Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 34 of 96

The Triad of the Seventh Degree of the Natural Minor Mode (Phrygian Cadence of the Second Kind)

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§ 33. — 1) It is used to harmonize the second tetrachord of the minor scale descending, when that tetrachord is in the bass:

The second tetrachord of the natural A minor scale, descending in the bass: A–G–F–E — Fig. 114 · See it in the reader

This gives the following succession of chords: the triads of the first degree and of the natural seventh degree, the sixth chord of the fourth degree, and the dominant triad.

2) In the three upper parts, avoid the faulty motion:

The faulty melodic motion G–A–G♯ (natural seventh degree, back through A to the raised leading note) — Fig. 115 · See it in the reader

Phrygian succession in A minor with the natural seventh-degree triad: three good versions (I–VII nat.–IV6–V) and a bad one (I–VII nat.–IV6–V with the alto movin — Fig. 116 · See it in the reader

Each group of chords above is also called a Phrygian Succession; used as a half cadence in the minor mode, these groups are called a Phrygian Cadence.