sol#, alors que c'est Sib Ré Fa Lab voilà tout :)
JerRock - Cours de Musique En fait je pense que tu connais bien la théorie du jazz. En jazz, si on réfléchit accord par accord, je suis d'accord, ce sol# serait un lab et ce serait une septième mineure tout à fait normale dans un accord 7, donc un enrichissement comme tu l'as dit. Cependant ici, ce qui peut perturber (mais ce qui rend aussi cette vidéo intéressante), c'est qu'il essaie d'expliquer cette notion en terme d'harmonie classique, qui n'a que faire de la substitution tritonique, qui est une notion de jazz. Le problème, c'est que tu n'as visiblement pas cette notion du point de vue de l'harmonie classique, donc tu as du mal à la comprendre. Il ne s'agit pas d'une erreur de sa part, il s'agit bel et bien d'une 6xte augmentée et non d'une 7eme mineure. Pourquoi ? Parce qu'une 7eme mineure telle qu'on en voit dans les accords 7 (de dominante) se résout toujours (en jazz comme en musique savante) conjointement vers le bas (ici, le lab se serait résolu sur le sol). Ici au contraire, le sol# monte vers le la. L'intérêt d'un V/V avec 6xte augmentée est précisément le couple "tension détente" créé par ces deux mouvements contraires conjoints (sib -> la à la basse, et sol# -> la au dessus ou dans les voix intérieures, ou en terme d'intervalle : 6xte augmentée -> octave). La musique est universelle et on peut la comprendre de plein de manières différentes, ici, il explique une musique pop en terme d'harmonie classique, ce qui est à la fois un point de vue ambigu (car je ne pense pas que Paul McCartney l'a composé en pensant à l'accord de 6xte augmentée) et intéressant, car cela permet de comprendre pourquoi ça sonne du tonnerre du point de vue de l'harmonie classique. Si tu ne l'as pas fait, je te reconseille de visionner l'autre vidéo de ce garçon sur les accords de 6xte augmentée, car c'est compliqué d'expliquer dans un commentaire RUclips haha Bonne journée !
great video, but next time try highering your voice or lowering the music volume please.. as artists, sound engineers, etc., our ears are very sensitive xD
the 6 refers to the inversion of the chord when the chord has the 3rd in the bass, it's on first inversion, thus it becomes i6 if it has the 5th, it's second inversion, thus it becomes i 6/4 and if the root is on the bass, then it's just i
I thought this was going to be way more superficial than it was (no, there is no reason to think that a channel called MusicTheoryAdvanced is going to do a fluff piece). Here's hoping for many, many more videos and also subscribers. When I started following Rick Beato, he had maybe 4.000 followers, and his channel positively exploded in a matter of a year and a half, with none of your added video skills
Why are you using antiquated music theory terminology about voice leading? If we’re talking about pop music, I think “tri-tone substitution” would be the proper term.
I think you're using the same type of analysis for different types of musical situations, and that's where the error is. indeed in classical music there are the 6th augmented chords with their respective resolutions, but in popular music the analysis of these same chords is wrong. It is not a tritonal substitute as many say, since its objective is not the V degree of tonality, and the #11 is not in the chord. Neither is a chord with the 6th augmented, since saying that and saying 7th minor is the same, and it does not make sense to choose the most elaborate option. Finally, in my opinion, I think you just have to analyze them as VIb7 in the case of a major key, or VI7 in case of a minor key, with their respective extensions.
This one of the most used chords in minor keys. You are making it more complicated and the terminology and naming of the chords is confusing to me. The chord is as common as the V7 chord in minor keys. Sure the tritone makes it more spicey but it’s not that big of a deal. Spelling that chord differently wont change the obvious dominant sound.
Nothing special about this, you see this in tons of bluesy songs and songs in minor keys Hardly worth making a whole analysis on it And which part is the augmented part? I don't see no raised 5th
It's not about the fifth. It's about the sixth. For example, in C major/minor, the German aug. sixth is: (F#, Ab, C, Eb), the Italian is: (F#, Ab, C) and the French is: (D, F#, Ab, C). Since all these chords are usually written either in first inversion (Ger, It) or in second inversion (Fr), i.e. with Ab on the bass (in C tonality), this creates the interval of the augmented sixth, i.e. Ab-F#. The only "foreign" note is F#, because it doesn't exist in C major or minor (although, both Ab and Eb exist in C minor, though they exist in C major as well, via modal interchange ("borrowed notes")). In addition, notice that it's not Ab-Gb, because that'd be a minor seventh, and then this chord would function as a dominant of Db maj/min (in case it resolves in Db major, it can also be the dominant of the Neapolitan of C!).
