Voice Leading Chromatic Harmonies
Updated: 2026-07-04Chromatic chords contain out-of-key notes with strong tendency. Knowing those tendencies makes voice-leading chromatic harmony feel natural.
Key takeaways
- A chromatic note resolves in the direction it was altered: a raised note goes up, a lowered note goes down.
- Secondary chords: the target's leading tone goes up, the seventh (if present) goes down; they resolve to the tonicized chord.
- Borrowed chords: the lowered degrees (♭6, ♭3) move down.
- Neapolitan (♭II⁶): ♭2 moves down; the bass (scale degree 4) moves to 5 or the leading tone of V.
- Augmented sixth: ♭6 and ♯4 resolve outward to scale degree 5; the German type risks parallel fifths.
What's the general principle?
A chromatic note resolves in the direction it was altered — the guiding rule for every chromatic chord. A chromatic note usually resolves in the direction it was altered: a raised note tends to go up, a lowered note tends to go down. This is the guiding rule for all chromatic chords.
How do you voice-lead secondary chords?
Just like the diatonic V⁷: the target's leading tone goes up, the seventh goes down, and the chord resolves to the very chord being tonicized. Like the diatonic V⁷, secondary dominants and secondary diminished chords have:
- The leading tone of the target (the raised note) moving up by step to the target's root.
- The seventh (if present) moving down by step.
The chord resolves to the very chord being tonicized (right of the slash).
How do borrowed chords and the Neapolitan lead?
Lowered degrees always move down; the Neapolitan adds ♭2 moving down while the bass (scale degree 4) heads to 5 or the leading tone of V.
- Borrowed chords: the lowered degrees (♭6, ♭3) move down.
- The Neapolitan (♭II⁶): the ♭2 (its characteristic note) moves down; the bass (scale degree 4) moves to 5 or to the leading tone of the following V chord.
How do augmented sixth chords resolve?
The two notes forming the augmented sixth (♭6 and ♯4) resolve outward and meet on scale degree 5. Augmented sixth chords: the two notes forming the augmented sixth (♭6 and ♯4) resolve outward — ♭6 down, ♯4 up — meeting on scale degree 5. The German type in particular risks parallel fifths, so it usually passes through a cadential six-four before reaching V.
See Voice Leading Triads and Voice Leading Seventh Chords for the fundamentals.
Frequently asked questions
How do you know whether a chromatic note resolves up or down? Look at how it was altered: a raised note tends to go up, a lowered note tends to go down. That single rule applies to every chromatic chord.
What's special about the German augmented sixth? The German type is prone to parallel fifths, so it usually passes through a cadential six-four before reaching V to sidestep the problem.
Which note is the Neapolitan's characteristic tone? It's ♭2, which tends to move down, while the bass (scale degree 4) moves to 5 or to the leading tone of the following V chord.