assignment 12 2 error detection in chord spacing

Inquiry-Based Music Theory an open, interactive, online textbook for college music theory

CC BY-SA 2017.

Inquiry-Based Music Theory OER Text Book

Chapter 10) An Introduction to Part-writing ❮ Overview 10b - Part-writing Errors | Lesson 10b - Part-writing Errors ❯

Examples 10b - Part-writing Errors

Parallel perfect fifths and perfect octaves (pp5, pp8).

Part-writing errors result from poor voice-leading. For example, look at the progression below and try to find our first major error: parallel octaves . Once you have found it, look to see if a voicing rule has been broken. If the voicing error is not fixed, is there any way to avoid the parallel octaves without incorrectly resolving a tendency tone?

Parallel octaves and fifths undermine the independence of lines, so you should always avoid them in this style. Listen to the following example, and try to locate the parallel perfect fifths aurally before you look through the parts.

Once you have identified the voice that contains the PP5s, try singing the upper of the two voices, and then listen to the example again. Do you have a difficult time differentiating the upper voice from the lower of these two voices?

Contrary perfect fifths and octaves (CP5, CP8)

Our next part-writing error, contrary perfect fifths and perfect octaves are simply an attempt to cover up parallel perfect fifths and perfect octaves by displacing one voice by an octave. The next two examples attempt to fix the errors from the first two examples on this page by displacing one voice of the parallel perfect intervals. Identify these by comparing them to the previous example (i.e. P) Notice that it creates multiple voicing and spacing errors as well as nearly unsingable parts!

Unacceptable unequal fifths (UU5)

The last two common part-writing errors have specific clauses tied to them that specify which voices are acceptable and unacceptable. The first, unacceptable unequal fifths , must occur between the bass voice and one of the upper voices. In the following example, find the unacceptable unequal fifths where a d5 moves to a P5. What is wrong with the voice-leading here?

Note that we will consider a P5 moving to a d5 as acceptable unequal fifths, because a P5 to a d5 does not require incorrect resolutions of tendency tones. There are some stricter versions of chorale part-writing that do not allow any form of unequal fifths.

Unacceptable similar fifths or octaves (US5, US8)

The final common part-writing has many names, but we will use the term unacceptable similar fifths or octaves . This error can also be called “direct”, “hidden”, or “exposed”. I prefer to use similar because it implies the motion like the other categories, but I also think that exposed does a fine job describing the effect. (I dislike the term hidden because students often confuse this with contrary fifths (or octaves), because the goal of contrary fifths is to “hide” parallel fifths.) Unacceptable similar fifths or octaves have the most restrictions. The conditions are:

• They can only occur between the soprano and the bass voices.
• They require a skip of a third or more in the soprano voice.
• The two voices must move in similar (not parallel) motion.
• The second interval must be a P5 or P8.

If any one of these conditions are not met, then there is not a part-writing error. Look at the following example to find an example of similar octaves . Once you have found it, look at the voice-leading around it. What does it do to spacing? Does it create more errors? Unacceptable similar octaves and fifths also often create melodies that imply different harmonies. To demonstrate, sing the melody alone. Do you hear it as C major or a different key?

As a final demonstration of the difficulties that these part-writing errors create, try to fix each of the part-writing errors on this page. What do you have to change? Do you get to keep the harmony? Voice-leading? Voicing? In trying to fix it, do you just create further errors?

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Western Harmonic Practice I: Diatonic Tonality

6 Introduction to Four-Part Harmony and Voice Leading

• Four-Part Harmony is the study and application of tonality through harmonic progressions in four voices (parts).
• Voicing is the process of taking a given chord and assigning/arranging the chord tones to each of the four voices (parts)
• Good spacing helps to insure balance and homogenous blending of the harmony.
• There are two different types of spacing: ( closed and open ).
• The voices , while sounding a complete chord, are also to be considered as independent lines, much like we learned in our study of counterpoint , and the process of moving the voices from one chord to the next is called voice leading .
• As with our study of counterpoint, the study of harmony in four part SATB chorale style is not designed to create good music but rather develop skills and reenforce basic musical concepts through active learning and creation, as well as to serve as a foundation upon which to build further knowledge. These exercises are analogous to lifting weights as part of athletic training, or the study of calculus as part of training in engineering, etc. Thus, these exercises in and of themselves are not intended to produce anything close to finished songs or well-constructed compositions. However, and what is an important challenge, one should strive to make them as musical as possible within the limited guidelines and resources provided.

