In harmony and voice leading pedagogy there is usually a "goal-directed" idea that the voices lead to a cadence or similar but in popular music or contemporary music we often find chord vamps where there is a cyclical rather than goal-directed chord progression of some sort. Yes ok, after a few repeats, the cycle presumably ends and the song or piece continues into the next section in a goal-directed way but in between each cycle in a cyclical chord progression, is correct voice leading still taken into account or even necessary? Or could the loop just start new without regard for the voice leading between last chord and first chord of the loop. Take a simple IV V I progression in a major key. Lets say before the actual resolution to the I chord the loop is IV V which repeats 3 times before resolving on I. Does voice leading in this context still apply going back to the IV chord? Or does the looped nature of the chord progression mean that only the vocie leading moving forward after the final V to the I count?
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I might be wrong, but my perception is: genres that accompany a single voice with chordal instrumentation—e.g. lead singer plus piano, or plus guitars, or plus synthesized backing track—aren't particularly concerned with voice leading because there's only one "voice." Moments of pop music that are more choral—multiple human voices in harmony, say like the start of Bohemian Rhapsody—might take it more into account.– Andy BonnerCommented Mar 14, 2023 at 12:57
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Andy the bass and melody are both still melodic lines that need to have good counterpoint. I personally find correct voice leading still beneficial with the accompaniment too. I have composed both ways and much prefer paying attention to how the bass works against the accompaniment. Didnt continuo players do the same thing since forever? In basso continuo playing there were rules that the accompaniment went contrary to the bass where possible and perfect parallel intervals were avoided. Isnt a continuo accompaniment just the same as a pop song chordal accompaniment?– user35708Commented Mar 14, 2023 at 14:56
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1I'm not questioning your preference (or the fact that knowing these rules helps the result "sound better"), just how much most pop musicians think about such things. (There's also a case to be made that a lot of good voicing, voice leading, etc. creeps in unconsciously, due to earlier classical training or the enculturated heritage of tonal harmony.) Also, you're thinking contrapuntally; there are other ways of constructing the musical texture. If we're thinking about a jam-band like Phish, it has more in common perhaps with 17th-century improvisatory practice "over a ground";– Andy BonnerCommented Mar 14, 2023 at 15:14
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1Or other genres might be more interested in "layering" elements. When you said "bass line" I thought of "Under Pressure" (I guess I've got Queen on the brain?); we get repeated bass riff plus sitar-like arpeggiated filler, plus eventually guitar bulk, plus vocals that are allowed to wander over it all quasi-improvisatorily. I hear a cadence in which the bass and voice, taken together, approach a fifth by leap in a way that Fux wouldn't appreciate, but I don't feel like we're operating with the same priorities at this point.– Andy BonnerCommented Mar 14, 2023 at 15:19
1 Answer
Yes and no... but that's not helpful.
I look at this from three points of view:
- whether stylistically the harmony is emulating the old Church style, the "Learned Style", of composition from roughly 300 years ago
- whether smooth voice leading is serving an actual performance need
- whether the performance practice of an instrument coincidentally follows smooth voice leading
You might have a hip hop style song with a choir singing in the background while someone raps. That choir may follow actual old style voice leading to get the authentic sound of a church choir.
In The Beatles song Fixing a Hole there are background harmonies that follow basic voice leading patterns and that voice leading is the easiest way to get the voices to sing the chords.
In that same Beatles song the harpsichord part plays chords with smooth voice leading, not because it emulates the "Learned Style", but because it conveniently fits the hand.
You asked specifically about a vamp, generally a two chord idea, and The Beatles offer a good example for that in the song The End. After the intro and drum solo there is a vamp on guitar using A7 D7. Those chords are played in parallel fashion, because the voicings are resonant, they are easy to play, there is no stylistic reason or performance reason to use smooth voice leading.
There are other vamps in Beatles songs like Love Me Do and It's Only Love, where the chords are played on guitar and use voicings with smooth voice leading, because the chords are played as "open" guitar chords where the standard fingerings use roots at the bottom and smooth voice leading in the top voices. I think of this as "coincidental" voice leading.
So, you can see, in pop music you can use smooth voice leading or not, depending on harmony style or instrumental technique. Those choice don't really depend on whether the progression is just a short vamp, but you certainly can find vamps in a variety of voicings. Also, cadence and functional harmony don't seem to make much difference either. Cyclical progressions like I V vi IV or cadential progresions like I IV V I can be found in a variety of voicings.
