Chord Question

[KingTuck]

I'm sure this is a dumb, simple question. I was looking at the chord progression for Don't You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia here: http://www.hooktheory.com/theorytab/vie ... orry-child. What does the 6 on the end of the first chord mean ("vi6")?

I'm sure it's simple but I don't know the answer myself. Help is appreciated. Thanks!

[cryophonik]

The "6" means that it's a first inversion triad (i.e., the third of the triad is playing the bass note and the root is a 6th higher).

[KingTuck]

The "6" means that it's a first inversion triad (i.e., the third of the triad is playing the bass note and the root is a 6th higher).

Thanks for the info!

[thomni]

compounding on this question, is a C6 chord considered different than a Am7 in first inversion?

[MadBrain]

compounding on this question, is a C6 chord considered different than a Am7 in first inversion?

Yes. C6 acts as a C major chord, rather than as an A minor chord (even though it has the same notes as Am7/C).

(extra note: pop/jazz notation 6 is different from classical notation 6)

[jancivil]

Well, the figured bass '6' etc is printed as subscript to the roman number.

[AnalogGuy1]

compounding on this question, is a C6 chord considered different than a Am7 in first inversion?

Yes. C6 acts as a C major chord, rather than as an A minor chord (even though it has the same notes as Am7/C).

(extra note: pop/jazz notation 6 is different from classical notation 6)

Just adding to this, the "so what" as a performer has to do with comping your bassline. A C6 will favor C in the bass, but an Am7/C will favor an A. (Unless you're in a band with a bass player, in which case there's not neccessarily any difference in your bassline except to avoid octave doubling of the A's in a C6 or octave doubling of the C's in the Am7).

[jancivil]

I don't know what the context for a first inversion m7 in pop-type music would be except in aping classical practice. Except for the below, chances seem high that C6 is the thing.

In classical-type writing the first inversion minor, m7 being the same, is typically ii6, this voicing showing ii's subdominant identity.
ii6-V-. Bass is fa-sol-do.

[sjm]

It's not only sixth/minor seventh chords that can have a sense of ambiguity. There are other chords that contain the same notes and have different names depending on context. As jan points out above, context is important to answering the question of what you're actually playing.

I'm going to give you an example (pop/rock), and my interpretation of it. Bear in mind that I'm completely self-taught so I may be barking up the wrong tree (and appreciate any constructive input setting me straight)

Our guitarist came up with a little riff/chord progression that - to him at least - is simply:
A | Asus4 | Asus2 | Asus4
Or in terms of notes:
AC#E | ADE | ABE | ADE
He's playing this in the standard open A position, with only one finger changing position (C# | D | B | D on the B string).

We're obviously playing in A major, starting on the I. However the first thing that struck me is that we can actually view this as a form of I-IV-V-IV progression - something you see all the time in rock/pop. In other words we could say it's actually:
A | Dsus2 | Esus4 | Dsus2

The notes that make up the chords are the same. Personally I find this more interesting than a song that consists entirely of playing A - especially as I'm the bass player, and sticking to just A gets old fast.
To spice things up a little bit, I decided to play a bass line similar to the note changes on guitar (see above) during the verse:
C# | D | E | D
While emphasizing the A (I) in the chorus for that sense of coming home:
A | D | E | D


If I'm playing my part on keys, I also play a slightly different progression, substituting the A major chord for a C#m during the verse. Together with the A major from the other guitars, this gives us the notes A C# E G#, or Amaj7. Given the bass line, and the added notes from guitar/keys, I'd say the actual chord progression should thus be:
Amaj7/C# | Dsus2 | Esus4 | Dsus2 (verse)
A | Dsus2 | Esus4 | Dsus2 (chorus)

But if you take the various parts in isolation, you might come up with a different interpretation of the chords, even going as far as to call the first chord of the verse a C#m without the context of the original guitar part. And if all you look at is the original guitar part, you'd probably agree that it's A | Asus4 | Asus2 | Asus4 given how it's played.


The same applies to C6 vs Am7; the notes in the two chords may be the same, but in different contexts, the same notes will functions as different chords; as MadBrain says, one is a C major chord and the other an A minor chord.

[jancivil]

and with the 'sus2'/'sus4' the bass is going to pretty much determine the 'real name' of those guys.

The thing about this 6 is - I prefer saying add 6 and this is a reason - is in the arrangements of popular song for quite a goodly period, let's take WWII as the center of it, it was a sixth glommed onto a root position major triad; you can notice this especially as a final chord. Slightly more jazzy was what I would see in chord charts as "6/9" with a 9th added additionally. A sweetener, so as not to be too square. Although to the more modern ear now it comes across as 'cutesy', doesn't it.
I heard one of these arrangments on Agent Carter the other night and it struck me that there was a kind of nod to minor, being the same as a vi6/5 physically as well as I add6. In that tune, that bittersweet feel anyway.