Regarding the French augmented sixth chord, I would like to share my thoughts: Consider the V chord of A major. It consists of (E, G#, B). If we raise the 5th, we'd have: (E, G#, B#). If we add the seventh, we'd have: (E, G#, B#, D). If we also add the ninth, then the result would be: (E, G#, B#, D, F#). If we now omit the root of the chord, the result would be an altered VII chord (since the VII chord is a part of the V chord, altering the V would also alter the VII). In this case, we will have: (G#, B#, D, F#). Hmm... What about {D, F#, Ab, C}? Aren't all the notes enharmonically equivalent? So, the French aug. sixth of C can also resolve to A major (I am not sure about minor). But what about Eb or Ab? The altered VII (as described above) of Eb is (D, F#, Ab, C). The D goes to Eb, done! But this chord can also function as the VII of V of Ab! In addition, notice that the French aug. sixth chord of C has the exact same notes with the French aug. sixth chord of F#! That's maybe because C and F# are a tritone apart, and because the French aug. sixth chord contains notes from the whole-tone scale (now I don't still wonder why they call it French...). So, with proper voice leading, instead of resolving to G (V of C), you can resolve to C#/Db, i.e. the Dominant of F#/Gb. Note that the German chord of C can also function as the Dominant of F#/Gb. It's all about function, eventually... If you'd like to comment about all these, please do! All these things are very, very exciting, yet confusing a little bit...
Why the fuck don't you play the hole cadence in the examples You leave the I 6,4 unresolved, you'll make people think that's the common resolution which absolutely is not
Antiquated? Since when is sound or color irrelevant? So chromatically altered chords and chromaticism is a function (get it?) of people rising or trying to rise above our current cultural dark age. Look so much trouble was gone to just around the time of Bach to create a tonal system where all 12 keys were available at any time and notes outside the key or tonality are available to the knowledgeable composer improviser through chromatic melodic construction and modulation and last but not least chromatically altered harmonies that it's just a pity a waste such a system. Don't be an apologist.
Hi thanks a lot for all your videos! I don't quite get why the chord in the Beatles song is considered a Bb7 while there's a G and not an Ab acting as the seventh? I'm a beginner so i must be mistaken, just trying to understand why.
CasagrooveMaroc, this can be a confusing concept, don't worry. It's answered better in the other video all about augmented sixth chords. In short, the G# is enharmonically the same as Ab (ie, the same note on the piano), so the Bb7 chord symbol's role is usually to give the easiest chord to read, regardless of proper chord spelling. We use G# instead of Ab in the notes because it is resolving upward to A, as a traditional augmented sixth chord would in classical music. If that's confusing, just watch the other video, haha. Good luck!
I will check the other video! i got your point the thing here, is that the note is a G and not a G# (or an Ab) meaning the actual chord is Bb7dim, is it right? Thanks a lot for your time!
No, the note is actually a G#. Anytime you have an accidental (a sharp or flat), all the same notes that follow in the same measure have the same accidental. In this case, the even though G in the Bb7 has no # in front of it, it is actually G# because of the G# that appeared in the E chord earlier in the same measure. So from bottom to top the notes are Bb-F-G#-D-F; arranged as a root position chord: Bb-D-F-G#. FYI, Bbdim would be Bb-Db-Fb :)
Your analysis of MUSE is wrong. It is in G minor. Also there is no such thing as a I 64 chord at the end of a phrase -- it is a V 64, but then again you didn't pay attention in your college music theory classes? -- or did you skip class?
Analysis is a tool for making a case. I make the point that they do a good job of ambiguating the tonal center. If you claim it's in Gm, you should explain why, for starters, cadences throughout resolve on Bb. Where is there a I64?
This isn't a video about writing music, it's about analyzing music that is already written. No one said you should think about this during composition.
Nice Bieber gets the... "hummm ect."
The metal bass guy wasn’t even mentioned lol
In pop music context, wouldn't a more "proper" analysis be a tritone substitution because pop music doesn't necessarily follow traditional classical voice leading that closely? This is also the same reason why I wouldn't apply figured bass symbols to pop music either.
(Well, I guess when it comes to Muse it's debatable, because the harmonies are certainly classical influenced and they use more "melodic" basslines. The bass could be seen as the foundation of harmony instead of as emphasizing chord tones. This is where the original figured bass symbols come from. Instead of chord symbols or Roman numerals there was just a bassline with figured bass symbols written over it.)
We are not really talking about polyphonic voice leading/counterpoint (that classical music is pretty much based on), so using classical terminology may be a bit confusing. I wouldn't call it a mistake, I just think it would be more accurate to use more appropriate terminology for the music style.
