Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 81 of 96

Altered Chords

§ 77. — 1) Chromatic passing notes form a certain number of chords which must be regarded as independent and are called altered chords.

2) They can be subdivided into two classes. Those of the first class do not have a new make-up; they are recognized by the degree on which they occur and by the chromatic change without which they could not be formed.

The principal ones are:

The artificial dominant seventh chord on the 2nd degree of the major key, the diminished seventh chord on the 2nd degree of the major key, and the major triad on the 2nd degree of the major and of the minor key.

Those of the second class have an entirely new make-up; they are the chords of the augmented fifth-and-sixth.