Philosophy and Application

Pedagogical (teaching) philosophy.

As with counterpoint , one might ask why we engage actively in something as strict and even as antiquated in some respects as four part harmony in SATB chorale style? The answer to such a question is similar to the answer given for why we engage in strict counterpoint exercises: These are directed studies in skill and knowledge building. I often use analogies from the world of sport. Larry Bird, for example, is one of the greatest basketball players of all time. However, Bird didn’t become an NBA legend simply by being born with great basketball skills. In fact, Bird was, by nearly every physical metric except for his height (he was 6′ 10″) a gangly, awkward and rather unsuited person for the game of basketball as compared to many other (for example, peers like the great Ervin “Magic” Johnson who was far more physically gifted). However, Bird worked hard at his craft for hours on end and built up his body with daily rigourous exercise. Any pro basketball player spends countless hours in the gym working with weights, engaging in stretches and sustained aerobic exercise, etc., all of which we don’t see directly on the court but is manifest in the ability of the athlete to perform at a high level during a game. Similarly, engaging in activities such as counterpoint or harmony exercises, even in the most dogmatic of approach as sometimes given here, are to the musician, composer, and songwriter as to the athlete engaging in daily gym work. These exercises are not intended to be efforts at great original composition but are rather designed to develop skills and hone a sense of form, control, and craft, furthering knowledge, understanding, and musicianship.

What is Four Part Harmony?

In four (4) part writing we think vertically , in the domain of harmony , voicing chords into four distinct parts. These four parts will be referred to as “ voices ”, and we will first work within in a format known as “ chorale ” or SATB style. The four parts are labeled by their range, from highest to lowest: Soprano (S), Alto (A), Tenor (T), and Bass (B). We will also consider how chords move and connect to one another, forming a harmonic progression (also known as a chord progression ) and defining a complete musical idea known as a phrase . The challenge is to create or realize musical phrases in the four parts that are both harmonically coherent and logical within the key in which the phrase is written, and are melodically coherent and satisfying through a process and concept we call voice leading .

As with our first exercises in counterpoint, and to keep things simple and focused on only a few elements at a time, our beginning exercises in four-part harmony will not be concerned with rhythm and, as such, we will not worry about a time signature or any type of meter . The only note value we will use will use at first will be the whole note .

The Four Voices: Soprano (S), Alto (A), Tenor (T), Bass (B)

Each voice (part) is considered as an independent musical line, having an independent range defined by an upper note and a lower note. When writing in SATB “Chorale” Style, you should avoid exceeding these ranges. Although the terms we use to define each voice (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) have their origins in choral music , these ranges only loosely relate to actual human vocal ranges often found in a choir (professional choirs will often have greater flexibility in terms of range). The ranges assigned in SATB style are approximate and used in a very general manner. The ranges of each voice are show in Example 1 below.

Voicing, Spacing, and Doubling

Voicing is a term we use to describe how a given chord is arranged (distributed) across each part. In general, there are many ways in which we might be able to voice a chord and the two primary considerations are how many notes a chord has, and how many voices (parts) are available for use.

Answering both considerations, as introduced above, in SATB chorale style, we will have four voices with which we may assign the notes from any given chord. And, for the time being, we will be working with purely diatonic triads and thus all of the chords available will be made up of three distinct tones, expressed in pitch-classes . As you will recall from our Basic Musicianship study (you may further review in fundamentals ), the chord tones for any triad are labeled as follows: root , third , and fifth . Therefore, when we voice a triad, we are assigning each of the three chord tones to the four available voices. This process is, in fact, a very simple form of arranging and orchestration (more of which will be covered in later chapters). You may well ask how we will deal with a three note chord using four voices and this is covered in depth below.

