The 'NEAPOLITAN 6' chord, EXPLAINED
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2024
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DESCRIPTION:
The Neapolitan chord is a very popular harmony used in various genres. In this video I aimed to explain this rather simple concept in full depth; hopefully this is understandable to musicians and non-musicians/music lovers. probably not :)
Hopefully you will learn something in this video :)
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All images and video are licensed under Creative Commons or were purchased and licensed for commercial use in this video.
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Hearing the composers’ names pronounced correctly was music to my ears
My god youre right
“...because voice leading.” That’s all of music theory, in one, succinct phrase.
You know what, that ain't wrong.
That moment when youtuber explains N6 chord better than almost all theory teacher ive had past 20 years.
That’s honestly not a surprise and it would be dishonest to claim otherwise. The teachers you had growing up had fewer sources. They were also the only sources YOU had available. Of course with the Internet and TH-cam, great sources are pushed to the top by the algorithm. So you’re getting the cream of the crop out of potentially thousands of teachers.
I just read about it in a book, and it made perfect sense - as I was already grounded in 'Classical Theory' anyway (which I also learned just by reading a book - it's really not that hard to understand). So, I didn't need anybody to teach me it. But, I never liked using the N6 chord though - it was so overused as to beocme a cliché.
I wish more people that attempted to explain music theory concepts in a video format did it as well as you. Amazing stuff
Fantastic ! *THANK YOU* (proceeds to write songs with stacked n6 CHORDS)
This is the best explanation about N6 chord that I have ever seen.
Man I love you for this. Brilliant editing
I love the recap section! Wow! Thank you for that, it is so easy to remember like that :)
This is the best video in demystifying Neapolitan Chord on TH-cam by far: why it was named, excepts how composers used it and how it is constructed. Pictures worth a thousand words, thank you very very much!!
The Indiana Jones theme played is a 4th higher than the sheet music. The sheet is in C major, the actual audio is in F. (for those trying to follow along on instruments)
That's nothing. The end isn't even the final notes of the sound clip. Hehe. But now we're just quibbling.
The neapolitan in Bethoven's adagio from piano sonata no. 14 is so brilliantly put that I almost break down every time I hear it. It's so strong, stirring and mercilessly gloomy. Just beautiful!!
that was a neapolitan explanation. you resolved my understanding quite nicely
Really cool video, exactly what I needed before going to take my exams
Love this! Will share it with students…
You're such a great teacher! Thank you so much for sharing this video.
Very nice! It was a bit hard to follow from time to time, but the overall effect was very good, and you gave some excellent examples. I can barely imagine the time you put into this, keep it up!
I agree!
What an excellent video! Thanks
I've always thought there is more to the Neapolitan 6th than this. I believe it is the tritone substitution of the dominant (5th) chord, watered down by removing the 7th; that it wasn’t structurally understood in its era; and that after going out of fashion in the 18th century, it was rediscovered - in its true form as the tritone substitution of V7 - in jazz music in the 1940s!
Classically, the Neapolitan Sixth is the first inversion of the flattened supertonic. It most often progressed to the second inversion of the tonic, and then to V7 and I.
But I don't find that any of this description explains why the chord works at all.
I like to think the reason the Neapolitan Sixth works is that it’s the tritone substitution of the dominant (chord V). A tritone substitution takes one 7 chord (a major triad with flattened 7th) and replaces it with the one that’s a tritone - that's three tritones, 6 semitones or half an octave - above it. Tritone substitutions work because the two notes that primarily define any chord - their 3rd and 7th notes - are shared between any given 7 chord and its tritone substitute.
For example, in the key of C, the dominant chord (chord V) is G7: G, B, D and F. The two notes that primarily define a chord's character are its 3rd and its 7th: in this case, the B (defining major) and the F (the minor 7th) on the G chord.
A tritone above or below G is Db, so G7’s tritone substitution is Db7: Db, F, Ab and Cb (= B). The two notes that primarily define the character of this chord, its 3rd and its 7th, are F (defining major) and Cb (the minor 7th)… wait, that’s the same two notes, F and B!
That’s why substituting a 7 chord with its tritone substitution still feels enough like the original chord, while having a really cool effect. It works in all sorts of combinations of I-V-I, replacing either the initial chord I or chord V with their tritone substitutions. It’s also why Dm7 - Db7 - C works: that second chord is the tritone substitution of G7, giving a standard ii - V - I progression but with a more harmonically complex second chord.