So in the key of C, an Ab7 would be a tritone substitution for D7. Those chords have the same tritone in them - F# is the 3rd of D7 and the 7th of Ab7 (enharmonically) and C is the 7th of D7 and the 3rd of Ab7. This tritone creates tension that wants to resolve. Because both chords have the same tritone in them, both of them naturally resolve to the same chord. The "augmented 6th" chord is not the only tritone substitution that is used but it is one of the most common ones.
The tritone substitution explanation makes sense especially in the Beatles song where the E7 is followed by a Bb7.
But yeah, we are basically talking about the same concept but a different way of looking at it.
You're right, of course, about the multiplicity of accounts for a similar structure/phenomena, though my real intent here is to bridge different approaches for understanding harmony. Conventionally students learn one system for analyzing classical music, and another for popular music, perhaps another for jazz, with the tacit assumption that one is inherently irrelevant for the other, which is certainly not true. Mozart didn't think in terms of Roman numeral analysis, theorists superimpose this framework for its explanatory power. Polyphonic voice leading can offer an interesting take on pop music, just as modern chord theory can comment on medieval monody, for example. My ultimate goal is to help DIY musicians see the flexibility of these systems, so they can form their own music theory that serves their unique musical goals that push beyond any single stylist convention.
Here's the thing, Aug6 and tritone sub are two separate concepts that developed totally independently of each other, in classical and jazz. Interestingly they turned out to work the same way
As a jazz guy, this is just a tritone sub to me, but I was always confused by this notion of aug 6ths, so thanks for bringing the world back into focus.
MusicTheoryAdvanced the thing that’s interesting about “Dead and Lovely” is that the Ab7 is doing two different things functionally in a minor blues context. In bars 5 and 6 it’s a bVI7 chord, which is a subdominant function in minor blues, and standing in for the Fm. It then turns into a sub V7/V in the cadence. It’s fascinating to see that both of those are “German + 6” chords, although I still think any Ab yr gonna call a 6 chord ought to have an F in it.
I believe that some of you are mistaken. The Ger+6 is a predominant chord that, when moving directly to V, opens to an octave of the fifth scale degree via the interval of an augmented sixth that is found between b6-#4. In "proper" 4-part voice leading> b6 resolves down to 5 in the bass, while #4 resolves to 5 in an upper voice. This is absolutely the case for The Beatles example if you want to see what I mean. In pop chart notation, the chord is often spelled enharmonically as a dominant-7th chord built on the b6 scale degree. It is not, however, understood this way in counterpoint. What some of you are referring to as a "tritone sub" is different. The reason it is called a tritone substitution is because the root of the dominant-7th chord is the interval of a tritone away from scale degree 5. This translates to a bII7 in Roman numerals, which means that the resolution is bII7-I, not "bVI7"-V, which would be a true Ger+6. I believe the reason for the confusion is because both harmonies resolve in a similar way. The tritone sub is a substitution for the dominant (or possibly function as a dominant prolongation), while the Ger+6 has a predominant function that resolves to a harmony built on scale degree 5 (often the V(7) chord). Cheers.
Wow! Mind blown! Blackout is one of my favourite Muse songs. I especially love that F+ chord. Augmented chords are so rarely used. I never knew there was a German Augmented 6th as well!
Man the World NEED MORE videos like this, please keep up the amazing work 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I like how classical theory makes it so super-complex about super-simple and intuitive blues chord of bVI7 :)
One very very important aspect besides the chord itself in classical music is voice leading (which he also didn't mention big enough) which makes it a bit more complicated. In C major the top voice would preferably always use that F#-G whereas the base that Ab-G which makes that chord so distinct.
what a beautiful set of tutorials you have produced. awesome
Magic written by John Farrar and recorded by Olivia Newton John features a stunning example of utilizing the French augmented sixth.
The explanation at the beginning is probably the most useful explanation I’ve ever had!
Once you realise C7 as a first chord of the Blues is a Tonic chord with a blue note added. The same applies to F7: IV chord with a blue note added. From that I fail to see that a lowered VI chord (in major) or a regular VI chord in minor - with a Gb added to it (it really is very, very rarely an F#) must be perceived as an Augmented Sixth chord. It is simply a Blues chord. The enharmonic reality decides. Please listen ........ I know harmony is harmony, but in 20th century popular music a lot of music is drenched in blues - it seems that by ignoring that and trying to superimpose a classical nomenclature and concept over a blues phenomenon is misguided.
