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scarlatti

February 14, 2022 By Aron Bernstein 4 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge: 2/14/22

Show off your theory chops with my weekly challenge! You’ll find a new question here every Monday. Please comment to post your reply.

Valentine’s Day Challenge:

Scintillating Scarlatti! Here’s a passage from Domenico Scarlatti’s Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K. 198. What is the harmony inside the red circles, and what harmony does it resolve to on the notes with the red asterisks?

Scarlatti, Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K. 198
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Post your reply and come back Friday, February 18th for the answer!

ANSWER for 2/14/22

Ninth chords don’t just appear in pop and jazz…you’ll find them in early 18th-Century Baroque music too! The harmony inside the red circle is F#7, which is V7 of V in E minor. However, the F#7 is decorated with a ninth, G natural, making it an F# dominant minor ninth chord. But unlike in jazz, the ninth here is really just a suspension, which resolves to the root of the F#7 at the asterisk. Jazz music typically treats ninth chords as a more permanent sonority, rather than a temporary decoration.

F# Dominant Minor 9th resolving to F#7

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Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: breakingbarlines, classicalmusic, harmony, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic, scarlatti, sonata

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