Review
In “Ever Ever Efter” by Carrie Underwood (from the motion picture Enchanted), the bass line ascends stepwise all the way from the initial I⁶ to the cadence on V. Write down the appropriate chords for the ?s.
V⁶ (read “five six”, the first inversion of V) is also a commonly used inverted chord in popular music. By using an inversion of V, the usual strong tendency to go back to I is significantly reduced. V⁶ can precede a I chord but this would usually be in the middle of a progression where it is not desired to have a “cadence” feel to it. One very common use of V⁶ is to directly expand from I. Listen to “You Look Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton for an example of this usage:
It is also typical to follow the V⁶ with a vi chord. In the same way that I⁶ serves as a bridge between ii and IV, V⁶ can serve as a bridge between I and vi. For an example of how this sounds, listen to “Can You Feel The Love Tonight” by Elton John.
This song uses the common I → V → vi → IV progression, but the V⁶ gives a more subtle feel to the V. “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith also starts with this same progression, but instead of using the IV as a cadence to I, they go to I⁶ instead.
Because the I is played in an inversion, the progression doesn’t feel like it’s over. The song then uses I⁶ to go to ii, prolonging the phrase in anticipation of a nice cadence to V.
Review
The V⁶ chord has what scale degree in the bass?
Review
In “Ever Ever Efter” by Carrie Underwood (from the motion picture Enchanted), the bass line ascends stepwise all the way from the initial I⁶ to the cadence on V. Write down the appropriate chords for the ?s.