But that blues was also influenced by western music right? It began as a modal northwest african thing with microtones and all that, then at some point they started going to the 4th from time to time and then they added the classic 5-4-1 (or any of the other cadences in classical music!) which in the end became jazz and then influenced pop music!
You should do more videos!
There are lots of rock songs that use the #5 AC/DC's Live Wire, The Vaughan Brothers' White Boots, Del Shannon's Runaway, and The Venture's version of Walk Don't Run are four that I can name off the top of my head. Live Wire uses it in a #5, I, #5, 5 turnaound sequence, White Boots uses it in a b7, I, b7, #5, 5 turnaround sequence, and both Runaway and Walk Don't Run use it in -1, b7, #5, 5 verse sequences.
Awesome video, dude! I love this stuff. Keep making these vids my friend.
Really liked this video, great pacing in it : )
Very interesting that in classical music usage it is indeed a +6, but in pop it's just a VI7/i and a very common blues sound
i just realized i made a track using this progression holy fuck it was so beautiful and I've been chasing it ever since
"The House of the Rising Sun" is a *very* good example of this. (A-natural minor; goes from Fde+6 to E7. In fact, it's literally in the repeating chord-progression...So it's not difficult to notice to the sufficiently-trained ear.)
And the following example isn't precisely an augmented-sixth chord, per se; but it seems to me that it resolves very similarly (i.e. the "root" going down one semi-tone and the highest-numbered chord-member going up by one): "What It Takes" by Aerosmith. At the end of each chorus, there's a B-natural half-diminished chord that resolves to a B-flat major chord. It's really interesting. The only thing is that from there, it doesn't resolve like a dominant. Instead, it's, like, a chromatic mediant: it goes to D-flat major and then back to F-natural major from the B-flat major chord.
So I guess it's an interesting tid-bit. I don't know--but even besides this interesting "augmented-sixth"-style progression, the song is very interesting for analysis. For example: it modulates from the verse to the chorus by going to IV in G-natural (V in F-natural) to IV in F-natural and then to I.
House of the rising sun? the chords are Am C D F Am (C) E7 Am, the F has no seventh . There is no augmentend sixth dude
leo Roy okay, not the whole time-but it is a Ger+6 chord when rhe organ comes in.
A good example can be found in the song "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, at the end of the "Galileo" section. Once students hear that example, they usually start to hear it.
At what lyric/time?
mr7clay
"...Beelzebub, has a Devil put aside for me..."
That's I - IV - V/vi - vi.
Request: Diminished vii° chords in popular music
also the last chord section of MK Ultra by muse has this chord, in fact many muse songs have it
The relabelling of the 7th as an augmented 6th doesn't make a lot of sense, it would suggest it's the next note from the 5th in a scale based on the chord, and that there is some other kind of 7th in that scale.
Also, most of these tunes are in aeolian mode (ie natural minor), so a chord on b6 is very much part of the key.
The seventh is the root of the chord that you're resolving to. I find augmented sixth chords make the most sense if you think of them as being built on the second scale degree of Neapolitan minor (Phrygian #7), since an augmented sixth chord occurs naturally there. If you count the scale degrees, you'll see that it has to be a sixth, not a seventh.
I always thought of it as a sharp dominant chord. it's used in minor scale chord sequences which can be used in their natural major/minor states or as all major chords. when used in a turnaround it has a very strong pull to the dominant chord.
There's also an augmented chord in Lovefool by the Cardigans
There is also the Tristan chord Ab Cb D. F#
Bieber = etc.
You're killing me! :-D
That was really helpful!! :) Thank you
How is Long Train Running by the Doobie Brothers not in this video?! Perhaps the strongest use of this change in popular music history...
Awesome Channel! liked and subscribed
Excellent thank you.
I think the way the chords are used in the examples is more of a SubV7. I haven't seen or used the european augmented 6ths in like 4 years, so, I might be wrong.
*Calls shrillex an edm producer*
me: this man has gone too far
Isn't this called tritone substitution (at least in Jazz)? That's what I was taught
Isn't that just a tritone substituion over the minor II V I progression?
That's what I was thinking, a tritone sub for the V of V. Though having the root and fifth where they are is certainly a different sound from a II7 V7 i.
Same here it's a tritone sub
or the neapolitan of the V chord in musical theory for classical music
There's a tritone resolving in this progression too (Ger+6 > V), but its effect is masked by the Augmented sixth (interval) resolving.
have to correct my earlier comment, you cant really call it a neapolitan
also: the aug. sixth idea "died" in the 20th century in favour of tritone subs, at least in the heads of most musicians (from the jazz era for example), classically trained people may think of both as seperate historical devices, so mozarts peculiarity was not resolving the parallel fifths resulting from aug sixths and jazz musicians dont give a fuck about that to begin with so both thought of that chord in a different way
there are interesting similarities aswell: the fr 6+ uses a b5 (enharmonic #4) just like jazz musicians playing mixolydian #11 (#4) over tritone subs which is pretty common
I really like your voice.
