The 'NEAPOLITAN 6' chord, EXPLAINED

DESCRIPTION:

The Neapolitan chord is a very popular harmony used in various genres. In this video I aimed to explain this rather simple concept in full depth; hopefully this is understandable to musicians and non-musicians/music lovers. probably not :)

Hopefully you will learn something in this video :)

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Credits:

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[Zavendea]

Hearing the composers’ names pronounced correctly was music to my ears

[Incolent]

That moment when youtuber explains N6 chord better than almost all theory teacher ive had past 20 years.

[MsJocelynC]

“...because voice leading.” That’s all of music theory, in one, succinct phrase.

[christopherbarker]

I've always thought there is more to the Neapolitan 6th than this. I believe it is the tritone substitution of the dominant (5th) chord, watered down by removing the 7th; that it wasn’t structurally understood in its era; and that after going out of fashion in the 18th century, it was rediscovered - in its true form as the tritone substitution of V7 - in jazz music in the 1940s!

Classically, the Neapolitan Sixth is the first inversion of the flattened supertonic. It most often progressed to the second inversion of the tonic, and then to V7 and I.

But I don't find that any of this description explains why the chord works at all.

I like to think the reason the Neapolitan Sixth works is that it’s the tritone substitution of the dominant (chord V). A tritone substitution takes one 7 chord (a major triad with flattened 7th) and replaces it with the one that’s a tritone - that's three tritones, 6 semitones or half an octave - above it. Tritone substitutions work because the two notes that primarily define any chord - their 3rd and 7th notes - are shared between any given 7 chord and its tritone substitute.

For example, in the key of C, the dominant chord (chord V) is G7: G, B, D and F. The two notes that primarily define a chord's character are its 3rd and its 7th: in this case, the B (defining major) and the F (the minor 7th) on the G chord.

A tritone above or below G is Db, so G7’s tritone substitution is Db7: Db, F, Ab and Cb (= B). The two notes that primarily define the character of this chord, its 3rd and its 7th, are F (defining major) and Cb (the minor 7th)… wait, that’s the same two notes, F and B!

That’s why substituting a 7 chord with its tritone substitution still feels enough like the original chord, while having a really cool effect. It works in all sorts of combinations of I-V-I, replacing either the initial chord I or chord V with their tritone substitutions. It’s also why Dm7 - Db7 - C works: that second chord is the tritone substitution of G7, giving a standard ii - V - I progression but with a more harmonically complex second chord.

So it seems to me that what’s really going on with the Neapolitan Sixth is that it’s fundamentally the ubiquitous cadence of the time (V - I [second inversion] - V7 - I), but dressing up the first of those four chords with its tritone substitution. That first V chord (G) is replaced by its tritone substitution (Db7).

But even a century ago, we didn’t understand enough about harmonic theory to know that that’s what the chord structurally was. So it was called a 'sixth', after the interval between that first inversion and its tonic (F and the Db above it, in the key of C), and added to the lexicon of other 'sixths' or first inversions (the German 6th, the Italian 6th, the French 6th).

If we understand the Neapolitan Sixth to be what I believe it structurally is - a tritone substitution of the dominant 7th chord - I think we understand why it always worked. 17th and 18th century composers omitted its 7th (the B or Cb on that Db chord in the key of C) just because to include a 7th would have felt unnatural - even sacrilegiously unsubtle - at the time. And they always used the chord in its first inversion, because doing so provided the bass line they were used to hearing: IV - V - V - I.

[loganfeecemusic]

I wish more people that attempted to explain music theory concepts in a video format did it as well as you. Amazing stuff

[MusicLover-oeig]

This is the best video in demystifying Neapolitan Chord on Youtube by far: why it was named, excepts how composers used it and how it is constructed. Pictures worth a thousand words, thank you very very much!!

[gabrielcadiz]

The Indiana Jones theme played is a 4th higher than the sheet music. The sheet is in C major, the actual audio is in F. (for those trying to follow along on instruments)

[stepanpribyl]

I love the recap section! Wow! Thank you for that, it is so easy to remember like that :)

[YannisFyssas]

Fantastic ! *THANK YOU* (proceeds to write songs with stacked n6 CHORDS)

[igniss]

Man I love you for this. Brilliant editing

[dibaliba]

This is the best explanation about N6 chord that I have ever seen.

[comet]

Very nice! It was a bit hard to follow from time to time, but the overall effect was very good, and you gave some excellent examples. I can barely imagine the time you put into this, keep it up!

[CarinaPrimaBallerina]

The neapolitan in Bethoven's adagio from piano sonata no. 14 is so brilliantly put that I almost break down every time I hear it. It's so strong, stirring and mercilessly gloomy. Just beautiful!!

[sendit]

that was a neapolitan explanation. you resolved my understanding quite nicely

[sotirisgeorgiou]

Really cool video, exactly what I needed before going to take my exams

Just the kind of videos I have been looking for so long! I find it excellent because of the following points:

-It's not about those basic topics so many videos show, but about less known and more advanced ones.
-You illustrate the theory with examples, both classical and current, giving even the historical background.
-It is not a mere academic exercise of musical analysis: you show how to use it, in addition to how it has been used.
-The concepts are explained in a very understandable and entertaining way :)
-And, finally, you don't simply expose the rules, but you also justify them explaining their raison d'être.


Hope this is only the beginning of a long series of videos. Congratulations.

[DrChaad]

I thought I understood it until I watched this video. Maybe if I watch it 50 more times, it will come back to me.

[sunnyjim]

4:00 I must admit... I'm very impressed that you used Tárrega's Capricho árabe as an example here. Very impressed indeed. 👏 👏 👏

[tomhofmeister]

Thank you so much! I took a break from college and desperately need refreshers and explinations like this.

[geezby]

I chuckled every time the Napoli football club’s crest replaced the N symbol in the sheet music examples. Nice touch! 👍