Augmented 6th Chords Made EASY!

[@saraskinner6151]

My theory final is in 7 hours and you just saved my life. Thank you for this video.

[@benthepen3336]

Oh man... lots has happened since this comment was posted haha hope all is well😊

[@boptillyouflop]

The Jazz theory equivalents: - Italian sixth: bVI7 (voicing without 5th) - French sixth: bVI7#11 - German sixth: bVI7

[@alexschneider4068]

This is the way to go right here

[@austintaylor55]

I like to think of them like this as well :) But one thing: French Sixth I would call a bVI7 (b5). There is no 9th in the chord.

[@skyesports-azure]

italian one can also written as bVI7(omit 5)

[@jacobruiz97]

Oddly enough, the French sixth chord is the same as a V7b5/V. For example, the French sixth chord in C minor is the same as a D7b5 chord, but in second inversion.

[@SeanGould]

If you’re talking jazz theory it would be more accurate to call it a bII7 of V.

[@patandmacmusic]

A lot of music theory texts and material are super gatekeepy. Your explanation of the secondary dominants cleared up almost 20 years of mystery for me.

[@siddspain]

As a compliment for the video, ok, but sad about your teachers.

[@i_want_a_day]

Lmao so true

[@jeffreyvukovich6026]

You're so well spoken and the video is put together very well! It's been ten years since I learned this and now I have to teach it. Thanks for re-teaching me!

[@twominutemusictheory]

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you found the video helpful. Please feel free to use this video with your students.

[@enriquesanchez2001]

Jesse - it's good to have a sense of humor. But even better to ignore those who don't :) Consequently, as we used to say in the old (hippie) days: Keep on Truckin!

[@timmiltz2916]

This was SO neat to hear you mention the pull from 5 to 1. One day I was following an observation I made on MANY pop music melodies, and I realized, so many of the Beatles songs that are so catchy ? And many others? START on 5 and resolve to 1. The 5th in my mind is tne nearest relative to the octave in that, the octave is 1 to 2, the fifth is 1 to 3. So, while I no longer play 'songs' when I do just 'play', I so often give a LOT of weight, or maybe I should say gravity to the 5th. So neat though to hear you mention that gravitational pull to 1 from 5 though. Thanks so much for making these videos.

[@NickRosaci]

Thinking about going to grad school, and of all the skills I've used out in the professional world, I've even heard the phrase "augmented sixth chord" so rarely that I forgot how to use them. This video explained it perfectly, without dumbing it down too much to where it got slow, and completely cleared out all the cobwebs. Thanks!

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Thank you very much. I have been struggling to grasp the rules behind this so I can understand why. You cleared that up more than anyone I have asked or watched. I appreciate your clarity and way of explaining. The Aug6 wants to resolve outward and the D7 wants to resolve inward helped. Though they have the enharmonic equivalent notes they are are leading to different resolutions (different keys).

[@UltraLeetJ]

gotta love the parallel 5ths at the very end lol. But it was a really nice refresher!

[@jorgecorante]

Studying this now in college. Thank you, your video was super helpful and much easier to understand.

[@georgesdelatour]

Listen to the end of the second movement of Bach's First Brandenburg Concerto. Bach writes a "German" 6th chord, but gets out of the parallel 5th problem by first resolving it onto a "French" 6th.

[@katieburnham9851]

do-fi-le! I laughed OUT LOUD! Well played, Sir! 😂

[@ashtonallen5608]

This was my first video I saw of yours. I'm convinced. Subbed 👍

[@tevfikustun2827]

I believe I'm a noob when it comes to music theory but this video was so well detailed and explaining, this will help me imitate and understand an overwhelming majority of music I usually listen to. Thank you!

[@ainguyendoan3028]

For the first time in forever, I managed to understand these chords.

[@davidsandberg6179]

This was excellent, thank you very much. And it opened up a thought for me: aren’t the augmented 6th chords you discussed here, especially the Italian and German varieties, to a large degree like a tritone substitution, except leading to the dominant chord rather than the tonic? In your examples, those Ab augmented 6ths all share C and F# as their 3rd and b7th (or augmented 6th) degrees, just like the Dmaj chord it is substituting for does, and just like tritone substitutions for dominant chords. And, just as in the case of substituting Db7 for G7 in the usual tritone substitution (in C major), the root of the substituted augmented 6th chord is a tritone removed (Ab rather than D in this case). If I’m anywhere in the ballpark on this, it seems like quite the eye opener for me, and when I now play them on the piano, I hear them functioning the same way.

