[Nate]

For those who do not know (which is probably 99% of those reading, haha)... an augmented sixth chord is named for the interval of an augmented sixth (AKA minor seventh) that occurs between the two outermost members of the chord when it is simplified to its closest possible voicing. The other notes in the chord (besides the two notes that make up the augmented sixth) include a note that is a major third above the lowest note (the bottom member of the augmented sixth) and then either a note that is a tritone above the lowest note or a perfect fifth above the lowest note (you may actually omit both of these notes, but you cannot include both). Here are some examples, if that all sounded like Greek to you: D-F#-B# (AKA D-F#-C, but it's not proper to spell it that way; this form of the augmented sixth chord is dubbed an "Italian 6th"); C-E-F#-A# (this includes the standard major third above the lowest note, as well as the tritone above the lowest note; this form is dubbed a "French 6th"); G-B-D-E# (this includes the major third and also the perfect fifth above the lowest note; this form is dubbed a "German 6th").

The standard use an augmented sixth chord is to precede the dominant (V, in the Roman numeral system) in a chord progression. What happens is that you build an augmented sixth chord starting from the note that is a half-step above the 5th scale degree of your key, then when you add the augmented sixth above this lowest note, you'll get a note that is a half-step below the 5th scale degree. Example: In the key of C, a typical augmented sixth chord would include the notes Ab and F# moving outward to G and G (the 5th scale degree and the root of the dominant of the key). This contrary half-step motion to the 5th scale degree is EXTREMELY striking and is often used to set up a huge cadence or a modulation.

Now that the basics are (somewhat) covered, I'll move on to the story of why I am better than you.

My brothers and I played "Salvation Belongs To Our God" this morning during our church's worship service, and we included the modulation up a whole step for the last chorus as we usually do... however, we employed an augmented sixth chord in said modulation that we had only hinted at in the past. The song is in G, and the progression for the chorus is G | D/F# | C/E | Em7 D. When we modulate up a step, this progression becomes A | E/G# | D/F# | F#m7 E. In the past, we have used a progression for the modulation that looked something like this G | D/F# | C/E | Em7 D | G | D/F# | F | E | A | E/G# | D/F# | F#m7 E | etc. I think Daniel usually plays the bass note on the guitar, and I always play just some nice open chord voicings on the piano. When we first decided to do the modulation, the F was a chord that just felt right to me as I was playing through possible modulatory passages, so we just used it. However, after thinking about the descending chromatic bass-line in our modulation progression, I decided to try and come up with a more interesting chord than the F I had chosen to precede the dominant of the new key. The chord I came up with was a German augmented sixth chord in the key of A major... which I dubbed "F7" for simplicity's sake.

Obviously (or maybe not obviously), the F7 label is a misnomer, because such a label implies a dominant-functioning chord which this chord was not. Let me explain that in English: You would normally expect an F7 chord to move to a Bb chord, and for the Eb (the 7 of the F7 chord) to move down by step to a D in the Bb chord; HOWEVER, in the German augmented sixth chord that we used, the "F7" chord moves to an E chord instead of the expected Bb chord, and the Eb (which should more properly be labeled a D#, so as to actually make an augmented sixth [rather than minor seventh] with the F) moves UPWARD by half-step to E instead of downward by half-step to D. The coolest thing about augmented sixth chords (especially the German variety) is that they break conventional expectations; you'd expect an interval that sounds like a minor seventh (but is really, in this case, an augmented sixth) to act like a minor seventh... but it DOESN'T!!!

I've always loved modulating at the end of this song, but when we added the German 6th ("F7") into the mix, it sounded sooooo much cooler. It was uber-awesome. I wish I could find more songs where such a cool modulation would be both appropriate and effective.

Anyway... that's my story. Is anyone still with me?

In His love,
Nate

[georgeo]

Cool, I've done that kinda thing, i think...but i didn't know what it was at all...until now. And now i'm just confused about it. Time to read through that a few more times.

[Xkcer Man]

I'm still with you. I used a German chord to start off this song I wrote as my final project for Theory III 2 years ago.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by Xkcer Man

I'm still with you. I used a German chord to start off this song I wrote as my final project for Theory III 2 years ago.

Coolness!

In His love,
Nate

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Nate

Muahaha... I am awesome and you are not

For those who do not know (which is probably 99% of those reading, haha)...

Now that the basics are (somewhat) covered, I'll move on to the story of why I am better than you.

Anyway... that's my story. Is anyone still with me?

In His love,
Nate

Do I detect a certain amount of hubris in your post? Hmmmmmmmm?