Pure awesomeness. I just realized that chords have a function. Can we have more, pretty please?
How Audio Works A chords function is like the basis of all music theory lol
LOL back at you, Christina; we are not all born with music theory.
How Audio Works Ahaha it's fine
Hi! Nice video, but in the last example you are complicating things a little bit too much in the analysis, the muse fragment is simply in G minor and instead of resolving into g minor it goes back to Bb major that can be explained in many ways. Cool videos anyway. Cheers!
This is what I was thinking as well!
David C I would have said the same thing. This is a Piccadilly third like you find in Baroque music.
No it's not, the piccadilly is when you have the same chord at the end but major, if this song had finished in a G major chord it would be a piccadilly third (tierce picarde).
leo Roy dang it im stupid
Leonard Cohen "I'm Your Man" has a good one at the end of the bridge. Two Gr+6 - V7 's then Gr+6 - V7/V. three in row might be a record?
Don't bait me with thumbnails that are unrelated to the content of your video. Was really looking forward to seeing a kanye song analyzed but nah. All I got was Muse.
Exactly!
Are you not aMUSEd?
SuperMike nice
WHY would you want that turd's "music" analysed? Easy - Wipe your ass, look at what's produced on the paper - Done...
thanks. great video.
I don’t know if it was mentioned in an annotation (I’m watching on iOS) but the green bar was nowhere near following along with the music in the Los Lonely Boys song. Great video though!
Mega Josh same thing happened for me. I thought I for sure heard it then when he showed the chords it was not the bar I had heard it, then when he replayed it, it was on the part I heard but not the bar from earlier.
I thought my ears were broken. I had to rewatch it 5 times to understand that I wasn't crazy.
Why do you consider these Ger+6 chords instead of bVI7?
A note (forming the basis for a mnajor chord) which is a half tone above the dominant is an augmented firth or minor sixth from the tonic. So why this preposterous and unnecessary confusion of calling it an augmented 6th? No entiendo!!
A MAJOR is the dominant? I thought it was A minor..... what video lesson can I watch to learn about what I'm figuring out wrong? Anyone got some advice?
In a minor key, the dominant would normally be a minor chord. However, the resolution sounds "better" if it's a major chord, because then you have a note one half step below the tonic, resolving up to the tonic. The sharpening of the third of the dominant (or the seventh of the scale) in a minor key is called the harmonic minor scale.
What is that 70's song classic rock song with the augmented chord? In the verse it alternates 4 beats each between the major chord and the augmented chord. Hard to be more descriptive...
Not the one you're thinking of but I like to use "Us and Them" by Pink Floyd.
I think the song "Gee, baby, ain't I good to you" uses an augmented 6th chord. Great videos, mate.
Great vid!
Surprised there was nothing by Thom Yorke / Radiohead in here
Can you offer any suggestions?
@@musictheoryadvanced Wolf at your door has a nice Neapolitan 6th
Blood on the Leaves
In the beatles example in measure 3 and 7 you missed the bass line near the end of the bar into bar 4 and 8. Just fyi.
Is this not just the tritone sub of the secondary dominant of 5?
Sweet
In the song Muse by Blackout the 1 chord is G minor, and B flat major is where it modulates to, therefore the Eb7 DOES fit the criteria for the augmented 6th.
You're welcome.
Can I ask what are the two key signatures doing in there in the first two examples? Aren't they supposed to be in C minor instead of G minor?
Great video. Now I finally know what an augmented 6th chord is. Is the German version the most popular in pop music? The augmented 6th also seems to resemble the tritone sub for the V of V. Is it the same thing? What chordscales would you recommend for improvising over the Gr+6 chord?
Yeah, the German one would be more common, because 1) it's a standard dominant 7 chord, and 2) it's most similar to the Tritone substitution, which is what it's more likely to be called in a jazz context. In that jazz context however, it can be altered like any other dominant (a b5 might resemble the French 6th, with a ninth). The point here is that what's fundamentally interesting about this structure is nothing new, it has a multiplicity of names and variations, and is likely to remain musically interesting for the foreseeable future.
I clicked for the dillinger, was a bit disappointed.
