Neapolitan chord

In C major Play (help·info).

In C minor

In music theory, a Neapolitan chord (or simply a "Neapolitan") is a major chord built on the lowered second (supertonic) scale degree. It most commonly occurs in first inversion so that it is notated either as ♭II⁶ or N⁶ and normally referred to as a Neapolitan sixth chord. In C, a Neapolitan sixth chord in first inversion contains an interval of a sixth between F and D♭.

Origin of the name

The Neapolitan chord is so named because it is associated with the so-called "Neapolitan school", which included Alessandro Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Paisiello, Cimarosa and other important 18th-century composers of Italian opera; but it seems to have been an established if infrequent harmonic practice by the end of the 17th century, being used by Carissimi, Corelli and Purcell. It was also a favorite idiom among composers in the Classical period, especially Beethoven, who extended its use to root-position and second-inversion chords (examples include the opening of the String Quartet op.95, the second movement of the Hammerklavier Sonata, and near the beginning and again in the recapitulation of the first movement of the Moonlight Sonata).^[1]

The chord is known as the "neapolitan sixth" due to the interval of a sixth between the root and third notes of the chord. For example, in the key of C major the Neapolitan sixth chord would consist of the notes D♭ (the root note), F (the third) and A♭ (the fifth) with the F in the bass to make it a ♭II⁶ or N⁶ rather than a ♭II. The interval of a sixth is between F and D♭.

Harmonic function

IV-V-I

In tonal harmony, the function of the Neapolitan chord is to prepare the dominant, substituting for the IV or ii (particularly ii⁶) chord. For example, it often precedes an authentic cadence, where it functions as a subdominant (IV). In such circumstances, the Neapolitan sixth is a chromatic alteration of the subdominant, and it has an immediately recognizable and poignant sound. For example, in C major, the IV (subdominant) triad in root position contains the notes - F-A-C. By lowering the A by a semitone to A♭ and raising the C by a semitone to D♭, the Neapolitan sixth chord F-A♭-D♭ is formed. In C minor, the resemblance between the subdominant (F-A♭-C) and the Neapolitan (F-A♭-D♭) is even stronger, since only one note differs by a half-step. (Note that the Neapolitan is also only a half-step away from the diminished supertonic triad in minor in first inversion, F-A♭-D, and thus lies chromatically between the two primary subdominant function chords.)

♭II⁶-V Play (help·info).

The Neapolitan sixth chord is particularly common in minor keys. As a simple alteration of the subdominant triad (iv) of the minor mode, it provides contrast as a major chord compared to the minor subdominant or the diminished supertonic triad. The most common variation on the Neapolitan chord is the Neapolitan major seventh, which adds a major seventh to the chord (this also happens to be the tonic).

Further harmonic contexts

♭II⁶-V Play (help·info).

A common use of the Neapolitan chord is in tonicizations and modulations to different keys. It is the most common means of modulating down a semitone, which is usually done by using the I chord in a major key as a Neapolitan chord (or a flattened major supertonic chord in the new key, a semitone below the original).

Occasionally, a minor 7th or augmented 6th is added to the Neapolitan chord, which turns it into a potential secondary dominant that can allow tonicization or modulation to the ♭V/♯IV key area relative to the primary tonic. Whether the added note were notated as a minor 7th or augmented 6th would largely depend how the chord was going to resolve. For example, in C major or C minor, the Neapolitan chord with an augmented 6th (B-natural added to Db major chord) would very likely resolve in C major or minor, or possibly into some other closely related key such as F minor; but if the extra note were considered as an added seventh (C♭), this would be the best notation if the music were to lead into G♭ major or minor. (If the composer chose to lead into F♯ major or minor, very likely the Neapolitan chord would be notated enharmonically based on C# (for example: C#-E#-G#-B), although composers vary in their practice on such enharmonic niceties.)

Another such use of the Neapolitan is along with the German augmented sixth chord, which can serve as a pivot chord to tonicize the Neapolitan as a tonic. In C major/minor, the German augmented sixth chord is an enharmonic A♭7 chord, which could lead as a secondary dominant to D♭, the Neapolitan key area. As the dominant to ♭II, the A♭7 chord can then be respelled as a German augmented sixth, resolving back to the home key of C major/minor.

In rock and popular music, examples of its use, notated as N and without "traditional functional connotations," include Fleetwood Mac's "Save Me", Journey's "Who's Crying Now", and The Rolling Stones' "Mother's Little Helper".^[2] The Neapolitan sixth also figures prominently, with its traditional function, in the main title music by Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell for the 1998 movie Antz.^{[citation needed]}

Voice leading

Because of its close relationship to the subdominant, the Neapolitan sixth resolves to the dominant using similar voice-leading. In the present example of a C major/minor tonic, the D♭ generally moves down by step to the leading tone B-natural (creating the expressive melodic interval of a diminished third, one of the few places this interval is accepted in traditional voice-leading), while the F in the bass moves up by step to the dominant root G. The fifth of the chord (A♭) usually resolves down a semitone to G as well. In four-part harmony, the bass note F is generally doubled, and this doubled F either resolves down to D or remains as the seventh F of the G-major dominant seventh chord. In summary, the conventional resolution is for all upper voices to move down against a rising bass.

Care must be taken to avoid consecutive fifths when moving from the Neapolitan to the cadential 6
4. The simplest solution is to avoid placing the fifth of the chord in the top part. If the root or (doubled) third is in the top part, all upper parts simply resolve down by step while the bass rises. According to some theorists, however, such an unusual consecutive fifth (with both parts descending a semitone) is allowable in chromatic harmony, so long as it does not involve the lowest part. (The same allowance is often made more explicitly for the German augmented sixth, except in that case it may involve the bass – or must, if the chord is in its usual root position.)

Inversions

The flattened major supertonic chord is sometimes used in root position (in which case there may be even more concessions regarding consecutive fifths, similar to those just discussed); an example occurs in the second to last bar of Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Op. 28, No. 20. In very rare cases, the chord occurs in second inversion; for example, in Handel's Messiah, in the aria Rejoice greatly.^[3]

See also

• Neapolitan scale
• Sixth chord

Notes

1. ^ William Drabkin: 'Neapolitan sixth chord', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 8 June 2007).
2. ^ Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis, p.90. ISBN 9780300092394.
3. ^ Christ, William (1973), Materials and Structure of Music, 2 (2 ed.), Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, pp. 146–7, ISBN 0135603420, OCLC 257117  LCC MT6 M347 1972