Harmonic Function
In tonal harmony, the function of the Neapolitan chord is to prepare the dominant, substituting for the IV or ii (particularly ii6) chord. For example, it often precedes an authentic cadence, where it functions as a subdominant (IV). In such circumstances, the Neapolitan sixth is a chromatic alteration of the subdominant, and it has an immediately recognizable and poignant sound. For example, in C major, the IV (subdominant) triad in root position contains the notes F, A, and C. By lowering the A by a semitone to A♭ and raising the C by a semitone to D♭, the Neapolitan sixth chord F-A♭-D♭ is formed. In C minor, the resemblance between the subdominant (F-A♭-C) and the Neapolitan (F-A♭-D♭) is even stronger, since only one note differs by a half-step. (The Neapolitan is also only a half-step away from the diminished supertonic triad in minor in first inversion, F-A♭-D, and thus lies chromatically between the two primary subdominant function chords.)
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♭II6-V-I
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