• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Breaking Barlines

Online Music Theory Lessons: Turn Sound Into Skill

  • Home
  • Teaching Samples
  • Music Theory Lessons
  • Blog
  • About Aron Bernstein
  • FAQ
  • Membership Account
    • Log In
    • Your Profile
    • Membership Billing
    • Membership Cancel

September 6, 2021 By Aron Bernstein 3 Comments

Weekly Music Theory Challenge 9/7/21

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

This week’s challenge:

When writing in four voices, what’s the best note of an Italian augmented sixth chord to double?

  • A) The Root
  • B) The Third
  • C) The Sixth

Hint: choose the option that avoids parallel octaves.

Reply to post your answer, and check back on Friday, September 10th to see if you’re right!

ANSWER for 9/7/21

B) The Third. The Italian sixth is the only augmented sixth chord with only three notes, so in a four-voice texture one of them has to be doubled. If you double either the root or the sixth, you get parallel octaves. The only note in the chord that can resolve either up or down is the third, so this is the best note to double. On the staff below, we have an Ab Italian sixth resolving to the V chord in the key of C minor. The third of the Italian sixth, C, can either resolve up to D or down to B. So the alto and tenor double this third, avoiding the parallel octaves you’d get by doubling either the root or the 6th.

Want to Learn More?

With Breaking Barlines you learn music theory the right way: fun, useful, and with a personal touch! Have a look at the complete Breaking Barlines Course! Then sign up for a monthly subscription for full access to all video lessons, worksheets, and answer keys. New lessons are always being added, so stay tuned!

Spread the love

Filed Under: music theory challenge Tagged With: augmented6th, augmentedsixth, breakingbarlines, chords, classicalmusic, harmony, music, musiceducation, musiclessons, musictheory, musicvideo, popmusic

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Andrew Seid says

    September 6, 2021 at 6:53 pm

    B

    Reply
    • Paul says

      September 8, 2021 at 2:25 pm

      6th

      Reply
      • Aron Bernstein says

        September 8, 2021 at 6:18 pm

        Hi Paul! Thanks for braving this week’s challenge, but you wouldn’t actually want to double the 6th. The augmented 6th can only resolve in one direction, up a half-step to the root of the V chord. And with two voices doing that, you’d get a nasty case of parallel octaves. In the Italian 6th, there’s only one note that can resolve in two different directions, and that’s the one you want to double 🙂

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Footer

Contact Breaking Barlines

  • Tell us about yourself. What is your experience level in music? What would you like to see in an online music theory course? Your input will become future video lessons.

Copyright © 2023 Breaking Barlines · WordPress Website by Waterlink Web