Second Inversion Triads (6/4 Chords)

Hello everybody! This is Dr. Meyer here with a video for you on second inversion triads, also called 6-4 chords. There are five common uses of the 6-4 chord, four of which I will discuss in this video. The fifth use, the cadential 6-4, has its own video and I welcome you to check that out. Let's get started. As a quick refresher, let's discuss what second inversion is. Second inversion is when the fifth of the triad is in the base, or the lowest sounding part of the triad, and is the final inversion before inverting back to root position. In part writing and in composition, second inversion chords are the weakest inversion. They carry little sonic potency due to the fifth of the chord being in the base, therefore they must be handled with care. In fact, there are only a few ways in which they play out in functional common practice tonality, all of which have a reference to the baseline motion. The first example is of a passing 6-4 chord. Listen to the beginning of Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata first movement. The jazz chords in Roman numerals in the key of C minor show us that there is a G major second inversion triad between two C minor chords. The function of this chord is passing due to the movement in the baseline from E-flat to D and then down to C. The G major chord here is not heard as dominant function because it is too weak sonically, so we may even label it as a P-6-4 or a passing 6-4 to be complete in our analysis. Listen once more for this passing 6-4 chord in the Beethoven. Another possible function for 6-4 chords is neighboring. Listen to this example from Mendelssohn's Song Without Words, paying careful attention to the second beat of the first measure. The analysis in F major shows us a second inversion triad in C major during the second beat of the first measure. This 6-4 chord is functioning similarly to the passing 6-4 in that it is bridging between tonic triads. This time, they're in root position. The reason this is classified as neighboring 6-4 is the baseline line motion from Do to Re and back to Do again, just like an upper neighbor would do. In your Roman numeral analysis, you may label this as an N-6-4 for clarity or a neighboring 6-4. Listen to it once more and hear that neighbor chord in action. Another way you might see a 6-4 chord is through an arpeggiation of some triad. Listen to this example from Schumann's Wilde Reiter and try to figure out which triad is being arpeggiated. Did it go by too fast? Hopefully you heard and saw the F major chord being arpeggiated. If we take a look at each of the beats and examine the chords with the treble staff, you'll see that each of the inversions of the F major triad make an appearance throughout this figure. This is another way in which you may see a 6-4 chord as an elaboration of a single triad played out in the different inversions. Let's hear again that arpeggiating 6-4 chord. The final 6-4 chord type that I will discuss in this video is called the pedal 6-4. Listen to this example from Haydn's String Quartet in F major, paying careful attention to the bass notes in the first two measures. The harmonies in C major show root position tonic moving to 2nd inversion 4 chord and back again. To see this a little more clearly, here's a reduction of those chords. Notice how the bass note stays constant while the harmony moves to a 6-4 chord through neighbor motion? This static bass note is what we call a pedal tone, so that's where we get the label of a pedal 6-4. Returning to the score, we can see that the static bass part, or the cello part, and the upper neighbor motion happening in the upper staves. You may, instead of labeling this a 4-6-4, label it as a pedal 6-4 to show the function of the chord that's being used here. Listen once more for that static bass and moving upper voices of the pedal 6-4. Now it's your turn to practice. Listen to this excerpt from the beginning of Elton John's Can You Feel the Love Tonight from The Lion King. See if you can find a 6-4 chord in this excerpt and identify it by the way it's functioning with reference to that bass line. The guitar cymbals and jazz chords have already been provided for us by the score. Pause the video now if you need more time. In B-flat, we find the 1-4-5 chords in the opening of the song. However, you should have identified the second harmony in the second measure as a passing 6-4 chord due to its passing motion from G down to F and to E-flat in the bass line. Listen once more to the opening to try to hear that passing motion on that B-flat second inversion harmony. Here's what we learned in this video. Second inversion triads have a special harmonic function because of their weak sonic potency. They must be treated with care when composing and analyzing. The types of chords we discussed in this video, passing, neighboring, arpeggiating, and pedal, are classified based on their motion in the bass line relative to the chords around the 6-4 chord, so it's easy to tell how the chord is functioning. Because of these special idiomatic uses of 6-4 chords, you should pay careful attention when you're writing them in part writing or in composition, as well as classifying them in your analyses to make sure that they're operating as one of these prescribed functions so you can be as accurate as possible. If you want to know more about the cadential 6-4, please watch the video on this channel of the same name. That's all for now. Thanks for watching!