Beta chord

A beta-chord in the basic position on Cis, with two reductions Sample ^{? / i}

The beta chord is a five-tone that is formed from the first five notes of the alpha chord . It occurs when a diminished seventh chord is extended by a whole tone , i.e. the chord range increases from a major sixth to a major seventh . The beta chord can also be used in its reduced form; H. limited to the characteristic tones.

Although the term “beta chord” has only existed since the 20th century, the chord can be found early in the history of classical music. Johann Sebastian Bach already used it for example. B. in the B minor Mass . Such baroque examples, however, have to be understood more as an emphasis on affect , and in Romantic music, too , the focus is on the tonal effect, which is achieved by adding a secondary note to the diminished seventh chord: Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin sometimes make use of it. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the beta chord was understood in connection with the alpha chord and the alternating eight-step form ; Claude Debussy , Igor Stravinsky and above all Béla Bartók should be mentioned as composers in this section .

literature

• Zsolt Gárdonyi , Hubert Nordhoff: Harmonics . Möseler Verlag, Wolfenbüttel 2002, ISBN 978-3-7877-3035-3 , p. 214 ff .