Lesson 32 Neapolitan triads and other altered chords
Part I - The Neapolitan triad
Another chromatic chord is the Neapolitan chord. It is often called the Neapolitan sixth chord because of its tendency to appear in first inversion. The Neapolitan triad is a major triad built on the lowered second scale degree. As an example, in the key of C, the Neapolitan triad would have a root of D flat.
Here are some examples of neapolitan triads:
Fig.1 Neapolitan triads in Major keys
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fig.2 Neapolitan triads in minor keys
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The Neapolitan triad in the chord progression is found in the progression before the V chord.
Fig.3 N6 triad in context in c minor
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The Neapolitan chord can also be placed before the second inversion i chord. Here you can see the voice leading for the bass works well with the F leading to the G in the I six-four.
Fig.4 N6 followed by the I six-four leading to the V
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Here are some different common spellings of the Neapolitan chord in Major and minor.
Fig.5 Different spellings of the Neapolitan chord
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Part II - Chromatic Augmented chords
THere are a few chords that work well as augmented triads in place of their diatonic major qualities. The first of which is the I chord. It is more commonly found in the Major scale for voice leading purposes. You can see here that the I+ triad leads well to the IV chord because the raised fifth leads right to the A.
Fig.6 Augmented I triad
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The other commonly augmented triad is the V chord. The voice leading here works extremely well also because the D# leads right to the E from the V+ to the I.
Fig.7 V+ chord in context
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