Harmony
Voice Leading: Why the Rules Exist in Four-Part Writing
Parallel fifths, tendency tones, spacing and doubling, read as solutions to one problem: keeping four lines heard as four lines.
Voice leading
How individual parts move from one chord to the next, favouring stepwise motion and common tones so that each line stays smooth and clear.
Also called: Voice-leading, Part writing, Voice movement
Voice leading is the way individual melodic lines move from one chord to the next. Good voice leading moves most voices by step, keeps common tones in place and avoids large leaps. Moving from C major to F major, the C can stay where it is as a common tone, the E rises to F and the G rises to A. Each voice moves by the smallest available distance. Voice leading also avoids parallel fifths and octaves, which merge two lines into one. In four-part writing, the soprano, alto, tenor and bass each carry a line, and the rules concern how each pair of voices moves relative to the others. Voice leading is most visible in the chorales of J. S. Bach and in the exercises of four-part harmony.
Related terms
- Parallel fifthsTwo voices that move in the same direction and stay a perfect fifth apart from one chord to the next, a standard fault in part writing.
- Contrary motionTwo voices moving in opposite directions, one rising while the other falls. It keeps the voices independent and avoids parallel perfect intervals.
- Oblique motionOne voice holds or repeats a single note while another moves, so the harmony changes against a fixed pitch. Common in pedal passages.
- Parallel motionTwo voices moving in the same direction by the same interval, so the interval between them is preserved. Parallel fifths and octaves are forbidden.
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Counterpoint
Types of Motion in Voice Leading: Parallel, Contrary, Oblique
Parallel, similar, oblique and contrary motion defined between two voices, what each does to their independence, and which one counterpoint prefers.