Part-Writing: The Horizontal Rules
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1music theory for musicians and normal people by toby w. rush
Part-Writing: The Horizontal Rules
the supreme goal of part-writing is good voice leading...
making each individual voice part easy to sing by avoiding
awkward intervals or large leaps!
before we get to the specific dos and don’ts, let’s take a look
at some important characteristics of four-voice part-writing:
in some cases, the voice
note how each voice moves
can simply stay on the same
as little as possible, going
note. This is called
to the nearest chord tone
keeping the common tone,
in each subsequent chord!
and it’s always cool!
it’s common for the bass to
the bass line, since it provides
move in the opposite direction
the foundation of the harmony
of the upper three voices.
in each chord, tends to include
this is called contrary motion
larger leaps than the other
and it helps maintain
three voices, but that’s okay.
voice independence.
voice independence?
there are also a few other
four-voice harmony is a form of counterpoint,
rules that apply to this style:
which is the combination of more than one
*
melody played simultaneously. in counterpoint,
when you have the leading tone
each voice is equally important; no voice is
in an outer voice (soprano or
given a role of accompaniment to another voice.
bass) it must resolve to the
tonic in the next chord.
in counterpoint, it is important for each voice to
be independent; that is, no two voices should be
*
doing the exact same thing. if two (or more)
you may not move any voice
voices were moving in parallel, the richness
by an interval of an
of the texture would be reduced .
augmented second
or an augmented fourth.
as a result, common practice composers were
very consistent in avoiding two or more voices
that moved in parallel perfect octaves, parallel
perfect fifths, or parallel perfect unisons!
the good news:
you can avoid all three of
these by doing the following
whenever possible:
1. keep the common tone!
2. move to the
parallel
parallel
parallel
nearest chord tone!
octaves!
fifths!
unisons!
3. use contrary motion!
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