Questions tagged [voice-leading]
The craft of writing multipart music such that all notes are transitioned to in a "smooth" or "harmonious" manner consistent with common practice harmony.
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is an augmented second in the soprano avoided in 4 part harmony even when it occurs in a modulation?
In this chord progression I wanted to modulate to the minor subdominant (Em to Am) but instead of just using a V7/iv I wanted to see if I could arrive to the V/iv in different ways and perhaps by ...
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Reason for 4-voice music octave rule
As far as I know, a basic rule of 4-voice music is:
-The two intervals between the upper 3 voices should not be wider than an octave, and when moving on to the next chord, each voice should proceed as ...
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Are unequal 5ths acceptable in applied or seconday dominant chords?
I am trying to write a progression in Cm that modulates to the minor dominant (Gm). In this progression I think I have written a viio65/v but I am getting unequal 5ths between the bass and alto parts. ...
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What is the term for swapping parts in a harmony?
What is the technical term given to the technique where parts of a choir switch or swap their parts in a harmony?
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Learning to sing: Some songs i can sing straightforwardly other i really cant is this normal?
I've been learning to sing for a year. And I noticed some great improvements but there is one thing that happens to me that is totally strange: When I listen to songs, there are songs that I can "...
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chord progressions in minor with the 6th degree rasied
The obvious one is using ii as a minor triad and IV as a major triad but are there some progressions where the raised ^6 is in the bass? I guess the ii and IV would be in inversions then but I can't ...
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How to study part-writing as a self-taught musician?
I've recently picked up Schoenberg's "Preliminary Exercises In Counterpoint" after reading most of "Fundamentals of Musical Composition" as he indicates there and in other texts ...
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Do all 3rd inversion diminished and half diminished 7th chords resolve to 64 chords?
I am playing around with the use of b7 as melody note in a major key and with ^2 in the bass I am able to build a diminished 42 chord (in C that is DEGBb) and I am trying to figure out how to resolve ...
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Are diminished 5ths more dissonant than augmented 4ths?
To me when I play these intervals they sounds the same yet in my harmony textbooks, there seems to be a big difference on how these intervals are treated in voice leading. The principal difference is ...
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Can a ii° built on ^2 of the harmonic minor scale with an added 6th function as a fully dimished 7 chord?
The added raised ^7 from using harmonic minor allows for a chord that is enharmonic to a fully dimished 7th
chord but built on ^2 not ^7. Can this chord be used as a fully diminished 7th chord?
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Is an anticipation capable of causing parallel 5ths?
This is in 4/4 time. To me this does not sound like parallel 5ths between the top 2 voices because there is a 3rd on beat 2 and the 5th is in the up beat before the chord. Can someone share their ...
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How to make a "reduction" from an arpeggiated bass
In one of my textbooks (Harmonic Practice by Robert Gauldin), there is a section about figuration and making reductions from arpeggiations to better see the voice leading. In the provided example the ...
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Seemingly unsolvable SATB harmonization
Was working on the following exercise in RCM Harmony 9 - it seems like there's no solution if you follow all the SATB rules.
It's in F# minor, so looking at the second note, we see that it's tonic (...
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Can I - V support the melodic motion ^3 ^5?
The outer voices would move into a P8 by leap which is supposed to be hidden octaves and not good. Is this indeed a bad progression and would another harmony be better here? I normally would just stay ...
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What it's the key and chord progression of this four part harmony music [closed]
I'm trying to write a four-part harmony song with some suspended chords and stuff. I'm having some problems identifying the chords, I'm also not sure if the key is in F. Can anyone help me? I'm also ...
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Is the treatment of accented 5ths and octaves in 3rd species counterpoint the same as between soprano and bass in 4 part writing?
Here in this image from my textbook "Harmony and voice leading" there are several very useful examples of accented and unaccented octaves and 5ths in third species Counterpoint. It shows ...