In terms of music notation, our SATB parts will be written on a grand staff , with the soprano and alto parts written on the upper staff (treble) and the tenor and bass written on the lower staff (bass clef). This will be very similar to how we wrote our counterpoint exercises using one staff, but representing two voices on that staff. As with counterpoint, even though we will be writing two voices on one staff, we will still consider each part a a separate line. Later, when we begin using note values that require use of a stem (i.e. half-notes, quarter-notes, and so on), we will differentiate each line as we did in second and fourth species counterpoint by using the notation convention where the stems are in opposite directions: In the treble staff the soprano will always be shows as stems up and the alto as stems down, and in our bass staff the tenor will be shown as stems up and the bass as stems down. This allows us to easily see each part individually.

Voicing Guidelines

• When we voice triads, we need to make sure that each chord tone of the triad is represented. As a result, no chord tones are to be omitted at this time .
• For now we will be working only with triads in root position . A root position chord has the root sounding in the lowest voice and, thus, in SATB texture , we will assign the root to the bass voice. The upper three voices of soprano, alto, and tenor are free to take whichever chord tones are remaining as long as we respect the spacing guidelines above. Later we will learn how to work with inversions.
• Doubling : Since a triad only contains three distinct tones and we have four voices, one of the voices will be free to double: that is, one of the chord tones will be represented twice in the SATB texture. In our first exercises, we will only double the root of the triad . Later we will learn how and when it is possible and even desirable to double other chord tones.

The example below shows three possible root position voicings of a C major triad in a SATB texture:

Example 2. A C major triad voiced three ways (a, b, c) in SATB texture. R = root, 3 = third, 5 = fifth

Voice Spacing in SATB Chorale Texture

While we must always consider the ranges of each voice part in SATB chorale style, we will also need to consider the vertical spacing (interval distance) between each of the voices. This will be similar to how we considered the spacing of the voices in our counterpoint assignments, being mindful of how far apart the counterpoint melody and cantus firmus are at any given moment. Since we now have four voices to consider, there are a few more considerations:

• Upper Three Voices (Soprano, Alto, Tenor): Each of the upper three voices may not exceed the distance of one octave between any adjacent voice. In other words, the Soprano to Alto distance should not exceed an octave, and the Alto to Tenor distance should not exceed an octave. Both conditions must be true.
• Bass to Tenor: The bass voice, by virtue of its position as the lowest voice of the harmony, has a bit more freedom and, as a result, may exceed the distance of an octave in relationship to its neighboring voice the tenor. However, this distance may not exceed that of a twelfth (an octave plus a fifth).

When looking at any chord voicing as a whole, taking into account all of the voices, we have two ways of describing the spacing: close and open .

Close Position (spacing) : The upper voices, without the bass note considered, are an octave or less apart in total distance.  In SATB texture, we measure that distance between the Soprano and Tenor voices.

Open Position (spacing) : The upper voices, without the bass note considered, exceed an octave in total distance.

The example below shows how we would describe the spacing of the three voicings of a C major triad as shown in Example 2:

Example 3. Open or Close spacing positions for each chord (a, b, and c respectively) as found in Example 2

Roman Numerals and Labeling of Chords

In SATB chorale style, we will label each phrase with the primary key in which the phrase operates and each chord in terms of its function in the key, type and quality.

The primary tonal center (the key) of the musical phrase is shown at the beginning of the phrase below the bottom staff. We then label each chord according to its scale degree function using Roman numeral notation (abbreviated as R.N.). When we use R.N. labels, we will also indicate if the chord is in an inversion with a small superscript number just to the right of the Roman numeral, or if the chord contains tones beyond that of the triad (such as a seventh chord ). This superscript number is called a figure , and taken collectively termed figured bass which is  a notation originally invented for keyboard players to improvise musical accompaniments during the 17th and 18th centuries. This figured bass convention has carried onward to the present day as a way to identify chords and chord types in music theory analysis. As mentioned above, these labels always appear below the staff, centered below the bass-voice.