Same here. Would love to see an analysis on TDEP!
yeah man, how could it all be
Yeah I came for Greg too :(
For the +VI V I, isn't this just more or less a tritone sub for a II V I
Billy Garvey More or less, but the other +6 chords are spelled without the fifth, so they aren't always enharmonic to a dominant seventh chord.
I’ve watched 2 theory videos today where an augmented chord is used in place of a regular dominant chord.. is there a rule about this or is it more about creating smooth voice leading in one of the parts?
Metal uses all kinds of diminished augmented and nontraditional chords.
I dont believe augmented 6 is an appropriate way to analyze many of these examples because while they all show the bass resolves down to scale degree 5, the seventh of the chord (as its described in this video, otherwise known as raised scale degree 4) does not resolve up to scale degree 5. raised scale degree leading up to scale degree 5 is integral to the augment 6 chord. Unless this occurs, i tend to think it is more appropriate to think of a seventh chord built upon scale degree 6 as really just an embellished seventh chord built on scale degree 6.
Who else looked into the comments to see who else laughed at the etc. joke ?
the playhead is about 2 bars behind in the example at 4:44 - otherwise great video.
Ignore the trolls.. the context of this excellent and eloquently explained / illustrated video is that it builds from the previous video where you provide clear description (based in classical theory) of the different types of augmented 6th chords and how they function as pre-dominants in cadential windups / chord substitution - these build on your equally well explained and illustrated (in classical notation then popular chord chart contexts) videos on secondary dominants. Great examples, great level of challenge and thank you for taking the time to create and put this out there (for free!!) - you should make a Udemy course - would be nice to do another video on arranging / orchestrating these concepts with conventions of part writing for different instrument families etc.. anyway, top video and thank you ✨🙏🏻 ✨
I haven't seen the other video you mentioned but you explained it a lot closer to this music mechanics intuitive understanding of chord changes than the narrator did.
Why "Aug 6" ... You talk about "bVI" no ?
Aug6 parce que cet accord qui a pour fonction V/V contient l'intervalle de sixte augmentée. Et cet intervalle se résout chromatiquement à la fois vers le haut et vers le bas pour former une octave, celle de la fondamentale de l'accord de dominante. Par exemple dans l'exemple des Beatles, le Sib et le Sol# (6xte aug) se résolvent sur l'8ve La-La.
Je crois que tu as confondu; le V/V est l'équivalent d'un "II 7", dans l'exemple des beatles (en ré min) il s'agit d'un "Mi 7" qui devient un "Mi 7/b9", et le "Mi 7/b9" est une substitution tritonique d'un "Si b 7" et "Si b" est le "bVI" de Ré !
Je sais très bien que V/V est équivalent à II, et c'est vrai qu'en ré mineur Sib est le bIV mais ici ce n'est pas le propos. Je répète donc ma réponse à ta question, l'accord de 6xte augmentée s'appelle comme ça parce qu'il contient cet intervalle. Et cet accord, depuis l'époque classique est utilisé en tant que V/V pour pimenter une cadence avec un chromatisme à la basse.
Car le fait que Sib soit le bIV de ré ça n'explique pas pourquoi l'accord ici Sib-Ré-Fa-Sol# se nomme "Aug6"...
Je te conseille de regarder l'autre vidéo que ce garçon a fait sur le sujet, ruclips.net/video/IijEiB8DNYo/видео.html
En réalité ce que je trouve perturbant c'est de faire référence à une "sixte augmentée" intervalle qui n'existe pas réellement, et encore moins dans ce cas précis où l'accord est un accord dominant !
Si l'accord à une sixte augmentée (ce qui équivaut à une b7) cela suppose que si on ajoute une 7ème à cet accord elle serait automatiquement majeure, or ça n'est possible d'ajouter une 7ème majeure à un accord dominant, je pense qu'il s'agit juste d'une erreur de notation de sa part, je ne remet pas en doutes tes connaissances !
En ce qui me concerne, la sixte augmentée qui, au passage est un enrichissement n'a rien à faire ici ! Il s'agit d'un bVI 7 et de ces substitutions ! Je ne vois pas pourquoi il le note Sib Ré Fa Sol#, alors que c'est Sib Ré Fa Lab voilà tout :)
JerRock - Cours de Musique En fait je pense que tu connais bien la théorie du jazz. En jazz, si on réfléchit accord par accord, je suis d'accord, ce sol# serait un lab et ce serait une septième mineure tout à fait normale dans un accord 7, donc un enrichissement comme tu l'as dit. Cependant ici, ce qui peut perturber (mais ce qui rend aussi cette vidéo intéressante), c'est qu'il essaie d'expliquer cette notion en terme d'harmonie classique, qui n'a que faire de la substitution tritonique, qui est une notion de jazz.