(And some people think I think I know everything! )



Chesh

Still, neat post. Good info.

[Nate]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

Do I detect a certain amount of hubris in your post? Hmmmmmmmm?

Haha. I was just being facetious in order to get people's attention. I don't really think I'm better than y'all.

In His love,
Nate

[bmphan]

I'm gonna try to read through that again and understand what you did so I can apply it to guitar. In the meantime, I really like the G D/F# F E into A E/G#... progression, it just has so much momentum built up in that F E transition. I'm going to use it this Sunday. Thanks for the tips (both those that I get and those that I will hopefull get one day ).

[Nate]

Originally Posted by bmphan

I'm gonna try to read through that again and understand what you did so I can apply it to guitar.

Basically (unless you want me to go into details about how each note in the F7 chord led to each note in the E chord), I just changed the F in my first example to an F7 (though it really wasn't an F7, haha).

In the meantime, I really like the G D/F# F E into A E/G#... progression, it just has so much momentum built up in that F E transition.

Yes, it does. It's even better when you use an F7 (AKA German 6th) before the E. Try it and you'll see.

In His love,
Nate

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Nate

Basically (unless you want me to go into details about how each note in the F7 chord led to each note in the E chord), I just changed the F in my first example to an F7 (though it really wasn't an F7, haha).

Why don't you give us a note-by-note breakdown of all of those changes in action, so we can see how it works. I think you left a few distinctions out of your original treatise, thus making it difficult to connect some of the dots.

A seizure of unbridled hubris will do that, you know.

Chesh

[Nate]

Originally Posted by CheshireCat

Why don't you give us a note-by-note breakdown of all of those changes in action, so we can see how it works. I think you left a few distinctions out of your original treatise, thus making it difficult to connect some of the dots.

As best as I can remember (I'm away from my keyboard right now), these are the chord voicings I used.

Chords are spelt vertically, so that you can see how each note moves on the horizontal axis. The bass note will be bolded. The chord progression is at the top, underlined.

G - D/F# - 'F7' - E <- this is the progression
B - A      - A    - G#
G - E      - D#  - E
D - D      - C    - B
G - F#     - F     - E <- this is the bass line

How's that?

In His love,
Nate

[R2D2]

Yeah, I follow you Nate, but I'm a Music major, so something would be wrong if I coudn't follow .

Augmented 6th Chords are fun, because of the possibilities they create for modulation. Any dominant 7 chord can be resolved like the German 6th to move into a new key, and likewise, any German 6th can be resolved like a dominant 7 to move to a new key.

[Shredcheddar]

I followed, Nate. Keep in mind, I stumbled and tripped and did a few faceplants here and there... but I kept up.

This is the third music theory post of yours I've actually printed out (so I can read it elsewhere because it's so freaking complex!).

[Martavius]

Can I use that chord progression in "Mary Had a Little Lamb"?

[Nate]

Originally Posted by R2D2

Augmented 6th Chords are fun, because of the possibilities they create for modulation. Any dominant 7 chord can be resolved like the German 6th to move into a new key, and likewise, any German 6th can be resolved like a dominant 7 to move to a new key.

Yes. The coolest thing is that the same chord can lead to vastly different keys. The F7 in my example could have led to Bb or to A. A half-step is a HUGE distance in the world of key relationships (Bb and A are basically on opposite sides of the Circle of Fifths) and it's weird that one chord can be used to modulate to either of two keys that are so distantly related. The only distance that seems stranger, to me, is a tritone. Though, you could use the F7 as a secondary dominant of Bb, and then lead to Eb... accomplishing the either/or between A and Eb which are a tritone apart. F7-E-A or F7-Bb-Eb... HAHA! Craziness!

In His love,
Nate

[CheshireCat]

Originally Posted by Nate

As best as I can remember (I'm away from my keyboard right now), these are the chord voicings I used.

Chords are spelt vertically, so that you can see how each note moves on the horizontal axis. The bass note will be bolded. The chord progression is at the top, underlined.

G - D/F# - 'F7' - E <- this is the progression
B - A      - A    - G#
G - E      - D#  - E
D - D      - C    - B
G - F#     - F     - E <- this is the bass line

How's that?

In His love,
Nate

Not bad, but I was referring more to this:

Example: In the key of C, a typical augmented sixth chord would include the notes Ab and F# moving outward to G and G (the 5th scale degree and the root of the dominant of the key). This contrary half-step motion to the 5th scale degree is EXTREMELY striking and is often used to set up a huge cadence or a modulation.

Also, in the D/F# in the above example, where does the E come from?

Chesh