Furthermore, we will label the chords in each phrase using the more modern lead sheet chord notation above the top staff, centered above the soprano voice.  As the name implies, this type of chord notation is often shown in jazz and popular music lead sheets (sometimes with guitar tablature as well), showing performers the intended harmony at any given moment in the composition upon which to play and improvise (jazz players will often term improvising over chords as “blowing over the changes”). Fortunately for us, both ways of labeling chords are easily accomplished in Noteflight when composing and realizing your own phrases.

Example 4. Example of chord labeling using both Roman numeral analysis and lead sheet notation.

More on Chord Labeling

There are many different stylistic conventions to lead sheet chord labeling, often these are stylistic preferences established by publishers. For our purposes we will keep the labeling simple and follow these basic guidelines:

• Major triads : The pitch class of the root of the chord notated with an upper-case letter. I prefer also adding a small triangle symbol to the right of the letter but this is not necessary and is also not easily done when using Noteflight.
• Minor triads : The pitch class of the root of the chord notated with an upper-case letter as with the major triad, but follow this with a minus sign “-” immediately to the right of the letter. This will indicate a minor chord quality.
• Diminished triads: The pitch class of the root of the chord notated with an upper-case letter followed by a superscript “ O ” to the right of the letter. This will indicate a diminished chord quality.
• Augmented triads : The pitch class of the root of the chord notated with an upper-case letter followed by a superscript “ + ” to the right of the letter. This will indicate an augmented chord quality.
• Inversions : The root and chord quality as indicated above, but adding a slash “/” to the right followed by the pitch class of the note found in the bass (also in upper-case).

Figure 1 below shows the common triads with various chord notation conventions for easy reference.

Figure 1. The four common triads and, circled, the common lead-sheet naming conventions.

Seventh chords and their associated labels will be covered in a later chapter.

Further Reading

• Schoenberg, Arnold: Theory of Harmony
• Schoenberg, Arnold: Structural Functions of Harmony

A vertical sonority.

A harmonic progression, also known as a chord progression, is the movement from one chord to another, often in such a way as to create or define the structural foundation of a work, song, or piece of music, particularly music in the Western tradition.

An independent, monophonic part within a piece of music (instrumental or vocal). Each voice may be played by a different instrument, or multiple voices may be played by one instrument (especially with polyphonic instruments such as they keyboard or guitar)

A traditional approach to music composition pedagogy focused on counterpoint as a way of learning to think of music horizontally (melodically) and vertically (harmonically) simultaneously. Consists of five “species,” each of which focuses on a single compositional element.

A four part musical texture with soprano (S), alto (A), tenor (T), and bass (B) parts, abstracted through voice.

A musical texture that is sometimes interchanged with SATB style or a homophonic musical texture with melody and chordal accompaniment.

The highest part in SATB style, written in the treble clef staff with an up-stem; its generally accepted range is C₄–G₅.

The second-highest voice part in SATB style, written in the treble clef staff with a down-stem; its generally accepted range is G₃–D₅

The second lowest part in SATB style, written in the bass clef staff with up-stems; its generally accepted range is C₃–F₄.

The lowest voice in SATB style, written in the bass clef staff with a down-stem; its generally accepted range is E₂–C₄

The intervals between voices. For chords in strict SATB style, there should be no more than an octave between upper voices (soprano and alto, alto and tenor), and no more than a twelfth between the tenor and bass

Distribution of notes in a chord into idiomatic registers for performance.

Any combination of two or more pitch classes that sound simultaneously.

A pitch that belongs to a chord. Example: a c major triad has three chord tones, pitch-classes C, E, and G.

A chord spacing in which the chord fits within one octave.

Notes of a chord are spaced out beyond their closest possible position

the art or technique of setting, writing, or playing a melody or melodies in conjunction with another, according to fixed rules. Literal meaning is "point against point" which we interpret as "note against note"

The way a specific voice within a larger texture moves when the harmonies change. For example, in a choir with four parts, soprano/alto/tenor/bass, one might discuss the voice leading in the tenor part as the entire choir moves from I to V.

A relatively complete musical thought that exhibits trajectory toward a goal (often a cadence).

The duration of musical sounds and rests in time.

An indication of meter in Western music notation, often made up of two numbers stacked vertically.

