October 14, 2015 (A Music Theory lesson) Continued Rules for 4-Part writing Todays lesson will go into detail about 4-part writing, my only hope is that someone from my friends list will take what I am teaching here and experiment for themselves. Doubling: 1. Root Position Triads: Double the root, or in some cases, triple the root, omit the 5th. 2. First inversion triads: Double whatever gives the smoothest voice leading. 3. Second inversion triads: a) Cadential and pedal - double the bas (5th of chord) b) Passing - double whatever gives the smoothest voice leading. 4. Seventh chords - Use all four notes when possible and voice leading is smooth. 5th can be omitted if necessary. 5. Exception for root position V-vi: you may double the 3rd or the 5th to avoid parallel octaves or fifths. 6. You may double 3rd or 5th in order to avoid excessive parallel 4ths. __________________________________________________________ Parallels: 1. No parallel perfect unison, 5ths, or octaves anywhere. (unequal 5ths are okay, except when involving the bass) 2. No more than two consecutive parallel 4ths. 3. Parallel 3rds and 6ths are okay. __________________________________________________________ Spacing: 1. No more than an octave between consecutive upper voices (all but the bass). 2. No Voice crossing - i.e. tenor should not go higher than the alto, etc. 3, Keep each voice within its own comfortable range. __________________________________________________________ Melodic Leaps: 1. Inner voices (alto and tenor) should move as little as possible. For the most part they should either stay on the same note or move stepwise. Very rarely should these move more than a third. 2. Soprano can leap larger intervals (remember to leave them in the opposite direction stepwise). Intervals that are too large can some times create spacing problems with the other voices. __________________________________________________________ Tendency Tones: 1. The leading tone ( 7 - 1) must always resolve up when it is in the outer voices (soprano or bass). Its a good idea to resolve in inner voices as well, but not absolutely necessary. 2. Chordal sevenths should always resolve down, in any voice. ( 4 - 3) 3. Try to avoid doubling the leading tone, or other tendency tones, because they may result in parallel octaves. _________________________________________________________ The pictures below are from my notes, and personal research I did while taking Music Theory 1. The research concludes my findings and documents my research to date. I will also talk (type) about the NCTs or best know to be Non-Chord Tones, you may see each below and my description for each Non-Chord tones. My results in doing this is to clear understanding when writing a 4-part melody/harmony and how to deal with the rules in order to keep happy singers from terrible writing. Most of all I want you to attempt some exploration with my notes, you do not need prior music theory knowledge because anyone can do it. All you need to know for 4 part writing is above this, also reflect back on my time line or word press post to understand this and how to to do it the right way. ENJOY & HAVE FUN!
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 15:05:44 +0000
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