MusicConnecting Chords with Smooth Voice Leading
Melody sits at an upright piano in a sunlit conservatory practice room, pencil tucked behind her ear, studying a hand-copied four-part SATB chorale score spread open on the music stand. She traces each voice line with her finger, nodding as the soprano steps gracefully downward while the bass moves up in contrary motion.
- Explain why stepwise and common-tone motion between chords produces smoother voice leading than large leaps.
- Identify parallel fifths and parallel octaves in a short SATB chord progression.
- Compare oblique, contrary, and similar motion between two voices and predict which are most likely to cause voice-leading errors.
- Apply the principle of minimal motion to connect two chords by moving each voice the shortest available distance.
- Justify why parallel perfect intervals undermine the independence of voices in polyphonic texture.
Key terms
- Voice leading
- The art of connecting chords by guiding each individual voice smoothly from one note to the next.
- Common tone
- A pitch shared by two successive chords, ideally kept in the same voice and not moved.
- Parallel fifths
- Two voices a perfect fifth apart moving the same direction to another perfect fifth, generally forbidden.
- Contrary motion
- Two voices moving in opposite directions, the safest motion for preserving independence.
- SATB
- The four standard choral voices: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass, used in chorale writing.
The Principle of Minimal Motion
Smooth voice leading rests on moving each voice the smallest distance that still completes the next chord. Hold common tones in place, prefer stepwise half or whole steps over skips, and reserve large leaps for the bass, where they are idiomatic. Minimal motion keeps every individual line singable and lets a progression feel inevitable rather than jolting, because the ear can follow each voice as a coherent melodic strand from chord to chord.
Why Perfect Parallels Fail
Perfect fifths and perfect octaves are acoustically pure and blend strongly. When two voices move in the same direction from one such interval to another of the same kind, the ear fuses them into a single reinforced line, collapsing the texture's independence. This is why parallel fifths and parallel octaves have been treated as errors since Renaissance counterpoint. Imperfect intervals like thirds and sixths do not fuse, so parallel thirds and sixths are not only allowed but idiomatic and pleasing.
Four Types of Motion
Two voices relate through four motion types. Contrary motion, moving in opposite directions, is safest because same-direction parallel perfect intervals cannot form. Oblique motion, one voice holding while the other moves, preserves common tones and never creates parallels between those two voices. Similar motion, same direction by different intervals, and parallel motion, same direction by the same interval, both demand vigilance because they can produce forbidden consecutive fifths or octaves if the resulting interval is not checked carefully.
Worked examples
Check the soprano and bass for parallel fifths in a I to V motion in C major.
- Place the I chord with soprano on G and bass on C, an interval of a perfect fifth.
- Move to the V chord with soprano on D and bass on G.
- Measure the new interval between soprano D and bass G, which is again a perfect fifth.
- Both voices moved upward in the same direction from one perfect fifth to another.
- Same-direction motion between two perfect fifths matches the definition of the error.
Answer: Yes, this creates parallel fifths and must be rewritten.
Connect the I chord to the IV chord in C major with smoothest voice leading.
- Spell I as C E G and IV as F A C and look for shared notes.
- C is a common tone, so hold C in its voice without moving it.
- Move E up a half step to F, the smallest available motion.
- Move G up a whole step to A, again the nearest IV chord tone.
- The bass moves from C to F to establish root-position IV.
Answer: Hold C, step E to F and G to A, move bass C to F.
Activity
Connect the I chord (C–E–G–C) to the IV chord (F–A–C–F) using the smoothest possible voice leading. Each arrow target is labeled as a chord tone (a note belonging to the IV chord) or a distractor (not the correct voice assignment for that voice in this progression, even if the note appears in the chord) — your job is to move each voice to the best IV-chord tone while minimizing leaps and keeping common tones stationary.
Practice
Given a two-chord SATB excerpt, locate and label any parallel fifths or octaves present.
Connect a V chord to a I chord in G major using minimal motion and contrary motion in the bass.
Common mistakes to avoid
- All parallel motion is forbidden.Only parallel perfect fifths and octaves are forbidden; parallel thirds and sixths are acceptable and often encouraged.
- Voices should always leap to the nearest chord.Stepwise motion and held common tones are preferred; large leaps belong mainly in the bass voice.
Check your understanding
In a four-part chorale, the bass moves from G up to C while the tenor moves from D up to G. What voice-leading error has occurred?
A student rewrites a progression so that the soprano and alto always move in parallel thirds between every chord. Which statement best evaluates this choice?
Which motion type between two voices is considered the safest for avoiding parallel fifths and parallel octaves?
Recap
Good voice leading moves each SATB voice the shortest distance, holds common tones, and favors stepwise and contrary motion, while avoiding parallel perfect fifths and octaves that fuse voices and destroy the independence of a polyphonic texture.
Reflect
Why might independent melodic lines matter more than the chords themselves?