Voice leading
Voice leading, from the rules to the sound
Hold what you can, step the rest
Between two chords, any note they share can be held in the same voice. Everything else moves to the nearest note of the next chord. The result sounds smooth because each voice is a small melody of its own.
- Dm7ii7
- G7V7
- Cmaj7Imaj7
- Dm7 to G7 2 voices hold, 2 move, 6 semitones of motion in all.
- G7 to Cmaj7 2 voices hold, 2 move, 6 semitones of motion in all.
The rules, and why they exist
Avoid parallel fifths and octaves. Two voices moving in parallel perfect intervals fuse into one, and the texture thins. Resolve the leading tone up and the seventh down. Those are the notes with the strongest pull, and they sound wrong when they go the other way. Keep voices from crossing. Each voice should stay in its own register.
Tonalia's voice leading is solved, not hand voiced: the engine searches the voicings for the smoothest path and reports any rule it had to break.
- CI
- Amvi
- FIV
- GV
- CI
- C to Am 2 voices hold, 2 move, 5 semitones of motion in all.
- Am to F 2 voices hold, 2 move, 5 semitones of motion in all.
- F to G 0 voices hold, 4 move, 8 semitones of motion in all.
- G to C 1 voice holds, 3 move, 8 semitones of motion in all.
Parsimony: moving one voice
The smoothest moves change one note. C major to A minor moves only G to A; C major to E minor moves only C to B. Chains of these one note moves are how film scores slide between distant chords without a jolt.
- CI
- Amvi
- FIV
- Dmii
- C to Am 2 voices hold, 2 move, 5 semitones of motion in all.
- Am to F 2 voices hold, 2 move, 5 semitones of motion in all.
- F to Dm 2 voices hold, 2 move, 5 semitones of motion in all.
In the app
Section 5 teaches voice leading and modulation: moving one voice, P, L and R, hearing the smoothness, pivot chords, modulation types and routes from any key to any other. Section 6 takes it into arrangement: drop 2, register and bass motion.
Every chord on this page is spelled and voiced by Tonalia's music engine.