On May 22, 10:41 am, "Mike A" <MikeA@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> "David Raleigh Arnold" <darno...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
messagenews:pan.2008.05.22.13.28.03@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> <...>
>
> > Ignoring all other issues than three fingers on the piano RH, the
> > second inversion is more dissonant and therefore less final than
> > the root position, or the first inversion for that matter, so it
> > helps to keep things moving, which is very desirable until you intend
> > to stop playing. daveA
>
> Is there an acoustic/technical reason why it is more dissonant?
>
> It definitely seems so to me ... actually, I think of it as more
"crunchy",
> as opposed to root position which seems "tame"/"bland", with its three
ducks
> in an orderly row, and first inversion which seems "weak", with the root
> waving up there by itself in the wind (all this leaving aside melodic
> context, voice leading, etc., etc., any of which may make root position
or
> first inversion seem like a better choice in context).
I know that this thread is hard to read and keep your sanity, but this
has been addressed before in this thread. Due to many reasons, not the
least of which are the conventions of functional harmony and the
practices of the older contrapuntal style, and possibly the fact that
the structure of this chord taken by itself suggests that the virtual
Fundamental of the chord is the bass or lowest note and the 4th above
it wants to resolve down to the 3rd to put things in harmony with the
Harmonic Series. This is true for the 6th as well. In the case of the
more stable root position chord, this resolution is not necessary as
the tones are already in order with the fundamental of its lowest
note.
This is difficult for some to understand because of the fact that they
both occur in the harmonic series. The difference is the way the ear
perceives the relation****p of these three tones. In the 6/4 chord, the
ear can easily perceive the virtual root as C in a G C E structure. We
automatically arrange the tones to a tertian form because of our
training and the conventions of CPP music. BUT, and it is a big BUT,
the ear does not rearrange the tones in the same manner when dealing
with the harmonic series. In this case, the ear goes to the lowest
note and assumes that this is the bass note. In the case of the root
position chord, this does not create a problem. The root and the
fundamental is heard as the same thing and our ear aligns it by
assuming that there is a fundamental two octaves below the C root and
then the harmonic series is in harmony.
In the 2nd inversion or the 6/4 chord, this is not the case and here
is where many become confused when trying to talk about what our ear
does naturally. The lowest note in the C maj in 2nd inversion is NOT
the root, but instead is the 5th of the chord. In order to align this
structure with the HARNONIC SERIES, our ear assumes that the lowest
note is the 4th partial of the Harmonic series as it is the easiest
place for these notes to fit into the series. Thus the C major chord
is not in sync with the Harmonic Series. With the G as the
fundamental, the very strong presence of the 4th above it must resolve
to the B and the E will typically resolve to the D. This is a very
strong tendency as this all occurs in the relatively lower parts of
the HS. It is ALMOST what Joey was trying to say, but it has nothing
to do with the order of the partials (the C is WAY up in the G
Harmonic series and so is the E unless you think that the 7th partial
is a sharp E instead of a flat F, but that is another discussion!)
The best way to understand this is that the LOWEST note of the tones
played is the strongest as it relates to the Harmonic Series and thus
will become the FUNDAMENTAL that will affect that structure from this
perspective. If the lowest note is also the root, there is not the
tension that is there when it is not.
One may ask then, "What about the 1st inversion chord? How does this
fit in?" Well, this is more difficult to explain. Here we would have
the E as the fundamental and none of the tones appear in the lower
parts of the HS except for the E! (This might be one of the reasons
that hardly anyone talks about this chord in this context! ;-) It is
however, related to the minor triad in that it has a minor third built
into the structure and then there is a 4th above this note. Some may
hear that this C note has a tendency to want to rest by moving to the
B below it and thus becoming a minor triad. I don't know if this is
the reason, but it can be heard in this manner and one can see how
this 1st inversion chord is related to E min. And herein lies the
problem with trying to explain how this inversion fits into this
discussion. In order to look at how the ear hears this inversion in
this context one has to open another discussion and first decide on
how the minor chord relates to the HS and I am not ready to take the
time to try to explain that at the present.
I will, however, point out that the 1st inversion voicing is not
generally used as a functional structure in the same manner as a Root
position chord or a 6/4 chord. A very large amount of usage of the 1st
inversion chord is as a result of a passing tone in the bass and it
not functionally significant. It also occurs when the bass line
arpeggios up or down the chord or if there is a change of open or
closed voicing. Again not functionally significant. It is also used in
some cases, especially in the later stages of functional harmony as an
ending to a phrase or section as a tonic chord, but in this case it is
also referred to as a 'feminine ending' thus suggesting that it is
something other than the normal function of the Tonic chord. Thus, the
1st inversion chord is not used in the same manner that the root
position and the 6/4 position of the chords HAVE been used and
perceived by the ears of the composers for many centuries of music
history.
NOW, I do not aver that this is the ONLY reason that can account for
the use of these chords. But it will certainly explain a lot of
things. The most im****tant function in harmony is the Dominant and the
Tonic. It seems that this is why the particular relation****p of the
root and 2nd inversion are the ones that the composers living more
closely to the more simple structures of music and harmony chose to
center on these three very strong factors involving these chords. i.e.
the TONIC, the DOMINANT, and the CADENTIAL 6/4 chord (which is a
mixture of the two)
I hope that this sheds some light on your inquiry.
LJS
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