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Overlapping voices—unacceptable (1 point error) Definition: Two adjacent voices move to a position in which the lower voice is higher than the previous note in the higher voice, or they move to a position where the higher voice is lower than the previous note in the lower voice.
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- Part-Writing
- Why Part-Writing?
- Traditional Errors
- Part-Writing Errors
- Parallel Perfect Fifths and Perfect Octaves
- Contrary Perfect Fifths and Octaves
- Unacceptable Unequal Fifths
- Unacceptable Similar Fifths Or Octaves
- Parallel Perfect Fifths and Octaves
- Contrary Octaves and Fifths
The term part-writingcan 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...
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 ...
In Unit 6c, we first looked at some basic rules for voicing a chord in a four-part chorale style. These rules included: 1. Voice-crossing 1.1. In this style, voices should generally not cross 1.2. Exception: alto and tenor may cross briefly if musically necessary 2. Spacing 2.1. In this style, the top three voices–soprano, alto, and tenor–should al...
In addition to the voicing rules, there are a number of standard part-writing errors that should be avoided as well: 1. Parallel perfect octaves or perfect fifths 2. Similar octaves or fifths (sometimes referred to as “direct”, “hidden”, or “exposed”) 3. Unacceptable unequal fifths 4. Contrary perfect octaves or perfect fifths Please note that thes...
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 w...
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 pe...
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 fifthswhere a d5 moves to a P5. What is wrong with ...
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 hidde...
The class found two examples of parallel perfect octaves in this example. 1. between the soprano and tenor moving from ii6 to V7 2. between the soprano and tenor moving from V7to 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 th...
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: 1. the I chord and ii chord 2. the ii chord and the V7chord From this, we decided that the definition of a contrary perfect fifths/octaves is: 1. when two voices have c...
- Sean Butterfield
Oct 11, 2019 · If you've ever been confused by music theory terms, you're not alone! Check out this post to see common theory terms and definitions.
Aug 21, 2016 · Examples of this can be found in chapter 3.8 (Classifying Music), which defines entire eras of music or fields of musicological study (e.g., Western, non-Western, world music, classical music) with unwarranted certitude.
- Catherine Schmidt-Jones
Lesson 10b - Error detection. We have now studied the full array of part-writing errors for four-part chorale style compositions. Because there are so many possible errors, it can feel overwhelming to begin looking for errors, and it is easy to miss errors in long examples.
- Sean Butterfield
Harmonic Analysis with Decoration. When we analyse chromatic music, we need to begin by separating the layers of music (bass, melody and any middle parts), to work out a functional harmonic structure. We can then determine what sort of decoration, chromatic or otherwise, has been used.+.
Dec 29, 2017 · Over time, we have found our way to the idea that since dissonance is a subjective concept, we can define musical structure any way we like, without regard to whether music written using that structure "sounds dissonant" or not.
