Skip to main content
Humanities LibreTexts

16.4: Other Occurrences of Six-Four Chords

  • Page ID
    117479
  • \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    16.4 Other Occurrences of Six-Four Chords

    Second-inversion chords with the fifth of the chord in the bass, also known as 46chords, are special chords found only in four situations in classical music.

    1. Cadential six-four (discussed in the previous section)
    2. Passing six-four: the bass line will look like a passing-tone figure, with three stepwise ascending or descending notes, and the middle chord will be a 46 chord

      figured-bass-passing-64.svg

    3. Pedal six-four: the bassline will consist of three repeated notes, and the middle chord will be a 46 chord.

      figured-bass-pedal-64.svg

    4. Melodic bass six-four: in this situation, the bass voice has the melody; when the fifth of the chord occurs in this bass voice melody, the result will be a 46 chord.

    This page titled 16.4: Other Occurrences of Six-Four Chords is shared under a GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Robert Hutchinson via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform; a detailed edit history is available upon request.