First inversion triads - I6, V6, and viio6

Hello everyone! This is Dr. Meyer here with a video on first inversion triads built on 1, 5, and 7. We are adding these three new chords to your part writing repertoire, and we'll achieve this by incorporating them into different motion types. Importantly, 1-6-5-6 and 7-diminished-6 fill out the framework of 1-5-1 through the use of melodic figures that you already know. 1-6-5-6 and 7-diminished-6 expand 1 and 5 through bass motions of passing tones, which are stepwise, neighbor tones, which are also stepwise, and arpeggiation, which involves leaping to and from a tone. We are focusing on the baseline here and the movement from chord to chord when we are analyzing these chords and their functions. These figures will appear and work in the same way that you have already encountered them in second species counterpoint. First inversions of 1 and 5 can appear as part of a bass arpeggiation of a static chord. The inversion appears simply as an embellishment of the chord, prolonging it and its function. Observe in the examples how both the 1 and 5 chord move from root position to first inversion by arpeggiating the tonic and dominant triads roots, respectively, and then adding the third in the bass. These examples are classic textbook of 1-6 and 5-6 expanding 1 and 5 as part of an arpeggiation. Here is what the top example with 1-6 sounds like. Did you hear how the bass went from Do to Mi and kept the same quality? Here's what the bottom example with 5-6 sounds like. This time the bass moved from Sol to Ti, arpeggiating through the G major triad. Let's look at an example of 1-6 and 5-6 through arpeggiations in real music. Listen to this example of Haydn's String Quartet Op. 3 No. 5 and follow closely along with the bass line as well as you can. Let's focus on the bass line of the first two measures. We can see that the bass is leaping through the tonic triad with an added D in the first two measures, taking us from I to I. So the chords in the middle of these, I chords, must be expanding this harmony. In the first measure, Eb moves up to G, featuring a 1-6 through arpeggiation. The V chord on the downbeat of the second measure is followed by a first inversion V chord through arpeggiation before returning to I at the end of the measure. The bass pattern is repeated again in the next two measures and features the same first inversion chords which help prolong the I chord until the end of the phrase where we get an imperfect authentic cadence. Remember that F suspended over the tonic triad in the cadence does not delay but instead intensifies the cadence. Listen to the Haydn again and follow along with the analysis. Try to hum the bass line if you can. Let's look at one more example of arpeggiation in the bass line. Listen first to the example from the finale of Schumann's Pathéon. Try to follow along with the bass line specifically. In D major, after the anacrusis on scale degree V, Schumann begins with the tonic triad in first inversion leading to I. Look at the bass line in the second measure. It features an arpeggiation through the tonic triad but not with I6 or V6 like we've seen before but instead with the V chord in root position as part of the arpeggiation. The phrase then ends on a half cadence on V. The next phrase prolongs and expands the tonic harmony again before ending on another half cadence on V. Listen once more and follow along with the analysis trying to hum along the bass line if you can. A first inversion neighbor chord can also prolong a given function. Neighbor chords occur between two chords of the same position because the neighbor tone departs and returns to the same pitch in the bass. Just as in our example here where the bass moves from C to D and back to C again, the inversion of V occurs through neighbor motion and prolongs the tonic harmony on either side of it. Listen to this example and see if you can hear do-ti-do in the bass. Let's look at an example of V6 acting as a neighbor in real music. Listen to this example from the minuet of Bach's Suite No. 3 and follow closely along with the bass line. Did you see the neighbor tone between the B's in the bass line when you were following along? The B in the bass is the root of the tonic I chord in B minor and the A sharp is the lowest sounding pitch in the V chord in first inversion. The same figuration occurs again in the second system and features the same prolongation of tonic through V6 as a neighbor. Zooming out a little, we can see that the bass leaps around a lot to support the changes of harmony and we can even see the V chord as part of an arpeggiation to prolong the tonic. Listen to the example once more following along with the analysis and try to hum along with the bass line if you can. It's pretty quick. The final figuration we're going to discuss in this video is that of passing motion. First inversion triads can occur as part of a passing motion within three or more chords. Often the outer chords will be the same harmony, thus the prolongation or expansion of that harmony through the use of passing motion. In our example, the 7 diminished 6 appears through stepwise motion in the bass which leads from 1 to 1 6. Listen to this example and try to hear Do, Re, Mi in the bass. Here's an example of 7 diminished 6 expanding the tonic through passing motion in Beethoven's piano sonata in G minor. Listen to the example and see if you can identify the passing 7 diminished 6. The 7 diminished 6s here move in stepwise motion between 1 6 and 1 in the first and third measures, effectively expanding the tonic harmonies in both of those measures. In fact, this expansion sort of creates one harmony change per bar from 1 to 5 to 1 and concluding at the end of the phrase on a half cadence on 5. Listen to the example once more and follow along with the analysis, paying particular attention to the stepwise passing motion of the 7 diminished 6. We learned three new chords in this video, the 1 6, 5 6, and 7 diminished 6, which are used to expand 1 and 5. They achieve expansion by moving, particularly in the bass, through the figurations of arpeggiation, which we are abbreviating ARP, neighbor motion, abbreviated with just an N, and passing motion, which we abbreviate with a P. These bass motions are very important because the rest of tonal harmony uses these particular figures to elaborate the 1 and 5 bookends again and again. That's all for now. Happy part writing!