Odd voicings for minor add♭6 chords

bug reports
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The voicings for some minor add♭6 chords differ significantly from those for other chords with the same root note, which makes them sound really jarring when played next to any of the others.

Apparently this only happens to chords with specific root notes, but it happens in any key and it doesn’t matter which scale degree the chord is on:

  • The chordal 3rd jumps up an octave on Gm(add♭6)
  • The chordal 5th jumps up an octave on D#m/Ebm(add♭6)
  • The chordal 6th jumps down an octave on G#m/Abm(add♭6), Am(add♭6) and A#m/Bbm(add♭6)
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As an example, here’s a descending line cliché in G Minor. Notice how much the last chord stands out:

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3

There’s also the case where the voicing for the plain minor triad differs from the voicings for 7th chords and added 6th chords, causing the same problem of horrible voice leading:

  • The right hand root is an octave lower on A#m/Bbm
  • The chordal 3rd is an octave lower on F#m/Gbm
  • The chordal 5th is an octave lower on Dm

There’s similar issues with add9 and add11 chords and all of this happens with major chords as well, just on different root notes.

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Thanks for pointing that out. I’ll add it to the list. My first guess would be that we have some logic to prevent a small second interval from being at the top of a chord. But I’ll have to look that up.

Regards!
Dennis

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5

Ah, that makes sense. It really seems impossible to create a chord with a minor second or a tritone on top.

Unfortunately that only explains some of these instances though. On D#m(add♭6) the 5th jumps up an octave although the minor second would have been at the bottom of the right hand.

And then there’s all of these instances where the voicing changes between the triad and the seventh chord although there are no tritones or minor seconds available in the right hand.

But I’m sure you’ll figure things out :slight_smile:

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