A recurring pattern of accents that occur over time. Meters are indicated in music notation with a time signature.

A note value that lasts the duration of two half notes. Notation: 𝅝

Music sung in two or more distinct parts, with two or more singers assigned to each part. Choral music is necessarily polyphonal—i.e., consisting of two or more autonomous vocal lines. It has a long history in European church music (especially Lutheran) and in American Gospel tradition.

1. A scale, mode, or collection that follows the pattern of whole and half steps W–W–H–W–W–W–H, or any rotation of that pattern. 2. Belonging to the local key (as opposed to "chromatic").

A three-note chord whose pitch classes can be arranged as thirds.

A group of pitches that are octave equivalent and enharmonically equivalent.

The lowest note of a triad or seventh chord when the chord is stacked in thirds.

A pitch (pitch class) in tertian harmony located the distance of a third (major or minor) above the root.

A pitch (pitch class) in tertian harmony located the distance of a fifth (perfect, augmented, or diminished) above the root.

Two staves placed one above the other, connected by a brace. The top staff has a treble clef, while the bottom staff has a bass clef.

Ordering the notes of a chord so that it is entirely stacked in thirds. The root of the chord is on the bottom.

The density of and interaction between voices in a work

Duplicating some notes of a chord in multiple parts.

In tonality, the tonic (tonal center) is the tone of complete relaxation and stability, the target toward which other tones lead and to which all other tones in the mode/scale relate. The tonal center is defined as scale degree 1.

The relative position of a note within a diatonic scale. Indicated with a number, 1–7, that indicates this position relative to the tonic of that scale.

The role that a musical element plays in the creation of a larger musical unit.

A way of labeling chords according the the scale degree upon which the chord is built in tonal music. The scale degree number is represented as a Roman numeral as opposed to an Arabic numeral and the case of the Roman numeral is often used to denote the quality of the chord with Upper Case as major and Lower Case as minor.

When the bass note of a harmony is not the root of the chord. For example, when the third of the chord is in the bass instead of the root.

Refers to the 7th of a chord. For example, V7 in the key of C is spelled G-B-D-F. The note F is the chordal 7th. We say chordal 7th to distinguish it from the leading-tone (Ti, [latex]\hat{7}[/latex]).

Arabic numerals and symbols that indicate the intervals above a bass note to be realized into chords and non-chord tones by performers. Used also for identification of chords in Roman numeral harmonic analysis

A type of jazz/pop score that typically notates only the melody and the chord symbols (written above the staff).

Tablature (or tabulature, or tab for short) is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches. Tablature is common for fretted stringed instruments such as the guitar, lute, etc.

A triad whose third is major and fifth is perfect.

A triad whose third is minor and fifth is perfect.

A triad whose third is minor and fifth is diminished.

A triad whose third is major and fifth is augmented.

A triad with an additional third above the fifth, creating a seventh between that top note and the bass and totaling four notes.

Composing Music: From Theory to Practice Copyright © 2023 by Elliott Miles McKinley. All Rights Reserved.

Share This Book

Integrated Music Theory an open, interactive, online textbook for college music theory

CC BY-NC-SA 2019.

Integrated Music Theory 2019-20

Chapter 10) An Introduction to Part-writing Discussion 10a - Part-writing Errors ❯

Lesson 10a - Part-writing Errors

Part-writing.

The term part-writing can imply many things depending on its context, but for our purposes, this will be our first attempt to combine the fundamentals of melody (counterpoint) and harmony (voice-leading from circle-of-fifths progressions) into functional music using diatonic tonality.

By applying the various rules and techniques that we have studied thus far, we can:

• Harmonize a melody
• Compose a melody given a harmony
• Fully voice four-part harmonies
• Create independent melodic lines that function harmonically together

Units 10 and 11 will help you solidify this process. First, we will establish a reference model by looking at classic errors that occur when writing in a general four-part chorale style. We will then apply these guidelines to our own attempts to compose basic four-part chorales in order to better understand the voice-leading principles of all tonal music.

We will be referring to this handout, Part-Writing Error Checklist and Guide , for the next two units, so you may want to print this out or open it in a separate window.

Why part-writing?