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How to make a chordal analysis when you only have 2 voices?
In my textbook Harmony and Voice Leading 5th edition I am to complete an exercise using 2 voices and wanted to make an analysis first of what chords were implied by the bass and soprano. Can someone ...
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How to turn block chords into arpeggios
I have written a chord progression using block chords and now I would like to turn this into an arpeggiated two voice texture. Is there any advice that someone could give me on how to do this with ...
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What is the principle of I46 progression to I7?
The above image is called a secondary 7th chord solution by Anton Bruckner.
But there is an I46 there, and there are many ways to use the I46,
but I've never seen it used this way, so I don't know why ...
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Why are parallel 5ths not allowed in part writing but reducing to 3 voices is?
Parallel octaves and fifths are not allowed in four-part writing because it undermines the independence of the two voices. But it is perfectly acceptable to go from 4 to 3 voices when necessary. Aren'...
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How does the treatment of tendency tones vary outside the scope of 4 part chorales and harmony exercises?
I understand that in a strict exercise all tendency tones should resolve properly. For example, 7ths resolve down by step in the same voice, leading tones usually resolve and always do so if in the ...
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Is there a music-theoretical language for directly expressing voice leading?
The question
Does music theory provide a language for directly expressing voice leading? Roman numeral analysis (RNA) encapsulates voice-leading expectations, but these are built in by implication (...
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What are "apparent octaves and unisons"?
In the workbook for "Harmony and Voice Leading" (5th edition), there is an exercise on page 14 for which I need to write an accompaniment.
As you can see in the instructions, octaves and ...
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Are parallel diminished 5ths allowed in 4 part harmony?
This is a figured bass exercise I just completed and towards the end you will see a IV65 going to a V65. This progression has two diminished 5ths in parallel motion. Is this acceptable part writing ...
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Why do tonal composers prepare dissonances when the dissonant chord is inverted?
ii65 is a good example. According to my textbooks, the dissonant ^1 in this chord requires a more strict preparation than the ^4 of the V7 chord in common practice harmony which many times is not ...
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Why do the parallel fifths work in Schumann's Op. 15 No. 1?
In Robert Schumann's "Von fremden Ländern und Menschen" ("Of Strange Lands and People"), he composed parallel fifths in measure 13, highlighted in red in the below illustration. ...
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What are inner and outer voices in music of late 20th century and 21st century?
In many textbooks voices are classified as inner and outer. Outer voices are the highest voice (soprano) and the lowest voice (bass), and the inner voices are all the other voices that are between the ...
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Is there such a thing as a tonic 42 chord and how would it work in a functional chord progression?
For a melody harmonization, I wrote a 2 bar bassline using half notes with scale degrees ^1 ^7 3^ and ^5 and wanted to write chords for these bass tones. For the first bass note I chose the I chord. ...
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How to part write I6 to IV with parallel 10ths in the outer voices
In this first phrase of a part writing exercise I have been given ( "Harmony and Voice leading 5th edition") a figured Bass and the few soprano tones marked with red dots. I am stuck right ...
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Can a soprano leap 2 times in a row in the same direction?
Here is a bar where my soprano leaps a 5th then a 3rd in the same direction. the 5th is on the same chord but it doesnt change direction after. What are the guidelines for two consecutive leaps in ...
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Are unequal 5ths going from i to ii°6 acceptable in 4 part harmony?
Im major this wouldn't work but in minor usually a P5 to a D5 is permitted right?
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When ^6 is raised in minor can it be approached by leap?
At the end of this passage I have realized a figured bass with an ascending line using melodic minor. I am instructed to use 10ths in the outer voices for bar 5 so I obviously will have ^6 in the ...
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Are perfect intervals in the outer voices approached by similar motion acceptable within the same harmony?
Here is a V6 to V with 5ths in the outer voices approached by leap in both the voices. Is this ok so long as it is in the same harmony?