Le problème, c'est que tu n'as visiblement pas cette notion du point de vue de l'harmonie classique, donc tu as du mal à la comprendre. Il ne s'agit pas d'une erreur de sa part, il s'agit bel et bien d'une 6xte augmentée et non d'une 7eme mineure. Pourquoi ? Parce qu'une 7eme mineure telle qu'on en voit dans les accords 7 (de dominante) se résout toujours (en jazz comme en musique savante) conjointement vers le bas (ici, le lab se serait résolu sur le sol). Ici au contraire, le sol# monte vers le la.
L'intérêt d'un V/V avec 6xte augmentée est précisément le couple "tension détente" créé par ces deux mouvements contraires conjoints (sib -> la à la basse, et sol# -> la au dessus ou dans les voix intérieures, ou en terme d'intervalle : 6xte augmentée -> octave).
La musique est universelle et on peut la comprendre de plein de manières différentes, ici, il explique une musique pop en terme d'harmonie classique, ce qui est à la fois un point de vue ambigu (car je ne pense pas que Paul McCartney l'a composé en pensant à l'accord de 6xte augmentée) et intéressant, car cela permet de comprendre pourquoi ça sonne du tonnerre du point de vue de l'harmonie classique.
Si tu ne l'as pas fait, je te reconseille de visionner l'autre vidéo de ce garçon sur les accords de 6xte augmentée, car c'est compliqué d'expliquer dans un commentaire RUclips haha
Bonne journée !
8:00 Why do you write i6 for Dm/F? Surely Dm/F is III6 if anything, i.e. F6, not Dm6?
great video, but next time try highering your voice or lowering the music volume please.. as artists, sound engineers, etc., our ears are very sensitive xD
Nice video! At 4:45 I believe the line is out of sync with the music
Why does it say i6 (1, 6)under the Dm/F chord?
Does i6 or 1,6 refer to scale degrees?
the 6 refers to the inversion of the chord
when the chord has the 3rd in the bass, it's on first inversion, thus it becomes i6
if it has the 5th, it's second inversion, thus it becomes i 6/4
and if the root is on the bass, then it's just i
Thank you
that was fast
you're welcome
I thought this was going to be way more superficial than it was (no, there is no reason to think that a channel called MusicTheoryAdvanced is going to do a fluff piece). Here's hoping for many, many more videos and also subscribers. When I started following Rick Beato, he had maybe 4.000 followers, and his channel positively exploded in a matter of a year and a half, with none of your added video skills
why is it jay z for sampling techniques and not kanye
Why are you using antiquated music theory terminology about voice leading? If we’re talking about pop music, I think “tri-tone substitution” would be the proper term.
I think you're using the same type of analysis for different types of musical situations, and that's where the error is. indeed in classical music there are the 6th augmented chords with their respective resolutions, but in popular music the analysis of these same chords is wrong. It is not a tritonal substitute as many say, since its objective is not the V degree of tonality, and the #11 is not in the chord. Neither is a chord with the 6th augmented, since saying that and saying 7th minor is the same, and it does not make sense to choose the most elaborate option. Finally, in my opinion, I think you just have to analyze them as VIb7 in the case of a major key, or VI7 in case of a minor key, with their respective extensions.
This one of the most used chords in minor keys. You are making it more complicated and the terminology and naming of the chords is confusing to me. The chord is as common as the V7 chord in minor keys. Sure the tritone makes it more spicey but it’s not that big of a deal. Spelling that chord differently wont change the obvious dominant sound.
The avoidance of advanced harmony is a function of ignorance I submit. People can't miss what they don't understand . It's a cultural dark age.
ist it dim6? i cant get it
correct me if im wrong, but in the first example your key sig was wrong. if C mi is the I, then there should be 3 flats.
You are correct! That's why I covered the two flats in the first part.
etc.. xD
etc........ lol
Nothing special about this, you see this in tons of bluesy songs and songs in minor keys
Hardly worth making a whole analysis on it
And which part is the augmented part? I don't see no raised 5th
It's not about the fifth. It's about the sixth. For example, in C major/minor, the German aug. sixth is: (F#, Ab, C, Eb), the Italian is: (F#, Ab, C) and the French is: (D, F#, Ab, C). Since all these chords are usually written either in first inversion (Ger, It) or in second inversion (Fr), i.e. with Ab on the bass (in C tonality), this creates the interval of the augmented sixth, i.e. Ab-F#. The only "foreign" note is F#, because it doesn't exist in C major or minor (although, both Ab and Eb exist in C minor, though they exist in C major as well, via modal interchange ("borrowed notes")).
