6/4 chords are used to add variety to the Tonic Predominant Dominant Tonic Cycle. Additionally, 6/4 chords are useful in facilitating good voice-leading. Lastly, these chords help to make stepwise basslines easier to realize so that you may avoid leaps.
The root and first inversions of a chord can be used almost anywhere within an arrangement except for at the final cadence. The root position chord is the most stable sounding chord. Second inversion chords are not interchangeable with root position chords.
The four types of 6/4 chords are:
- cadential 6/4 (falls on the strong beat)
- pedal or neighboring 6/4
- arpeggiating 6/4 (it’s recommended to put this on a weak beat)
- passing 6/4 (allow first inversion chords to be exchanged for root position chords)
The bass note is doubled when writing a 6/4 chord to reinforce its dominant function. The 6 and 4 are tendency notes so you should avoid doubling them. The leading tone definitely should never be doubled. The 5th of the chord is often the best choice when considering the omission of a chord tone.
Videos About 6/4 Chords and Their Usage
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