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Does a rest in a harmony exercise make consecutive parallels acceptable?
In bar 4 there is a rest after the C which I have harmonized with V. In bar 5 there is a leap up to F which I would like to harmonize with I but that would give me parallel 5ths in the outer voices. ...
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Can a chordal skip double another voice?
Here the soprano skips to the alto's C# on the second beat forming a unison. Is there anything wrong with this kind of skip or would it be perfectly correct voice leading?
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How to eliminate parallel 5ths with chordal skips
This is kind of the opposite of my other question Can 16th notes cause parallel octaves?. If chordal skips are able to cause parallel intervals then surely they are able to eliminate them as well. In ...
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Can 16th notes cause parallel octaves?
In another post I learned that an 8th note chordal skip can produce consecutive parallel intervals even when the parallel interval happens off the beat. But what about a 16th note descending line like ...
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Do metrically weak chordal skips cause parallel 5ths and octaves?
I am trying to decorate a descending fifths sequence by using chordal skips and passing tones. As you see the skip to the 3rd of the C chord creates parallel octaves in the outer voices when moving to ...
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What does it mean when a continuo player completes a chord?
In this passage by Handel on the downbeat of bar 2 there is an incomplete subdominant chord. It says in the text of my textbook "Harmony and Voice Leading" page 330 that "a continuo ...
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Is there such a thing as an ascending 5th descending 3rd sequence?
So basically moving up a 5th and then down a third, up a 5th and down a third etc.
My figured bass exercise by David Ledbetter has it but my other textbooks make no mention of such a sequence.
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Should a bass pattern in a harmony exercise be carried through the entire exercise?
In this exercise the bass pattern is indicated below the melody in bar 2 and 3 but should this pattern be carried through the entire exercise or should all other notes be harmonised note for note (...
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When changing from 4 to 3 voices for a series of parallel 63 chords how do you go back to 4 voices?
I am trying to go back to 4 voices on the last beat as you can see but this seems strange. When you go back to 4 voices can you just use a 4th voice wherever you want? I chose to use the tenor in this ...
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Does the 7th of iiø7 in minor need to be prepared even used in a sequence? [closed]
I am writing a descending 5th sequence in minor and want to use a iiø7 (half diminished NOT diminished chord) instead of a ii° at the cadence. My textbook says in the chapter on supertonic 7th chord ...
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Voice Leading and chords without naming
I have the hobby of playing the bass guitar since 4-5 months, and for deeper knowledge of music I'm studying harmony. I have no formal education on music so please be patient. I've choosen Autumn ...
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Ascending bass and chord progression in harmonic minor (example)
Hello again! Here is another simple harmonic minor progression with ascending bass.
Questions:
Is bar4 viio in second inversion? In bar6 there seems to be VI (Fmaj7) but at downbeat there is b and d. ...
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Does vi6 exist?
My textbook "Harmony and voice leading 4th edition" (by Aldwell/Schachter) says that vi6 chords do not exist and that any such chord should be seen as a tonic chord with a non chord tone. ...
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Is this diminished II7 or VII in harmonic minor?
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Hi,
I have some problems to analyze 2nd and 4th bar chords in this example in A minor (harmonic). For my understanding, 2nd bar chord can be either diminished chord in ii or vii. What about the ...
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In a major key does the progression IV iii vi mean that vi is being tonicized?
I am doing an exercise in which I was asked to write a part of the descending 5th sequence in a progression. I wanted to start the 5th progression on a chord other than I and this is what I came up ...
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In major can ii V I support ^6 ^7 ^8?
Is there any reason why this progression should be a problem in major keys? The other harmonizations I have for this soprano according to "Harmony and Voice Leading" by Edward Aldwell and ...
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In a sequence do all voices need to be sequential?
In the examples I have in my text book all the voices seem to move in a sequential pattern except maybe at the cadence where there might be an alteration in the soprano but what if an iteration of the ...
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