Before we begin, I would like to address a question that I have received many times from students. Why do we study part-writing, particularly in a strict style that is not performed regularly by modern musicians?

There are many answers for this, but there is one in particular that I think justifies the study of this in this course. Part-writing is the simplest way to study how voice-leading creates harmony. Even though most of its rules are archaic, and a modern student’s ear is not nearly as offended by certain style characteristics (e.g. parallel perfect fifths), this is the most straightforward way to study every aspect of how music functions: voice-leading, chord progressions, voicing chords, chordal structure, tendency tones, melodic construction, and so on.

We could attempt to focus on only one style of modern music–whether pop, jazz, classical, or otherwise–but because each is a fully developed, complex language, you would still need to learn basic harmonic movement before beginning to write in that style. And because each of these musics has its roots in diatonic harmony, an understanding of basic chorale style part-writing will allow you to study and analyze all of these styles, rather than focusing your studies into only one area and being ignorant of the others.

In short, you may never use this directly, but a knowledge and understanding of these basic tenets will greatly enhance your ability to function as a musician, regardless of your career path.

Traditional errors

In Unit 6c , we first looked at some basic rules for voicing a chord in a four-part chorale style. These rules included:

• In this style, voices should generally not cross
• Exception: alto and tenor may cross briefly if musically necessary
• In this style, the top three voices–soprano, alto, and tenor–should always be within an octave of the adjacent voices. To be more specific, there can never be more than an octave between soprano and alto , and there can never be more than an octave bteween alto and tenor .
• There can be more than an octave between bass and tenor .
• A closed voicing has less than an octave between soprano and tenor .
• An open voicing has more than an octave between soprano and tenor .
• Each part must stay within the typical range for that voice/instrument?
• You can double the root of a chord when possible.
• This is actually more preferable if the triad is in second inversion.
• Do not double the third because it is a tendency tone. If this is doubled, it will force you to choose between the incorrect resolution of a tendency tone or unacceptable parallel octaves. Also, the third should also be least present chord tone in the balance for the chord to sound best.
• Do not double the seventh because it is a tendency tone. If this is doubled, it will force you to choose between the incorrect resolution of a tendency tone or unacceptable parallel octaves.
• Do not double the fifth of a seventh chord. This would require omitting the root, third, or seventh, and none of these are expendable.

Part-writing errors

In addition to the voicing rules, there are a number of standard part-writing errors that should be avoided as well:

• Parallel perfect octaves or perfect fifths
• Similar octaves or fifths (sometimes referred to as “direct”, “hidden”, or “exposed”)
• Unacceptable unequal fifths
• Contrary perfect octaves or perfect fifths

Please note that these errors must be within the same two voices across both chords. Due to the effects of consistently doubling roots, there will almost always be consecutive perfect octaves and perfect fifths between two triads, but this is not parallel . For example, a root position C major triad moving to a root position G triad will have two voices on C in the first chord and two voices on G in the second chord, if standard doubling practices are observed. This is fine as long as its not in the same two voices in both chords (e.g. soprano and bass both have C and then both have a G).

Each of the four primary categories of part-writing errors are symptoms of voice-leading issues. If you understand the underlying voice-leading issues of each of these errors, you can find them more easily and avoid them in your own part-writing.

Parallel perfect fifths and perfect octaves (PP5, PP8)

Part-writing errors result from poor voice-leading. For example, look at the progression below and try to find our first major error: parallel perfect octaves (PP8). Once you have found it, look to see if a voicing rule (e.g. spacing, doubling, etc.) has been broken. If the voicing error is not fixed, is there any way to avoid the parallel octaves without incorrectly resolving a tendency tone?

Parallel perfect octaves and perfect fifths undermine the independence of lines, so you should always avoid them in this style. Listen to the following example, and try to locate the parallel perfect fifths aurally before you look through the parts. Once you have identified the voices that contain the PP5, try singing the upper of the two voices, and then listen to the example again. Do you have a difficult time differentiating the upper voice from the lower of these two voices?

