In working with chords, the idea of voice leading implies how the voices of one chord meld or move into the next chord in the progression, song etc. Thinking in regards of four part harmony, i.e., bass, tenor, alto and soprano, in writing music we look to the voice leading to fine tune the emotional statement of the harmonies we have chosen to support our melody etc. Are there certain ways to voice lead? Are the various styles of American music created by certain ways to voice lead? Yes to both questions, and while some parts of the "yes" are theoretical, some are simply idiomatic due to the instruments usually employed in creating some of the popular styles. And of course, each of us can create our own unique ways to move from chord to chord based on what we hear and dig. Three basic ways to move voices are included below.
Contrary motion. Theorywise, the most common rule of thumb so to speak is to simply move any voice of any chord to it's nearest chord tone in the next chord by the smallest interval possible. For example, in the dominant chord G 13 resolving to C major 6, one way to move the voices would be as follows. Example 1.
| voice | G 7 to | C major | explanation |
| soprano | D | G | the pitch D could easily go by step to the tonic C or the 3rd E. |
| alto | B | C | the pitch B is the leading tone in the key of C and as such, wants to "lead" to the tonic C. |
| tenor | F | E | the pitch F moves by step to G, the 5th of the C major triad. Why not to E the 3rd? |
| bass | G | C | root motion by perfect 4th is by far the most common of all of the styles of American music. |
Here is the sound of the above chart. Example 1a. Sounds pretty authentic eh?
Notice how the two lower voices move in different directions to resolve? "Different directions = contrary motion." This type of motion is a good way to establish tonal centers with a traditional type voice leading. We hear this type of sound in church music and from earlier European classical composers.
Parallel motion. When voices move in parallel motion, which ever direction is chosen i.e., up or down, all of the voices move in the same direction. The half step lead in is a cool and potentially essential "parallel motion" in many of the American styles. Example 2.
Cool huh? We simply "slide" downward into our target A 13 chord moving all of the voices of each chord in the same direction. This is way common in the blues and jazz styles.
Common tone. using a common tone between chords is always a cool way to go. And while it surely "glues" things together and often generates excitement due to the repetition of the pitch, pulling this off in performance is no easy feat. So ... simply work it out yes? Yep. Dig the following common tone idea here used as a tag. Example 3.
| #iv dim7 iv - 7 | iii - 7 vi - 7 | ii - 7 V 7sus4 | I |
Hear the common tone tonic "chiming" out in the line? This last few bars is a common ending in the jazz language.
This single topic could often occupies chapters within books or entire books themselves, so essential is voice leading and the study of it's intricacies over the last 500 years or so. Explore if your curious. Future editions of this text will expand this introductory discussion, got to start somewhere yes ...?
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Man's mind, stretched to a new idea, never goes back to its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes
