MUSIC THEORY

Music 222

Mod 12
  1. In four voices the bass is always doubled in 2nd inversion chords.
  2. In three voices it is best to have all three chord members, but occasionally the 3rd may be missing and the 5th is doubled.   Rarely, the root may be missing and the 5th doubled.
 It has been learned that the cadential six-four always occurs on a strong beat.  The reason for this is the high frequency with which the tonic chord falls on a strong beat in a cadence.  With the tonic six-four on a strong beat, the natural resolution to the V chord is on a weak beat, which in turn resolves on a strong beat to the tonic.  Keeping this in mind, contemplate what would happen if the meter were triple, rather than duple or quadruple.  The tonic six-four would fall on beat 1.  This chord would proceed to the V chord on beat 2.  The resolution of the V chord, however, would then be on beat 3 (a weak beat).  For this reason, it is possible in triple meter, for the tonic six-four to occur on beat 2 instead of beat 1.  In this way the V chord would come on beat 3 and the resolution to the tonic would be on beat 1, where it should be.
 
 

Click on each measure separately to hear the examples.

This page is designed to assist students enrolled in Music 222 - Music Theory.  If you had difficulty in class with the contents of this lesson, this may help you to comprehend the material.  If you missed the presentation in class, this may help to update the material for you.

If you still have questions, contact Dr. Bartolotta at wbartolo@odu.edu.

William S. Bartolotta
Music Department
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529