![]() ![]() The defining characteristic of an augmented triad-the dissonant augmented fifth-has a peculiarly unstable quality and composers tended to use it sparingly prior to the Romantic era.Īugmented triads are not functional chords in their own right, but rather chromatic representatives of diatonic harmonies: the raised fifth is usually introduced as a chromatic passing tone. One reason for this is that, in contrast to other chromatic sonorities, the augmented chord alters the framing interval of the triad, the perfect fifth, which stabilizes the triad. Though often listed as one of the four varieties of triads-the others being major, minor, and diminished-augmented triads as independent chords are rather rare in tonal music up through the 1820s. The chapter will conclude with an examination of dominant seventh chords with lowered fifths. We will go on to look at how an augmented fifth can also be introduced in a dominant seventh chord. ![]() In this chapter we will first discuss augmented triads: triads with a major third and augmented fifth above the root. Such altered fifths are frequently presented as chromatic passing tones, elements of chromatic voice-leading that drive the harmony forward. ![]() Alternatively, composers sometimes chromatically alter the fifth of a major triad or seventh chord, which retains the modal identity of the chord while heightening its urgency for continuation. Chapter 29, on mixture, explained how and why the diatonic third of a chord is sometimes chromatically altered to switch the mode from major to minor or vice versa. ![]()
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