22
votes
Accepted
Is two singing voices occasionaly being unison "allowed"?
First off, everything is allowed in music. Whether it's appropriate can be another question, but especially in rock most people basically go by “if it sounds good, it's ok”.
Even by the ...
- 35k
19
votes
Accepted
"Only open voicing below middle C!" Really?
There are acoustical reasons for not wanting close voicing in the lower register; in short, the upper harmonics muddy each other up and fog up the sound.
But in my experience, C4 is a really high ...
- 83.3k
17
votes
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How do you voice extended chords?
Anything over a 7th must contain that 7th, be it major 7th or minor (b) seventh. It's been well established that the 5th (perfect) can be dispensed with, as its sound is contained in the root note.
...
- 186k
16
votes
How can I distinguish between a full 7th chord and a 7th chord without a 5th in figured bass?
Traditionally, this isn't specified. A single "7" in the figures could be performed either complete (with the chordal fifth) or incomplete (without).
Rarely, though, the figures can specify ...
- 83.3k
16
votes
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Why does Bach not resolve this chordal seventh down by step?
The D on the fourth beat in the alto is an error. It should be an E. You can compare editions at IMSLP. Both the original edition of the 1780s and the second engraving of 1831 have the E; the D was ...
- 18k
13
votes
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Chord voicings used by backup trios in Motown girl groups?
This vocal style comes from the American traditions of close harmony. As popular music (and the radio) came into being in the 20th century, it took influence from the styles of its times, just as any ...
- 12.4k
12
votes
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How Can The Leading Tone Resolve Up and The 7th Go Down?
By "7th," the software means the chordal seventh (i.e., the seventh if the chord).
The leading tone is scale-degree 7, measured from the tonic of the key. In F, the leading tone is E.
The ...
- 83.3k
11
votes
Voice-leading and Composition
If I understand Pat's answer he seems to be saying that composers of
the era were not consciously writing music that obeyed these
principles. So am I to take it that at no point was a composer
...
- 25.4k
11
votes
Do 4-part harmony rules also apply to piano arrangements?
They don't fully apply, no. But it depends on what you're trying to do.
Remember that the voice-leading rules for four-part harmony are to mimic eighteenth-century chorale procedures. Piano ...
- 83.3k
10
votes
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chord voicing to improve overall sound
The lack of "richness" — the "tinny" sound — is largely due to the absence of thirds in your harmonies. Also, the parallel octaves, parallel & direct fifths contribute significantly to the ...
- 1,854
10
votes
Why does the 7th of a dominant 7th chord have to resolve down in voice leading?
The current answers have already addressed the issue, but I want to present a way of thinking about it that may be new:
The leading tone wants to resolve up, and the chordal seventh resolves down. ...
- 83.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Are parallel octaves okay in other styles of music?
The rules about parallal octaves only apply when writing Bach chorale-type harmony where the aim is rich harmony with no one part "sticking out" disproportionately. Because this is often the first ...
- 87.3k
9
votes
Accepted
What is the proper chord interpretation for the intro to Stairway to Heaven?
The second chord is a chromatic passing chord: the bass line is descending (A -> G#) whereas the top line is ascending (A -> B). It doesn't really have a name which describes it properly (CaugMaj7 is ...
- 1,623
9
votes
Doubling the third of a root position major chord in four-part harmony
Perhaps this is a non-answer, but I wanted to state that there's very little musical reason, in my opinion, for that rule; it really sounds like a rule that will prevent you from making other errors (...
- 83.3k
9
votes
Accepted
What’s the voice leading error?
The error is a so-called "hidden fifth", or, "direct fifth". Your outer voices are moving into a perfect consonance by similar motion. Even in strict voice-leading this is often allowed except in ...
- 156
9
votes
"Only open voicing below middle C!" Really?
Closed vocings aren't bad, but you need to be aware of the register you are in no matter what you compose. In lower registers, having notes close together isn't always what you want. Specifically ...
Dom♦
- 47.3k
9
votes
How do you voice extended chords?
Conventionally, the most often skipped notes in any remotely extended chord are the 5th and any degrees above the 7th that aren't included in the chord name. For example, V13 chords in classical music ...
- 13.3k
9
votes
Can the leading note resolve down?
You're absolutely right!
The typical rule is that the leading tone must resolve up to tonic when it is in an outer voice (that is, the soprano or bass). If the leading tone is in an inner voice, it ...
- 83.3k
9
votes
Accepted
Expanding the I-IV progression
Root progression by descending third like I vi IV ii is a standard thing in classical and pop music. I think you should not consider it a retrogression. Technically harmonic retrogression means not ...
- 54.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Should the comping instrument ever double the bass player?
I agree with the answer and ideas provided by @Tim and would like to add a few of my own.
The thing about group accompanying is unless the music is completely arranged you can’t predict what the other ...
- 22.8k
9
votes
Is staggering fifths a good way to avoid parallels?
If by "staggering 5ths" you mean alternating between a perfect fifth and another interval to break up their consecutive nature, then composers absolutely do this!
One of the most common ...
- 83.3k
9
votes
Can 16th notes cause parallel octaves?
Yes, it unfortunately doesn't matter the note value; no matter how fast or how slow, two consecutive intervals of a perfect octave (or perfect fifth) between the same two voices results in unstylistic ...
- 83.3k
9
votes
Why do the parallel fifths work in Schumann's Op. 15 No. 1?
The reason that parallel fifths are bad is that the 5ths end up sounding like overtones of the roots, rather than individual notes of their own.
In four-part harmony, this is undesirable, because two ...
- 3,933
9
votes
Accepted
Seemingly unsolvable SATB harmonization
Your logic in the first two paragraphs is 100% correct. In your third paragraph, you mention parallel motion as an error. But note that the alto A and tenor F♯ create a third, and parallel thirds are ...
- 83.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Does the rule regarding consecutive octaves/fifths actually hold any weight?
The point of avoiding certain parallels is not that it would "sound bad". On the contrary, it sounds really good - so good that for centuries, this was the only kind of polyphony anyone ever used.
...
- 7,235
8
votes
Tonality and Rules
tl;dr: Yes, there are probably relatively simple underlying principles, but we're still working on what they are.
You make a really common and really valid criticism of music theory. Nothing seems to ...
- 608
8
votes
Counterpoint with more than 4 parts
Counterpoint can be written for basically any number of independent parts greater than 1. (And even for a solo instrument, there's something called compound melody that can simulate counterpoint as ...
- 12.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Voice leading: is it allowed to move from a perfect fifth to an augmented fourth?
Basic answer
As long as you are writing in a style that permits dissonance:
Moving from a perfect fifth to an augmented fourth does not present a problem.
Moving from a perfect fifth to a diminished ...
- 75.7k
8
votes
Is staggering fifths a good way to avoid parallels?
Yes, and this is my favorite example...
...Leopold Mozart, from the Nannerl Notebook, no.30 or 34, depending on the edition.
I think the idea is the down stroke of each beat is a third, so on a basic ...
- 54.2k
8
votes
Why does the 7th of a dominant 7th chord have to resolve down in voice leading?
To amplify some of the comments: resolving the 7th downward uses a half-step movement between diatonic tones. Traditionally (for Western music over the last Millenium), the half-step movement has been ...
- 24.5k
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