[@twominutemusictheory]

Great observation, this is a common way of looking at them, especially by jazz musicians - so great ear! I have a video on why I think the Augmented 6th and the Tritone Substitution are different - from a classical composer's perspective if you want to check that out.

[@blakehoulahan]

My harmony lecturer at uni explained these to us and it was 10x harder until I watched this vid. Keep the videos up dude!!

[@awesomeguitarist101]

man, I'm not gonna lie, I really never thought that Bambi steak would be what gets me through my music theory midterm this Friday. Thank you so much for the easy explanation!

[@jhonatan.vasquez]

Great explanation, thank you so much!

[@robertsirico3670]

I can watch videos on augmented 6ths ALL DAY LONG. Lol not joking. Love it!

[@srijansrivastava3507]

This is the best explanation! Thank you :)

[@gideonels]

Thank you for making music theory fun!

[@yadielsanchez6952]

Ahh the classic 7:11 (2 minute video)... LMFAO

[@caterscarrots3407]

I am writing a scherzo and one thing that I have been told to do is to make the audience expect something but then thwart those expectations by for example cadence evasion. 1 thing that immediately came to mind is deceptive resolution, in other words resolving the dominant to the relative minor. I have also been told that I can use that same C7 to go to Db major(a case of tritone substitution, which I don't think is used all that much in classical music but is used a lot in jazz) or that I can spell C7 as an augmented 6th to go to C major or G major instead of F major. What augmented 6ths could I have as a respelling of C7 besides the German sixth?

[@twominutemusictheory]

Only the German sixth has the exact spelling of a dominant 7 chord. However, the other augmented sixths can be used creatively there too. Many composers have used these chords to modulate. Honestly, we really don't have to follow the same rules though in modern compositions - so a tritone substitution is perfectly acceptable in modern "classical" music. It may however, be out of character for the piece (I haven't seen it), so that may not be the best fit. Depending on voice leading (I'm assuming you're in F major based on information provided), you could go from C7 (V7) to a French 6, which would be very similar in function to a Db major, and then resolve the augmented 6 back out to a C, and use that as your cadence into C major. You could also possibly come out of the IV (Bb major) into a Italian or French 6 built on C (C, F#, Ab, D), and then use that to cadence into C major. Of course, I've only given examples on how to modulate to the dominant, and that can be cliche. So, my advice is a) figure out what key you want to end up in, b) look at the voice leading of the chords preceding it, and c) remember that the augmented 6 resolves out to an octave, and let that guide your decisions.

[@oboemilyf]

Also, Bambi is not a doe--Bambi's mother, on the other hand...

[@paul_composer]

Thanks Jesse, your videos are brilliant!

[@twominutemusictheory]

Glad you like them!

[@paul_composer]

@@twominutemusictheory you’ve helped me through my Grade 8 Theory exam last weekend! I’ll owe you a drink!

[@DavidDorenfeld]

Vegan here; Do Fi Le flew right over my head so I didn't have enough time to get upset. Anyway thanks for video! I just learned about an Augmented italian chord from my friend today. So sick. I really like the sound of the 1 - 6- 4 progression you shared.

[@tessi4099]

Thanks a lot!💎

[@williamcloninger2589]

This video was 7 minutes and 12 seconds long. It says so right on the player. Why is it called 2 minute music theory if the video is 5 minutes and 12 seconds long. This is why we can’t have nice things.

[@dambotg89]

william cloninger yeah it threw me off because at first I thought it was two minutes long and half way thru the video I was confused because it felt way longer than 2 minutes. I checked and saw it was 7:12 long and I was like oh okay.

[@SundayMatinee]

Well, he did go over 3 variations, so he's only 1 minute and 12 seconds over. Also, if you watch it at 3.56x speed, he's spot on.

[@benson3955]

Qua👏lit👏y Con👏tent👏

[@aniyahmilanez6103]

could you do a video on cto7 ?

[@ashlowy7878]

Great explanation man

[@ratonmusical5865]

My teacher of counterpoint call to this three chords like the phrigian dominant. :D PD: Sorry my bad english.

