The Neapolitan (II)

I. The Neapolitan sixth as pre-dominant

The Neapolitan sixth is a common chromatic harmony of pre-dominant function. Its
root is the lowered second scale degree, so it is often identified as II. Another name given it is
the Phrygian sixth, after its resemblance to the Phrygian church mode.
As a pre-dominant sonority whose bass note is ^4, it is basically an intensified version of
ii6 or IV (or, in minor, of ii˚6 or iv). It is probably somewhat more common in minor mode music,
but can make for sudden, dramatic coloristic effects in major-key passages.
Note that ^2, as a tendency tone, is seldom doubled, and must resolve in its direction of
alteration, i.e. down by step; the bass, ^4, is usually doubled instead. Since II6 normally prepares
the dominant, ^2 will be “corrected” by the introduction of ^2 (usually in a different voice)
upon the arrival of V or V7. Note that the melodic diminished third between ^2 and ()^7 (see
(a) below) is usually filled in by the cadential six-four (see (b) below). Note that ^6 must be
introduced, via mixture, when II6 is used in major (see (c) below).

II. The Neapolitan sixth and the 4-4-5 bass

The bass progression fa-fi-sol (^4-^4-^5) uses II6 in conjunction with vii˚7/V to create a
common, emphatic cadential effect (see (a) below). A variant uses V 6/5 of V to create the same
bass progression (see (b)). Note that in both cases ^6 must be introduced over the ^4 in the bass.

III. Tonicizing the Neapolitan—and beyond

Adding a minor seventh to VI (the natural minor form of the submediant) provides an
applied dominant for the Neapolitan, which thus can function not simply as a pre-dominant
The Neapolitan (II)

within a given key, but as a tonicized key area in its own right.

Note the enharmonic equivalence of V7 of II and the German augmented sixth. This
equivalence can be exploited in various ways by composers.

Above, (a) shows the German augmented sixth behaving as a conventional pre-dominant;
(b) shows it, respelled, functioning as V7 of II. In this way, composers of the late 19th century
juxtaposed distantly-related keys like C and D-flat major. Also, consider (a) below, where a
minor seventh transforms the Neapolitan into a dominant harmony leading to the very distant
key of V. This is not as common as the example which follows at (b). Note the enharmonic
respelling of II7; note that this chord shares with V7 (shown at (b)) the same tritone. As a key-
defining interval, the tritone is the active ingredient of V7, as shown at (c).

The anomalous result is that progressions resembling both German and French
augmented sixths end up resolving directly to tonic, as substitute dominants. This happens in the
The Neapolitan (II)

music of Schubert and later 19th-century composers; it also occurs in jazz, which is the original of
the term “trione sub[titution]” used above.