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The Chorale: Part 2
Root Position Chord Movements in Seconds Chords that are a second apart share no common tones. Doubling The bass voice should be doubled in root position whenever possible to provide the most harmonic stability. If the bass cannot be double for a valid harmonic reason, doubling the third of the chord is the next most…
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The Chorale: Part 1
The Chorale A chorale is a Lutheran hymn. During the Protestant Reformation, the break with the Catholic church created a need for “new” musical material to perform during church services. In the 17th century, these melodies were arranged into 4-part polyphonic works. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) was among the most prolific composers of these harmonizations. Bach…
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Voicing and Connecting Chords
Voicing Closed vs. Open Spacing Keep adjacent upper voice pairs within one octave of one another (S+A, A+T). Greater distance is required between the tenor and bass voice. Closed voicings between the lower voices often creates dissonances in overtones, which results in a muddier sound. Doubling Doubling is often necessary in a four-part texture, especially…
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Theory 103 Notes from Fall 2017
These will eventually be built into the site. For now, following the links to download pdfs:
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Melodic Principles
Considerations for Creating a Strong Melody 1. Range: Keep each voice within its proper range. 2. Desired motion: Move primarily by stepwise motion. 3. Chromatic intervals: Avoid difficult chromatic intervals (A2, A4, d5) in melodic lines. 4. Leaps: Use sparingly, especially larger than a fifth. Follow leaps with stepwise motion in the opposite direction…
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Riff Blues in B-flat
Six blues heads in one chart! All of these blues are based upon 4 measure ‘riffs:’ ‘C Jam Blues’ – Duke Ellington ‘Sonnymoon for Two’ – Sonny Rollins ‘Bag’s Groove’ – Milt Jackson ‘Night Train’ – Jimmy Forrest ‘Centerpiece’ – Harry Edison & John Hendricks ‘Splanky’ – Neal Hefti (Click on the image for a…
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Jazz Chord ii-V-I Chart
Chart for building ii-V-I progressions in 12 keys. Can be used as a warm-up chart in jazz ensembles. (Click on the image for a downloadable .pdf)
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