So it seems to me that what’s really going on with the Neapolitan Sixth is that it’s fundamentally the ubiquitous cadence of the time (V - I [second inversion] - V7 - I), but dressing up the first of those four chords with its tritone substitution. That first V chord (G) is replaced by its tritone substitution (Db7).
But even a century ago, we didn’t understand enough about harmonic theory to know that that’s what the chord structurally was. So it was called a 'sixth', after the interval between that first inversion and its tonic (F and the Db above it, in the key of C), and added to the lexicon of other 'sixths' or first inversions (the German 6th, the Italian 6th, the French 6th).
If we understand the Neapolitan Sixth to be what I believe it structurally is - a tritone substitution of the dominant 7th chord - I think we understand why it always worked. 17th and 18th century composers omitted its 7th (the B or Cb on that Db chord in the key of C) just because to include a 7th would have felt unnatural - even sacrilegiously unsubtle - at the time. And they always used the chord in its first inversion, because doing so provided the bass line they were used to hearing: IV - V - V - I.
Great content, brief and well explained and a touch of history. Thank you!
How do you only have 8000 subscribers?!?!?!? Brilliant video! Thanks. :)
Thank you so much! I took a break from college and desperately need refreshers and explinations like this.
Great explanation! I loved the reference of Capricho Árabe from Francisco Tárrega.
I chuckled every time the Napoli football club’s crest replaced the N symbol in the sheet music examples. Nice touch! 👍
Just the kind of videos I have been looking for so long! I find it excellent because of the following points:
-It's not about those basic topics so many videos show, but about less known and more advanced ones.
-You illustrate the theory with examples, both classical and current, giving even the historical background.
-It is not a mere academic exercise of musical analysis: you show how to use it, in addition to how it has been used.
-The concepts are explained in a very understandable and entertaining way :)
-And, finally, you don't simply expose the rules, but you also justify them explaining their raison d'être.
Hope this is only the beginning of a long series of videos. Congratulations.
This explained it so well!
Really great video, and edited very well too! You deserve more subscribers!
“Do not stress the augmented 2nd interval unless you want to sound Middle Eastern mode” is surely the best name for the harmonic minor scale. Love the vid! Funny and educational!
Great explanation!
Best explanation found!
awesome video!
I thought I understood it until I watched this video. Maybe if I watch it 50 more times, it will come back to me.
Great video!!
love your vids, could you do some more like videos for beginners who wanna get into composing, but like not complete beginners at piano ive played for 2 years its just all the technical stuff can be confusing
I'm your 10.000th subscriber! 😀
Thank you and all the other 9,999 :) Means a lot!
Very nice and well done explanation. Thank you very much!
You should do a video on the "Tierce Picarde" too !
thanks so much. I didn't understand when my professor taught it but now i get it more so thank you
Could you make a video about the augmented sixth chords (Italian, French, and German)?
Well, thank you. It actually helped
Very nice
I have been trying to find a good explanation for a while now, and I finally found it.
Perfect!!!!!
ottimo video!
4:00 I must admit... I'm very impressed that you used Tárrega's Capricho árabe as an example here. Very impressed indeed. 👏 👏 👏
I think one of the most famous examples to me is in Beethoven's Eroica symphony in Eb major, where in the middle of the development there is an outburst of rage where the progression goes G-C-FM7 (the famous chord with the minor second dissonance), which would normally lead to a Bb7-Eb cadence, but instead turns out to be a deceptive Neapolitan chord for a new theme in E minor.
Great!!!
Good explanation
Gold
Muito bom !
Its just 4 seconds and i already laughing lol. All your video makes learnin music soooo fun!
You made a really great explanation! Neapolitan scale has been used even in italian and especially neapolitan popular music. You wrote that that chord in the neapolitan major scale gives you anxiety? As a southern italian and having lived in Naples i should say that the neapolitan music is romantic,emotional, exciting, sometimes dramatic but it never gives anxiety! I'm kidding, my best congratulations for this interesting video!
Great vid! thanks vm - you have a new subscriber
wow - it could not be any better than this - I wonder how long it takes you to edit videos like this.
thats nice
I had to slow down this video. great info thanks
You just saved me from an exam I have this week, thank you!
You are a monster. I mean this in a good way.
I always find it funny how daunting certain names for musical terms are until they are broken down like this, where you have made it rather simple!
