Yesterday, we had a blast learning about 6-4 chords.

Basically, they are major chords with their fifths as the lowest note.

For example, if you’re about to play a C major chord — in this case, just simply play G as the lowest note with C major on top and you’ve got yourself a 6-4 chord. Simple right?

Now, here’s the big deal.

Normally when I refer to second inversion chords, I’m usually just referring to the right hand alone… like when I’m talking about harmonizing a melody or something. So when I say, “play C major in second inversion on the right hand,” the truth is that the overall chord is still C major in root position if I’m playing C major in the bass.

I usually don’t get that technical though because it’s a given that C is the bass most of the time so when I usually mention inversions, I’m only talking about the right hand.

But with 6-4 chords, it’s not just playing a second inversion chord with the right hand in the way I just described. It’s actually playing the 5th as the lowest note of the overall chord. So if C major is your chord, G will be your bass and nothing will be lower than it.

In fact, we could end this conversation about 6-4 chords right now. You could easily just say Cmaj/G and it’d be the same thing. That’s essentially a “Cmaj 6-4.”

(But if you’re like me, you’d like to know exactly what you’re playing and what other people call it, right?)

Well, today, I want to go a step further.

Let’s actually study real-life applications of the 6-4 chord.

1) The Neighboring 6-4 (a.k.a. - Pedal 6-4)
2) The Passing 6-4
3) The Cadential 6-4

Neighboring 6-4

This basically occurs when the bass stays the same but the upper voices of the chord move to a 6-4 chord and back down to the original chord. Usually in a stepwise motion (that is, the notes that move only go “next door” and come right back).

Like in this C major chord progression:

C major
E + G + C on right / C on left

F major / C (or Fmaj 6-4)
F + A + C on right / C on left

C major
E + G + C on right / C on left

Notice that the first and last chords are the same. The chord in the middle serves as a neighboring “6-4″ chord. The bass never changes (always remains on “C”).

You hear this a lot in the beginning of ballads. It sounds pretty.

Passing 6-4

This usually occurs when the bass is walking up.

C major
E + G + C on right / C on left

G major / D (or Gmaj 6-4)
D + G + B / D on left

C major
E + G + C on right / E on left

Rather than coming back to the same exact chord (like in the “neighboring” example), this 6-4 chord led to a different inversion of the C major chord (one that puts E on the bottom… we’ll talk about that chord later).

Cadential 6-4

This is probably the most common use of the 6-4 chord. You’ll definitely hear this at the end of many songs. In fact, when you’ve heard me talk about “2-5-1″ chord progressions, often times, it’s not just 3 chords (that is, the “2-chord” going to the “5″ and then immediately coming home to the “1-chord”).

Sometimes, it’s really 2-5-5-1 (but since the progression stays on the same “5th” degree for two chords, most people will just call it a “2-5-1″ as it serves the same exact purpose). In other words, the chord progression may simply hang out at the “5″ for a couple chords and then finally return home.

The 2-chord has done its job to get us to the 5 but at times, we’re not quite ready to use the regular 5-chord like we want… so we put a 6-4 chord in there first, which resolves us to the more common 5-chord, which then takes us home to our 1-chord! Thus, what I called “2-5-5-1″ above!

Let’s get a little more specific…

Yesterday, we talked about the instability and slight dissonance of chords in their second inversion (”6-4s”). They usually require resolution as they hang loose over the bass. They certainly don’t give you a feeling of “home bass.” Even a non-musician senses that the “6-4″ chord needs to go somewhere.

And usually that “somewhere” is simply moving the upper notes down in stepwise motion to a more stable major chord in root position (the bass stays the same).

Consider this progression…

C major / G (or Cmaj 6-4)
G + C + E on right / G on left

G major
G + B + D on right / G on left

C major
E + G + C on right / C on left

You better watch out! With this information, you’ll soon be composing your own music! After all, this is how it’s done!

The last two days may be a lot to swallow if you’re not used to thinking of second inversion chords this way. But just go back over it and you’ll be good to go!

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