In summary, you may never have parallel perfect octaves or parallel perfect fifths in this style of music. Please note that for an interval to be considered parallel , the interval must occur consecutively in the same two voices. For example, if your first P8 is between the bass and alto, the second P8 must also be in the bass and alto. If you find a P8 between the bass and tenor on the second chord, this is acceptable because it does not undermine the independence of the voices.

Contrary perfect fifths and octaves (CP5, CP8)

Our next part-writing error, contrary perfect fifths and contrary perfect octaves (CP5 or CP8) are simply an attempt to cover up parallel perfect fifths and parallel perfect octaves by displacing one voice by an octave. The next two examples attempt to fix the errors from the first two examples on this page by displacing one voice of the parallel perfect intervals. Identify these by comparing them to the previous example (i.e. P) Notice that it creates multiple voicing and spacing errors as well as nearly unsingable parts!

Again, remember that for this to be considered an error, the contrary perfect octaves/fifths must be in the same two voices. If the interval changes voices, it does not undermine the independence of the voices.

Unacceptable unequal fifths (UU5)

The last two common part-writing errors have specific clauses tied to them that specify which voices are acceptable and unacceptable. The first, unacceptable unequal fifths (UU5), must occur between the bass voice and one of the upper voices. In the following example, find the unacceptable unequal fifths where a d5 moves to a P5. What is wrong with the voice-leading here?

So for this course, we will consider a d5 moving to a P5 unacceptable unequal fifths, but we will consider a P5 moving to a d5 as acceptable –a P5 to a d5 does not require incorrect resolutions of tendency tones. Remember that these errors are best thought of as symptoms of the actual problem. In this case, the real issue is that the only two notes in a diatonic key that can form a d5 are ti and fa , and as discussed many times in this course, these two notes will imply a dominant harmony that wants to resolve inward with ti moving to do and fa moving to mi . For a d5 to be followed by a P5, it would mean that fa must resolve to sol which is poor voice-leading and therefore the error we are trying to avoid. There are some stricter versions of chorale part-writing that do not allow any form of unequal fifths.

Unacceptable similar fifths or octaves (US5, US8)

The final common part-writing has many names, but we will use the term unacceptable similar fifths or octaves . This error can also be called “direct”, “hidden”, or “exposed”. I prefer to use similar because it implies the motion like the other categories, but I also think that exposed does a fine job describing the effect. (I dislike the term hidden because students often confuse this with contrary fifths (or octaves), because the goal of contrary fifths is to “hide” parallel fifths.) Unacceptable similar fifths or octaves have the most restrictions. The conditions are:

• They can only occur between the soprano and the bass voices.
• They require a skip of a third or more in the soprano voice.
• The two voices must move in similar (not parallel) motion.
• The second interval must be a P5 or P8.

If any one of these conditions are not met, then there is not a part-writing error. Look at the following example to find an example of similar octaves . Once you have found it, look at the voice-leading around it. What does it do to spacing? Does it create more errors? Unacceptable similar octaves and fifths also often create melodies that imply different harmonies. To demonstrate, sing the melody alone. Do you hear it as C major or a different key?

As a final demonstration of the difficulties that these part-writing errors create, try to fix each of the part-writing errors on this page. What do you have to change? Do you get to keep the harmony? Voice-leading? Voicing? In trying to fix it, do you just create further errors?

Conclusions

Parallel perfect fifths and octaves.

The class found two examples of parallel perfect octaves in this example.

• between the soprano and tenor moving from ii 6 to V 7
• between the soprano and tenor moving from V 7 to I

Almost all unacceptable examples of parallel octaves and fifths are due to poor voice-leading and voicings. In this case, the third of the five chord is doubled. This third is a tendency tone that should resolve upward by step, but in doing so, it creates parallel perfect octaves. The third never should have been doubled.

In this example, the class found two examples of parallel perfect fifths:

• between the bass and tenor from I to ii
• between the bass and tenor moving from ii to V 7

From this, we decided that the definition of a parallel perfect fifths/octaves is:

• it is not parallel perfect fifths/octaves if the intervals change voices (e.g. the first P8/P5 is between the soprano and tenor, but the second P8/P5 is between the soprano and alto)
• These are unacceptable between any two voices.