So if we are in a different modal root in the same key signature where this Neapolitan chord rests on a different degree - say the 3rd mode of major (pulled back 4 degrees from the minor example) which is Phrygian, does this still work like that?
And 2) if we are to understand this as an out of key or out of scale chord then is there a second possibility somewhere in the scale so that we can have another flavor? I hear that it is the practice (back in the minor mode example) of creating a dominant 7 chord at the 6 degree.
Well then we nicely have three flavors of a neopolitan ice cream stack?
And I hear there is other stuff one can do to modulate out of key like augmented 6 chords and stuff.
A 4 flavor Neapolitan ice cream perhaps would get another name. Maybe cosmopolitan.
Can you suggest the literature where I can find this cord in the pieces of composer (basically since Beethoven to Schönberg-Debussy era)?
You Can do this from A minor ( using the A melodic min b2)
A min D min E min F# 7 into B min ( or B b, D, F# Augmented into B minor)
The F# aeo b5 is now the F# b4, b5....you can play it as dominant , diminished or AUG.
When you're in B Minor..simply play the (N6) again...as in b2 of B min or CMaj7 to A minor.
it's nice and smooth
But it'll be the same movements in reverse...if you went from
A min Bb2 down to G min...
Then all you have to do is play to go back UP
G min C min D min E7 into A min ...again.
You can also play . The term PRE DOMINANT is going to HELP you.
as LYDIAN or ION Maj7
Bb Lydian to F MAJOR
Bb Lydian DOMINANT C7 mix b6 into F Minor
Lydian b3 C7 mix b2 into F Harmonic MAJOR
Lydian #2 C# loc b4, bb7 into D Harmonic minor
( you can play the lydian #2 as maj7 , min or full deminished)
You can simply play E7 as D double harmonic min to get back into A minor
The trick is the E7 into A MAJOR or min..then you'll sort of see as b2 of A Ionian.
Bb aeo b5 C loc 4 into C# melodic min/ E MAJOR
C# min ( N6) D7 E7 back into A melodic min...ect
How did you pronounce those names that well? Are you Italian?
More music theory videos please
2:55 This is the driest humor and I love it
Is Chopin's introduction to his nocturne in C#m an example of the Neapolitan?
Я ПЛАКАЛ. ГАЛАКТИЧЕСКИ. ДУШЕРАЗДИРАЮЩЕ. НЕВЕРОЯТНО.
Trying to understand chords in Classical music. How do I start that process (how do chords Progress)??
What's that image at 0:04?
Isnt N6 a first inversion of the VII chord in a minor scale with a flat 2nd? Atleast my proffesor told me that
I was more looking for how the Neapolitan can be tonicized in part writing. I am guessing it’s the same as tonicizing any regular chord but I am unsure. Regardless this helped me to understand the concept a little more.
@Created eXplained
When you was playing on the piano in the beginning it sounded exactly like the intro of the song
"Could It Be Magic" by
Barry Manilow.
Me personally i like Doug Church
version a lot more.
He's probably the anyone whoever came close to singing like
Elvis Presley in the early 1970s.
I definitely know and guarantee you like Barry Manilow because why would you play the begining of that song intro out of nowhere?
does Pink Floyd's breathe! _is all your life will ever be_ , 2:02-2:05 count?
It is flatterned 2 chord then how can be it sub dominant????
And where to use it as in bach chorale the chord progression is chord2(minor) 5th and 1st.
What about minor key is it like N6 ,5 and 1
it's a predominant function, it's not a subdominant chord, however. "subdominant" refers to being built off of the note before the fifth, predominant refers to the function.
this is why ii in major is a predominant in function, but supertonic in position.
Are you italian? Pronunci perfettamente i nomi italiani...complimenti per il canale ciaooo
Puo' darsi :)
lol, im composing in Gm right now and trying out the neapolitan chord
I study music theory on Spain and I al confused with the term predominant chord and subdominant chord.are they the same chord with two different names?
Subdominant is a specific function in a major key tonality. Pre-dominant is whatever chord points to the Dominant (the V7 usually), which includes the Subdominant chords. Makes sense?
In Major key ok.i understand that it's the 4rth grade...but un minor then It could be any grade that leads to a V7..?
In major and in minor it is generally agreed that the 2nd and 4th degree chords are in the subdominant family (and are hence also pre-dominant chords).
why does music have to be such a science project?
I wanted to study music but it's just too expensive. :'( So i decides to maybe just self-study since it is my passion. Do you know any books or pdf about music theory wich i can download and study? Thank you so much.
