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20.2: Examples of the Neapolitan Chord

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    117502

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    neapolitan-moonlight.svg

    Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata, Op. 27, No. 2, I (1802)

    For comparison, play the example above from the Moonlight Sonata and try other pre–dominant chords in its place, like iviv (FmF♯m) or iiii∘6 (DFD♯∘/F♯), while noting the difference in effect.

    The next example is a well-known movie theme.

    neapolitan-indiana-jones.svg

    Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\): John Williams, Raiders of the Lost Ark, “Raiders March” (1981)

    As with the example from the Moonlight Sonata, try other pre–dominant chords (like IVIV, iviv, or iiøiiø56) in place of the Neapolitan chord in the example above, and notice the difference in effect.

    The next example shows the harmonic progression from main theme of the recent Star Trek movies.

    neapolitan-star-trek.svg

    Figure \(\PageIndex{3}\): Michael Giacchino, Star Trek, “End Credits” (2009) (chords only)

    neapolitan-lex-luthor.svg

    Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\): Hans Zimmer and Antonius Tom Holkenborg, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, “The Red Capes are Coming” (2016) (chords only)

    This page titled 20.2: Examples of the Neapolitan Chord 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.