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Posted by Dean
on 8/23/2008, 4:45 am, in reply to "augmented sixth chords?"
15.219.153.77
Hi Taco, thought I would add my knowledge of Augmented 6th chords.
The primary purpose is to enhance the effect of a cadence, it's an altered chord that makes the cadence more powerful as it is unexpected. The critical point is that the augmented 6th interval moves to an octave on the dominant note/ chord. The augmented 6th is usually in 1st inversion and is built on the minor 6th of the scale (e.g. in C major the basic chord is Ab (minor 6th), C (3rd above bass) and F# (aug. 6th above bass) - this is known as the Italian. The German is exactly the same but add the perfect 5th (G), and the French is the Italian but with the augmented 4th added (D natural).
Hope this helps.
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