Start doing Solfage (you could find many exercises in Pozzoli's books), then study Piston's "Harmony", one of the best books you can find out there.
Also studying music is not that expensive. If theory and composition is what you're after you could easily tale just one lesson every week (which would be 15 to 25$ in most cases). You can study theory and harmony by yourself, but you should still see teachers as long as you're still doing solfage (it is easy not to notice mistakes, you REALLY need someone to check on you every once in a while).
@@TobyHonest420 i learned a little bit of music theory because i used to play piano in the seminary when I was a seminarian. But I only know about scaling and making chords. (Though I know it's very little knowledge) I just realized that a teacher is important for a more systematic way of learning and music school here in the Philippines is really expensive. One semester is worth 2 years of my course right now. :(
@@TobyHonest420 Anyways thank you so much for the help and suggestion. I really need it. I appreciate it. Thanks a lot!
Your videos are great! Can you make a video about basic music theory for beginners?
Thanks! My video on Harmonic Functions is an attempt at a more basic concept :) hope I didn’t make that one too complicated but check it out
Isn't it called "Neopolitan"?
you are hilarious and Iove you
Please activate ADD TRANSLATION function your videos if dont mind.
The video and information is great...just slow down a bit maybe...give a few pauses to let every new piece of information sink in with the viewer/listener..
Why so fast?
The N is not in first inversion
Don’t get it...
Yeah Im gonna spam N6 chord for a week now
2:59 lmaoo
4:28 Nadie entiende al Ab :(
Me after thinking I made a new chord: years of academy training wasted
Reminder to not confuse Bass Inversions with actual chords from their diatonics. I failed super badly.
Huh?...
why so hush hush 2:54
why do people, even when they are just talking and trying to explain things, confound music with horse racing?! it makes most performances to look more like athletism and circus exhibition than anything else much less music...
At 1:05+ into your video, , you present a scale- G-A-Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G -that you call - G-min.…. HUH?
Just which G-minor scale are you attempting to present ? Is this a new one ? or a very old one ????
Would that be the G-Melodic Minor scale that has two flats - Bb & Eb …. ? You have even placed an extraneous flat symbol in front of the B and the E on the staff.
However, all of my text books show that the G-Melodic Minor has a Natural sign in front of the E and ALSO has a Sharp before the F … neither of which are shown in your illustration.
Perhaps you are showing the G-Harmonic Minor scale, which also has two flats- Bb & Eb - in its signature, excluding the Natural before the E.... but including the Sharp symbol before the F.
The Aeolian mode of the G scale also has the two flats, but not the Sharp in front of the F; while the G-Dorian scale has but one flat..... Bb
So, pray tell, which of the G-Minor scales were you attempting to portray ?
Or could it be that my mind has slipped a couple of cogs ???
G A Bb C D Eb F G is the G natural minor or G Aeolian scale, which is definitely different than the G Dorian, Harmonic Minor and Melodic Minor (both traditional and jazz).
I’m afraid you must’ve confused something
Thank you for your clarification. I was taught.... and think of the minor scale as the Major scale with a lowered 3rd. i.e.. the Harmonic Minor). I would believe that most music students, when they think of the minor scale... think of it in that form (some authors refer to it as the ' minor' … and not the Aeolian or Melodic Minor or other modes related thereto. Ergo, that you chose to use a lesser common - or a particular mode - might have been more informational had you introduced the G minor scale as - "the G Aeolian minor scale". Would have helped with "clarity of explication".
Again I thank you as it has given me an opportunity -albeit a much needed one- to increase my meager musical theory knowledge.
I don’t agree, the G natural minor scale (which happens to be the same as the aeolian mode) is the related minor of a major scale (Bb in this example). Hence minor at it’s most natural state.
you're shooting through a lot of material WAY too fast..
whats up with the distressed chick ??
Explained too quickly. Please give a breath so i can understand better 😅
you do know there's a pause button... :)
Remus Grama if i watch a video and i have to stop it every 10 sec to understand another language i’ll be stressed. It was just an advise for the youtuber because i want to enjoy his explanations with all the comfort
@@tizizicoblack1246 If that gets you stressed, then by god I'm so sorry when you start experiencing the hardships of life xD
@@tizizicoblack1246 I understand your displeasure, but consider that other people may (presumably) know more about music theory than you, and thus find this even a little slow. I found the pace of this perfect. It's not possible to please everyone.
this video insults islam because its not muslim music