In addition, notice that it's not Ab-Gb, because that'd be a minor seventh, and then this chord would function as a dominant of Db maj/min (in case it resolves in Db major, it can also be the dominant of the Neapolitan of C!).
Regarding the French augmented sixth chord, I would like to share my thoughts:
Consider the V chord of A major. It consists of (E, G#, B). If we raise the 5th, we'd have: (E, G#, B#). If we add the seventh, we'd have: (E, G#, B#, D). If we also add the ninth, then the result would be: (E, G#, B#, D, F#). If we now omit the root of the chord, the result would be an altered VII chord (since the VII chord is a part of the V chord, altering the V would also alter the VII). In this case, we will have: (G#, B#, D, F#). Hmm... What about {D, F#, Ab, C}? Aren't all the notes enharmonically equivalent?
So, the French aug. sixth of C can also resolve to A major (I am not sure about minor). But what about Eb or Ab? The altered VII (as described above) of Eb is (D, F#, Ab, C). The D goes to Eb, done! But this chord can also function as the VII of V of Ab!
In addition, notice that the French aug. sixth chord of C has the exact same notes with the French aug. sixth chord of F#! That's maybe because C and F# are a tritone apart, and because the French aug. sixth chord contains notes from the whole-tone scale (now I don't still wonder why they call it French...). So, with proper voice leading, instead of resolving to G (V of C), you can resolve to C#/Db, i.e. the Dominant of F#/Gb. Note that the German chord of C can also function as the Dominant of F#/Gb.
It's all about function, eventually...
If you'd like to comment about all these, please do! All these things are very, very exciting, yet confusing a little bit...
Why the fuck don't you play the hole cadence in the examples
You leave the I 6,4 unresolved, you'll make people think that's the common resolution which absolutely is not
Obvious enough no?
Antiquated? Since when is sound or color irrelevant? So chromatically altered chords and chromaticism is a function (get it?) of people rising or trying to rise above our current cultural dark age. Look so much trouble was gone to just around the time of Bach to create a tonal system where all 12 keys were available at any time and notes outside the key or tonality are available to the knowledgeable composer improviser through chromatic melodic construction and modulation and last but not least chromatically altered harmonies that it's just a pity a waste such a system. Don't be an apologist.
Hi thanks a lot for all your videos!
I don't quite get why the chord in the Beatles song is considered a Bb7 while there's a G and not an Ab acting as the seventh?
I'm a beginner so i must be mistaken, just trying to understand why.
CasagrooveMaroc, this can be a confusing concept, don't worry. It's answered better in the other video all about augmented sixth chords. In short, the G# is enharmonically the same as Ab (ie, the same note on the piano), so the Bb7 chord symbol's role is usually to give the easiest chord to read, regardless of proper chord spelling. We use G# instead of Ab in the notes because it is resolving upward to A, as a traditional augmented sixth chord would in classical music. If that's confusing, just watch the other video, haha. Good luck!
I will check the other video! i got your point the thing here, is that the note is a G and not a G# (or an Ab) meaning the actual chord is Bb7dim, is it right?
Thanks a lot for your time!
No, the note is actually a G#. Anytime you have an accidental (a sharp or flat), all the same notes that follow in the same measure have the same accidental. In this case, the even though G in the Bb7 has no # in front of it, it is actually G# because of the G# that appeared in the E chord earlier in the same measure. So from bottom to top the notes are Bb-F-G#-D-F; arranged as a root position chord: Bb-D-F-G#.
FYI, Bbdim would be Bb-Db-Fb :)
then it all makes sense, just misreaded it then!
Thanks a lot!
And how would you note a chord with a perfect fifth, a major third and a diminished 7? a Bb6?
Thanks i know this is out of the subject :D
Can someone sneak dead and lovely into the bioshock dlc files
Your analysis of MUSE is wrong. It is in G minor. Also there is no such thing as a I 64 chord at the end of a phrase -- it is a V 64, but then again you didn't pay attention in your college music theory classes? -- or did you skip class?
Analysis is a tool for making a case. I make the point that they do a good job of ambiguating the tonal center. If you claim it's in Gm, you should explain why, for starters, cadences throughout resolve on Bb. Where is there a I64?
Mark Petering arrogant and pretentious. No need to be mock him.
No, there IS a lot wrong with the music industry.
Way too much fancy talk, dude.
Can we all just write music based off our intuition and stop over complicating things? Geez...
Yeah man, go for it.
No
This isn't a video about writing music, it's about analyzing music that is already written. No one said you should think about this during composition.