Like the phrigian mode it ends , downward, with half-tone (to V)

[@ratonmusical5865]

@ Yes, in fact my teacher call to this three chords like the phrigian dominant because of that you mean. That half-tone of the phrigian mode. :D PD: Sorry for my bad english

[@stefaniecruz3185]

Thank you so much.

[@MiloGanz]

What if you take the Eb to an F note and resolve the German chord to a G dominant 7 without 5th?

[@Matt-no7gg]

Yeah I'm just gonna bury my head in my tea after that joke

[@ThinIce365]

for the German, does it go back to C Major ever? Like you resolved it to C minor, but weren't we in the key of C? So then what?

[@bobross6180]

It can go to G, G7, Cm/G, or C/G.

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Hi Jesse. I have been trying to add this great clip to a playlist on my channel called music theory. It rarely gets views from anyone other than me. I like to keep useful clips I have learnt from handy to refresh my memory or send of the clip to a friend. For some odd reason I can't add this clip. I have never had this problem before. I have searched for an answer to no avail. I was wondering if it is a setting on your channel. If it is and you don't want this clip added to playlists I completely understand. If this is the case can you please let me know so I can stop trying to sort it out? Regards, Amanda

[@twominutemusictheory]

Hmm...I'm not sure. I went and checked all of my settings, and everything seems to be public and shareable.

[@emriesq3096]

I'm still working through my feelings about that joke...... but at least I understand augmented 6th chords now.

[@twominutemusictheory]

Take all the time you need. Do fi le is not easy to digest.

[@illusionist1872]

"There's a french, a german, and an italian, which sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but it's not." My guy, it sounds like the beginning of a GREAT joke, or maybe I have low standards

[@artiemixx9319]

So, in a nutshell, in the C chord, the notes are A♭- C - F♯, no?

[@AlessandroZir]

shouldn't the French be considered more devilish than the German no matter Wagner?! or perhaps they really don't since even with two tritones they notheless came back to the tonic...

[@johnprice3341]

Hilarious

[@williammontgomery8812]

Good video. Although, it's not two minutes (just messing with you) and I don't get the Bambi joke. LOL

[@twominutemusictheory]

William Montgomery okay so the Bambi joke is Doe Filet would be a steak made from deer. Do Fi Le is the spelling of the Italian 6 chord. Punny beyond all reason.

[@williammontgomery8812]

Two Minute Music Theory ooooooh. LMAO

[@AmandaKaymusic]

Oh dear.

[@feeeshmeister4311]

Amanda Kay Oh Deer*

[@orangeguy5374]

Bruh. Tritone substitution.

[@farisfuad1150]

Doe filet

[@Danumurti18]

they're just modified hendrix chord

[@dinoferrante1718]

Huh?

[@ricardo713]

So handsome 😍

[@PedroTrueMX]

Gotta watch this at .75 speed cus he’s a fast talker😅

[@ikhaatjullieallemaalpersoo5715]

You look like the jontron of music

[@vincentedelmond5404]

You are complicating dude the augmented is the 5th note which is in C chord C E GSHARP thats

[@shartusmcfartus]

The German augmented 6 in Shine on you crazy diamond is my favorite use of this concept

[@PianoMeSasha]

"In common practice music." you mean in "common practice WESTERN music." this is you tube, dude, people watching from many diff cultures.

[@ilovenycsomuch]

Pallathur1917 chill

[@boptillyouflop]

"Common practice" already implies "Common practice Western", because only Western music is segmented this way (other traditions have different historical periods). It's also a shortcut way of saying "Renaissance and earlier music might work differently" (since they still had the old European modes) and "Jazz and Rock and later music might work differently" (since they have a somewhat different way of analyzing chords) and "atonal music works differently".

[@brendaboykin3281]

Relax, Bro.

[@SteveDewan]

Hey man I'm from the "other" cultures and I don't really care...

[@williamrich7638]

This explanation is way too complicated. The Augmented sixth chords are simply a chromatic alternation of the iv6 in minor going to V. In between them lies the Augmented sixth chord. You simply sharp the fourth degree of the scale. It's easy. It goes like this iv6: b6 - 1 - 4 to Aug. +6: b6 - 1 - #4 to V: 5 - 7- 5. The interval in the chord of b6 to #4 is the augmented sixth. These chords are prevalent in the minor mode because iv6 already has a flat sixth scale degree in it.