Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

Voice Leading Techniques Contemporary music still has a basis in the tradition of Western Classical music and shares certain traits that have been handed down for centuries. One of these traits is the concept of voice leading due to the fact that in the early days of music much of the tradition was tied to the church and to vocal music. In church music, vocal choirs were used to lead and augment the liturgy of the church with responses meant to cue the congregation and to make worshipful sounds to God. Initially the music was sung in unison or unison octaves but eventually evolved to include more and more complex harmonies. Even when the music was sung in unison or unison octaves it was found that to help the singers perform more accurately, due to the fact that most were not professional musicians, and to this day in churches around the world this still holds true, the composers of the time learned to voice lead or move smoothly from one note to the next. As the music progressed, in this way even complex harmonies were more easily produced and performed. One of the techniques that was employed in the early development of music was harmonic continuity which we also know as common tone voice leading.

1.1 Common Tone Voice Leading The concept of common tone voice leading is that when moving from chord to chord if possible to keep a common tone in one or more of the voices. We should first clarify how we are using the term voices. If we assign a hierarchy of voices to a chord structure we would have the following results (see Example 3.14). (C) Voice 1 = C Voice 2 = G Voice 3 = E Voice 4 = C (Example 3.14) In (Example 3.14) the hierarchy of voices begin with the top pitch not the bottom pitch as was the case when we were building the various chord structures. This has to do with the fact the top pitch sounds stronger to our ears and is more quickly heard and recognised. The use of the term VOICE is also a reminder that we are potentially writing for vocalist, so in (Example 3.14) there are now four singers starting on each pitch with the top pitch being Voice 1 = C or the octave of a C chord. It must be pointed out that even though we are using four pitches in this example the chord is still a TRIAD because there are only three different pitches and one has been doubled at the octave. Below is an example of two sets of three chords that have no voice leading technique applied to them (see Example 3.15).

Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

(Example 3.15) As you can see in (Example 3.15) all of the voices move by an interval of a fourth in the I, IV, I progression and by an interval of a fifth in the I,V, I progression due to the fact that all of the chords are in root position. In the example below the same progressions voice leading techniques have been applied to produce the following results (see Example 3.16)

Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

(Example 3.16) In (Example 3.16) it is easy to see the common tone principle in action and that all other voices move by step from chord to chord. In the I, IV, I progression there is the one common tone of ‘C’ in both the top voice 1 and the bottom voice 4 with voices 2 & 3 moving stepwise from chord to chord. Similarly in the I, V, I progression there is again one common tone this time of ‘G’ but this time in voice 2 with voices 1, 3 & 4 moving stepwise from chord to chord. Notice also that the chords do not stay in root position but use a second inversion in the I, IV, I progression and a first inversion in the I, V, I progression. The availability of a common pitch or pitches depends on the root or bass movement of the chord progression. First we will look at root motion by a step.

1.1.1 Root Motion by a Step If the root or bass movement of the chords is by a step then there will be no common pitches or tones. However this does not present a problem to our overall concerns of smooth voice movement as all pitches will move stepwise in parallel motion. In classical theory there is a rule against parallel fifths that is consistently ignored in contemporary music power chords being a prime example currently. The example below demonstrates chords moving by a step (see Example 3.17).

Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

(Example 3.17) In the example above each voice moves stepwise so voice leading techniques are already being observed. Notice in (Example 3.17) there are two progression each moving by a step, the first moves up one step and back down to the original chord by a step. The second continues to move stepwise up from the first chord to the second chord and then to the third chord each time by stepwise motion. In this type of progression if the chord was originally in any inversion the voices would all be moving stepwise if you maintain the same inversion throughout. This brings us to root motion by a third.

1.1.2 Root Motion by a Third If the bass or root motion is by the distance of a third then there are two common pitches or tones. The point again is that they must stay in the same voice between chords when we have chords that have root motion by a third (see Example 3.18).

Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

(Example 3.18) In (Example 3.18) voices 2 & 3 have the two common tones so when we move from chord to chord we keep the common tones in the same voices. In the same example voices 1 & 4 move stepwise to the next pitch or tone and back again. Below is another example of root motion by a third (see Example 3.19)

(Example 3.20) Once again in the first part of the example when the chords maintain root position all of the voices make a leap of a third. However in the second part of the example by changing to a second inversion then keeping the two

Music Theory Unplugged By Dr. David Salisbury

common tones in voices 2 & 3 then voices 1 & 4 can then move stepwise. Finally we come to root motion by a fourth and fifth.

1.1.3 Root Motion by a Fourth and Fifth If the bass note or root of the chord moves by a fourth or a fifth there will only be one common pitch or tone (see Example 3.21)

(Example 3.21) Even though there seems to be two common pitches or tones in the first part of (Example 3.21) this is only because the bottom note of each chord has been doubled up an octave. In summary the basic principle of common tone voice leading technique is to first identify if there is a common pitch or tone between two successive chords in a progression and then to keep the common pitch(s) or tone(s) in the same voice and voice lead all other pitches in the chord stepwise to the next chord. In this chapter we have discussed the concept of functional harmony and identified the three main functional areas of tonic, subdominant and dominant. We have also discussed the method of analysis call roman numeral analysis as a means to identify what type of chord and function each chord has. In addition the basis of chord inversions was established eventually as a means for realising common tone voice leading techniques. This brings us to Chapter Four in which we will discuss basic scoring and notation techniques.