Strictly speaking, can adjacent voices (aside from tenor and bass) be an octave apart from each other? They can't be more than an octave apart but is it a violation of principle to make them an octave apart?
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You should state which idiom your voice leading question applies to. (Although judging from your previous questions I have a qualified guess, but the random reader might not know.)– Ulf ÅkerstedtCommented May 21, 2013 at 17:35
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1 Answer
In traditional four-part harmony, adjacent voices may be up to a major-tenth apart at the widest possible range. It is preferential for them to remain an octave or less in distance, but octaves themselves are perfectly acceptable. The Tenor and Bass voice may be up to a perfect-twelfth part, though Bach certainly has broken this rule.
There are some Bach chorales that I have played where there was a 2 1/2 octave split between the Bass and Tenor voices.
answered May 21, 2013 at 7:14
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@Chris, you can communicate with other users in Music: Practice & Theory Chat. Keep comments related to the post in question. Commented May 21, 2013 at 19:33
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Most of my questions are aimed at jjmusicnotes, and he does not use chat. But if I am violating community rules then by all means tell me. Commented May 21, 2013 at 21:36