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Old Feb 29 2008, 11:56 AM
matt.kaner matt.kaner is offline

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Intermediate Composer
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Hi Máté,

Yes that's exactly right. (Don't worry about the chord on beat 4 of the second example - it's too complex to explain for now).

So what has happened is that Bach has made ii6/5 into a major chord. The reason he does this is because it leads better onto V7, because of the resolving tritone. It also gives him a chromatic bass-line (which makes things more interesting).

Another way to describe II6/5 is as V6/5 in the dominant. That means that Bach uses the dominant of the dominant to reach the dominant itself.

Every chord has its own dominant, and you can alter minor chords into major chords in order to make the most of circle of fifths relationship. Does this make sense? I'll get some examples up soon.
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