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Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
makes my hair stand on end
044200
I think it’s used in Fairport’s ‘Who Knows where the time goes?’ where the initial chord sequence is...
E | F#m11 | E | F#m11 |
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
My consistently favourite chord is this one
1 - 0
2 - 3
3 - 2
4 - 0
5 - x
6 - x
I think its D sus 2? (whatever that means).
I like to play it backward - slowly from 1 to 4 - almost appreggio. To my mind this sounds 'Indian'/exotic (sorry if that clumsy reference is offensive). Then I like to stamp on my EHX freeze and play melodies over the top using what (again in my mind) is an exotic 'indian' scale - playing the open d string and the then fretting the 3 string on 0, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12 etc.....
Looks and sounds good (in my humble and ill informed option)
the thing I like with the German 6th in addition to being cool sounding
it's also very good as a springboard for modulating
The German 6th is a chord based on the flattened 6th degree of the scale (though that’s not related to it being called a 6th). So it’s a chord whose root is a semitone above the V chord, and it leads to the V chord before a resolution to a I chord (or a i chord). So if you’re in e minor, the V chord is B, and the German 6th would have its root as C, and would include C, E, G, A#. You will see that in the move to the V chord, the C slips downwards to the B, and the A# slips up to the B above in a lovely symmetrical outwards movement.
That C to A# is an augmented 6th, because e minor would otherwise have an A natural. Don’t think of it as a C7 moving down to a B7 (even though C, E, G, Bb is enharmonically identical to C, E, G, A#). That would spoil the effect. It’s a C and an A# moving in both directions to a B and a B.
Extra info if anyone’s interested:
Baroque music is full of ‘secondary dominants’ - ie the “V chord of a V chord”. So instead of having ii-V-I or ii-V-i, the II chord is often major. So in e minor, you get an F# major chord instead of an f# minor chord as the II. The F# major has a A# in it, so in the II-V-i you get a strong, almost melodic feeling in the harmony, with A# -> B -> E. The cello will often play that as a low melody to reinforce the harmonic II-V-i. The German 6th has a similar quality to it.
There’s also an Italian 6th which is the same as the German but without the G, and there’s a French 6th which is the same as the German but with F# instead of the G, and sounds really whimsical. They all give that similar quality to a II-V-i. You get it most strongly with the French 6th, because that has the F# itself and therefore sounds even closer to a II chord.
There’s also a Neapolitan 6th which is also very beautiful. It only works in the minor key. It also prepares for the V chord and has a diminished 6th rather than an augmented 6th. The chord it’s based on is the phrygian of E minor, which would be F A C, but it’s played in 1st inversion, so A (C) F. The A-F is the diminished 6th (because E minor has an F# not an F). It slips to the V chord as follows: the A goes up a tone to B, and the F slips down a tone to D#. So it’s more of a pincer-movement than an expanding-outwards movement.
There’s also an Australian 6th but I’ve forgotten what it is.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
Slightly redundant now, but I had already prepared a post saying ~
"Come on guys, you are both talented players with prodigious theoretical knowledge. We need more, maybe re-read the OP, and share the fingerings / voicings / inversions / examples, so we can all give these flavours a try, share the formulae so we can construct similies, share the context (admittedly "German 6th that resolves to a minor key" goes some way to this), share a playing style if appropriate, and please share any theory around these if you can. We can all learn so much more "on the job" so to speak !"
Honestly not meaning to have a go in any way shape or form (just incase I come across that way (I am in "grouchy git mode" today!)). I am so grateful you are here and sharing some input. As a comment it was intended to be tongue in cheek. But there are so many people on here at varying parts of the journey, I am sure we can all learn a bunch from each other. So the more info you can add the better IMHO, then we can cherry pick what we need right now, and come back for the full banquet later...
So with that in mind
Neapolitan (beyond the 6th explained above please) ???
...springboard for modulating ???
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
By it's very nature that often means a lot of information way beyond my level at that moment. Kind of what I meant by "we can cherry pick what we need right now, and come back for the full banquet later" But you always explain things clearly, and in a good progressive way, which means that by coming back a few times the ideas interweave and make sense, and the picture starts to come more into focus. A great way to learn !
Theoretical knowledge, for me at least, underpins the ability to create and control the emotional reactions which are the very essence of what music is, IMHO.
This forum is a wonderful platform to enable that, so big thanks to you, and Clarky, and all, for your continuing guidance.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The more I learn, the more I understand and know. The irony is that the more I understand, the more the landscape in front of me widens with each iteration, and the more I realise I don't know and have still to learn.
This seems to be the same in every facet of life IMO. Anyone who tells you they have reached the end of the journey, has misunderstood the question. It keeps the hunger for life and for knowledge fresh and exciting.
Supportact said: [my style is] probably more an accumulation of limitations and bad habits than a 'style'.
the thing I like about the German 6th, is that enharmonically is sounds like a dominant 7th chord [even though the chord spelling is totally different]
a little example for folks so that they can hear this thing in action..
note: purely to make this easy to get your head around, I'll describe the German 6th as it's enharmonic equivalent
this will be [in terms of music theory] completely incorrect, but at least you'll be able to hear it
as viz pointed out, this family of chords are known as "augmented 6th chords"
ok so a German 6 sounds just like dominant 7 chord rooted on the minor 6th degree of a scale
try these:
German 6th resolving to Em [which I love]
C7 - Em / B - B7 - Em
the C7 is enharmonically the same as the German 6th in E
note that the following chord is Em in 2nd inversion [Em / B], this is an important part of how to handle an Aug6th chord..
and again but resolving to E major [which I also love, but not quite as much as when it resolves to a minor key]
C7 - E / B - B7 - E
distant keys...
key that are considered to be 'close' are those that share the most notes..
for example.. C contains all natural notes, G is all natural with one #, F is all natural with one b
these are all closely related cos they share 6 of the 7 notes available..
changing key between them is easy cos they have a lot in common..
distant keys have the least number of notes in common
so... F and E are distant... all the notes are different.. changing key from F to E is tricky..
the German 6th can come nicely to the rescue
in the key of F:
I, IV, I, V7 [F, Bb, F, C7]
the C7 chord is V7 of F.. but it also shares the same pitches as the German 6th in E..
we can exploit this and decide that C7 is a 'pivot chord' [it belongs in F as V7 and also in E as a Germ6th]
we then establish the key of E with a V7 -> I in E [B7 to E]
we end up with this...
F - Bb - F - C7 - E/B - B7 - E
we started in the key of F, and nicely ended up in the key of E
ok so this is the stuff of Beethoven and Schubert..
however, I have used this in rock songs on occasion and certainly in my movie trailer music
with and without using it to change key..
without changing key I use it to sound powerful and dramatic [especially in my orchestral pieces]
like this for example
note: the C7 chord is actually a German 6th in Em, I'm just writing is as C7 so you know where to put your fingers..
Em ' ' ' / Am ' ' ' / Em ' ' ' / C7 ' ' ' / Em/B ' ' ' / Bsus4 ' B7 ' / Em ' ' ' /
personally, I think it sounds absolutely beautiful..