Parallel perfect fifths and octaves undermine the independence of the individual voices. Even after listening to the example with PP5s repeatedly, only one person in the class was able to distinguish the tenor voice. I then had the class look at the tenor voice and practice singing it in order to get the line into their ears. Even after doing this, they had trouble distinguishing between the two voices. This is even more pronounced if the chords are tuned using just intonation, because the upper note will blend into the overtone series of the lower note.

Contrary Octaves and Fifths

Contrary fifths and octaves occur when trying to mask parallel perfect fifths and octaves. In the example above, the class identified the CP5s between bass and tenor voices between:

• the I chord and ii chord
• the ii chord and the V 7 chord

From this, we decided that the definition of a contrary perfect fifths/octaves is:

• it is not contrary perfect fifths/octaves if the intervals change voices (e.g. the first P5 is between the soprano and tenor, but the second P5 is between the soprano and alto)

Unacceptable Unequal Fifths

Unacceptable unequal fifths are one of the easier part-writing errors to understand, because we are actually focusing on only one voice-leading issue. We defined a UUF as any time a d5 between the bass voice and another voice moves to a P5. Because it has to fill all of these conditions, it is relatively easy to find compared to parallel and contrary fifths/octaves which are not acceptable between any voices.

The voice-leading issue that causes UU5 centers around the one naturally occurring d5 in the major scale: when ti is below fa . This is only likely to happen on a dominant harmony which means that this occurs typically on a V 6/5 chord or a vii o chord. The problem arises when fa does not resolve downward to mi in the next chord. This is an incorrect resolution of a tendency tone, and that is what creates the part-writing error.

Similar Fifths and Octaves

Similar fifths/octaves occur when 1) the soprano and bass voices 2) move in similar motion to a 3) perfect fifth/octave, and 4) the soprano voice has a skip of a third or larger. You can see an example of this between the first two chords in this example.

Similar fifths/octaves are sometimes called “exposed” fifths/octaves, and both of these terms demonstrate a key feature about the part-writing error. Obviously, they must move in similar motion, but the term “exposed” highlights the fact that these must occur between the outer voices. By having similar motion to a perfect interval in the outer voices, it creates the impression of a parallel perfect interval. Most importantly, the leap in the soprano typically creates a poor soprano line in which the melody outlines/implies an unintentional harmony. In the example above, if you sing the melody line without the harmony it outlines A minor instead of C major.

NAME ASSIGNMENT 12.2 I. Error detection in chord spacing Write the roo

NAME ASSIGNMENT 12.2 I. Error detection in chord spacing Write the root, quality, and inversion (3, 3, or $)for each chord in chorale style. Then choose (from the following list) the type of error that applies to the chord,and write the letter in the blank. Rewrite the chord in the measure to the right, with the error corre… … Arts & Humanities Music 20220419_130604.jpg

Our website has a team of professional writers who can help you write any of your homework. They will write your papers from scratch. We also have a team of editors just to make sure all papers are of HIGH QUALITY & PLAGIARISM FREE. To make an Order you only need to click Order Now and we will direct you to our Order Page at Litessays. Then fill Our Order Form with all your assignment instructions. Select your deadline and pay for your paper. You will get it few hours before your set deadline.

Fill in all the assignment paper details that are required in the order form with the standard information being the page count, deadline, academic level and type of paper. It is advisable to have this information at hand so that you can quickly fill in the necessary information needed in the form for the essay writer to be immediately assigned to your writing project. Make payment for the custom essay order to enable us to assign a suitable writer to your order. Payments are made through Paypal on a secured billing page. Finally, sit back and relax.

Do you need an answer to this or any other questions?

Order Plagiarism Free Answer Here

We are the best

• ✓ Professional & Expert Writers
• ✓ Top Quality Papers:
• ✓ Plagiarism-Free Papers:
• ✓ Timely Delivery:
• ✓ Affordable Prices
• ✓ 24/7 Customer Support:

100% Guarantee

We are a professional writing service that provides original papers. Our products include academic papers of varying complexity and other personalized services, along with research materials for assistance purposes only. All the materials from our website should be used with proper references.