Irregular resolution through augmented sixth equivalence

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, an irregular resolution is

resolution Resolution(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Resolution (debate), the statement which is debated in policy debate * Resolution (law), a written motion adopted by a deliberative body * New Year's resolution, a commitment that an individual mak ...

by a

dominant seventh chord In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord, usually built on the fifth degree of the major scale, and composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh. Thus it is a major triad tog ...

diminished seventh chord The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, 3, 5, 7). For example, the diminished seventh ...

to a chord other than the tonic. Regarding the dominant seventh, there are many irregular resolutions including to a chord with which it has tones in common or if the parts move only a whole or half step. Chadwick, George Whitefield (2008). ''Harmony, a Course of Study'', p.160. .

Consecutive fifths In music, consecutive fifths or parallel fifths are progressions in which the interval of a perfect fifth is followed by a ''different'' perfect fifth between the same two musical parts (or voices): for example, from C to D in one part along ...

and octaves,

augmented intervals Augment or augmentation may refer to: Language *Augment (Indo-European), a syllable added to the beginning of the word in certain Indo-European languages *Augment (Bantu languages), a morpheme that is prefixed to the noun class prefix of nouns i ...

, and

false relation A false relation (also known as cross-relation, non-harmonic relation) is the name of a type of dissonance that sometimes occurs in polyphonic music, most commonly in vocal music of the Renaissance. The term describes a "chromatic contradiction" ...

s should still be avoided.

Voice leading Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counte ...

may cause the seventh to ascend, to be prolonged into the next chord, or to be unresolved.Foote, Arthur (2007). ''Modern Harmony in its Theory and Practice'', p.93ff. . The following resolutions to a chord with tones in common have been identified: *Type I, in which the

root In vascular plants, the roots are the organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often below the sur ...

motion descends by

minor third In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...

. C, E, G, B would resolve to C, E, G, A; two tones are common, two voices move by

half-step A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest interval (music), musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most Consonance and dissonance#Dissonance, dissonant when sounded harmonically ...

in contrary motion. *Type II, in which the root motion rises by minor third. C, E, G, B would resolve to D, E, G, B; again, two tones are common, two voices move by half-step in contrary motion. *Type III, in which the root moves a

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval composed of three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three a ...

(two minor thirds) away. C, E, G, B would resolve to C, E, F, B = A; again, two tones are common (with enharmonic change), two voices move by half-step in contrary motion. Regular resolution

Type I is common from the 18th century; Type II may be found from the second quarter of the 19th century; Type III may be found from the mid-19th century. The composer

Richard Edward Wilson Richard Edward Wilson (born May 15, 1941) is an American composer and pianist. Rejecting serialism, to some extent Wilson engages in tonality, though often with the use of considerable chromaticism. His ''oeuvre'' includes orchestral, operati ...

is responsible for the categorization. The most important irregular resolution is the

deceptive cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...

, most commonly V⁷–vi in major or V⁷–VI in minor.Owen, Harold (2000). ''Music Theory Resource Book'', p.132. . Irregular resolutions also include V⁷ becoming an

augmented sixth In classical music from Western culture, an augmented sixth () is an interval produced by widening a major sixth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . Specific example of an A6 not g ...

pecifically_a_German_sixth.html" ;"title="German_sixth.html" ;"title="pecifically a German sixth">pecifically a German sixth">German_sixth.html" ;"title="pecifically a German sixth">pecifically a German sixththrough enharmonic equivalence or in other words (and the adjacent image) resolving to the I chord in the key the augmented sixth chord (FACD) would be in (A) rather than the key the dominant seventh (FACE) would be in (B).

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irregular Resolution Chord progressions Harmony

See also

Sources