The “Neapolitan 6th” Chord

 

Hi Guys,

Here, is the re-post for the Neopolitan 6th chord [blog] as requested.

The “Neapolitan 6th” chord is a 1st inversion of the supertonic [chord two] triad but with the  root and fifth lowered a half step. Neapolitan 6th chord lesson example

In modern terms we could think of it as a flattened second chord 1st inversion. Below is a more popular common approach.

A musical score illustrating the Neapolitan 6th chord, showing notes C, D♭/F, and F, with guitar tablature and rhythmic notation.
Musical notation illustrating the Neapolitan 6th chord

Minor Key example:

[In this case only the root is lowered as the C minor key signature already has the Ab in the key signature]

Neapolitan 6th chord minor key

OTHER COMMON AUGMENTED 6 TH CHORDS

French Sixth Italian Sixth German Sixth Augmented 6th Chords

These chords can occur on the flattened submediant [flattened chord 6] of the major scale or the normal submediant [chord 6] of the minor scale.

FRENCH SIXTH

French sixth chord augmented 6th explanation

ITALIAN 6TH

Italian sixth chord augmented 6th

GERMAN 6TH

German 6th augmented chord explanation lesson

9ths 11ths and 13ths harmony:

9th 11th and 13th chords explained music theory

One last idea using the 7th chord as a Diminished chord followed by the dominant 7th 1st inversion to C the Tonic chord.

Diminished 7th chords for cadences

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KraftGeek “Capsule” Music Stand [And Accessories] REVIEW:

Hi Guys,

Today, a product review.

This is the KraftGeek “Capsule” music stand.

This stand won the best music stand award at NAMM in 2024.

Not only, is this a great music stand, but it’s also a great tool for the content creator.

The best part for me, is that the design allows [with accessories] iPad/iPhone and “LumiLight” application for social media needs.

Straight out of the box the stand has a sleek, smooth and state of the art feeling. The materials used are top notch.

It’s also pretty light, and very mobile/portable.

The other great thing is that the stand folds and unfolds easily with a sliding telescopic leg support. So, there’s nothing sticking out or sharp

This makes it especially useful for traveling, gigging, orchestral performing and social media/content creating on the go.

The great thing about this stand is that we can attach a light, an iPhone and/or an iPad .

The light accessory, screws on to the top of the stand.

This, has two settings and can be powered by a USB Power bank or 3 AA batteries.

Next, we have the iPhone/iPad Holder. This simply screws in, either, at the centre or at the top.

This, can also make the stand into an iPad holder [or iPhone] on its own if needed.

For a musician and content creator this is unbelievably useful, and essential when creating on the go.

This, is what makes the stand so unique, because, it is more of a “Tool” really, a sort of Swiss army knife [of mobility] for a social media and/or gigging musician that dosen’t want to carry a big bulky stand with separate iPad/iPhone stands and cases etc.

Prepare yourselves!….This is not a cheap stand. But, as in all things in life, you get what you pay for.

The stand itself costs [at the time of writing this review] £68

The stand with all accessories costs £114 [at the time of writing this review]

There are two points that I would say need looking at though.

1] The middle bar needs to go out further and come in closer. As, the clips can’t attach themselves to both ends of the manuscript paper. Not all music paper sizes, but some, especially songbooks.

Diagram showing adjustments for the middle bar of the KraftGeek 'Capsule' music stand, labeled 'In Closer' and 'Out Further'.

The second point: [for me this is not really an issue, but, to some musicians it might] it’s this: This stand does not really hold books that are excessively heavy or super bulky in weight.

Although, in my test it can hold one single heavy [heavy-ish] book without a problem.

Here’s a couple that I tried.

This held fine:

This, also held up fine.

But, both together were too much and the telescopic leg slid down a bit.

Again, for me, this was not a problem, [as I use this as a gigging/content creating stand], but, perhaps for some people who wish to use big bulky books at home, a heavy duty stand would be preferable.

But, I would call this a tool for the gigging musician that needs to travel light. This one stand can do the work of having separate stands and cases etc, whilst being hassle free in terms of mobility/portability.

Schoenberg’s chord of the 15th-Music Examples and Analysis

Hi Guys,

Today, a look at the final chord of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Sechs Kleine Klavierstucke” 2nd movement.  In thirds this reads as: C–E–G–B–D♯–F♯–A♯–Cx.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music

This extended chord of a 15th, can also be viewed and heard as a bi-tonal construction of C Major 7th with Eb minorMajor 7th superimposed on top

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music

This can also, be thought of [especially in terms of the guitar] as an arpeggio of CMaj7 and an Arpeggio of EbmMaj7.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_explained_15th_in_music

Due, to the nature of its sound and collection of notes, it can produce some interesting counterpoint. Especially, as the Eb to E natural resolution creates colour and drama. [view video at top of page].

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_guitar

Being, a Bi-Tonal chord it is useful as it gives us triad pairs.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_guitar

Ascending Line:

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_chord_pairs_guitar

Now, we will take this a stage further by adding more chords/triads available.

D+ to C to EbmMaj7 to CmMaj7 to Em7 to Bmaj7

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_chord_pairs
schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_chord_pairs

Let’s now, re voice the chord. Here we will make the chord of C a minMaj7 and add D Augmented [9th] on top.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music

In the video/audio [a quick demo I created] below, we can hear the dramatic sound of this voicing in the orchestra.

Next, we have two guitar voicing’s. Firstly we have a Bsus/C [or plain B/C] as a typical McLaughlin guitar voicing.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_mclaughlin_guitar

Secondly, we have the same voicing but with a changing bass.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_guitar

Lastly, another guitar voicing that is useful for chordal picking:

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_guitar

From here, we will add a partial scale descending that is formed from the chord: This chord voicing has a flattened 5th and a sharpened 9th.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_guitar

Lastly, we can create some interesting and colourful passages by exploiting the intervals inherent within this 15th chord.

schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_intervals
schoenberg_chord_music_analysis_extended_15th_in_music_intervals

Arnold_Schoenberg's_chord-of-the 15th_analysis_music_theory