Chord Progression By 2nd

Be sure to review these music theory lessons before moving on:

I’ve saved the progression by second for last because there are no common tones, and progressing by second presents a couple of obvious voice leading problems.

A common progression by second is the subdominant (IV) moving to the dominant (V):

As you can see, if we move the voices in what seems to be the most logical manner, we end up with parallel fifths and parallel octaves; both are in the forbidden zone. Remember, however, there are many styles of music today, especially popular styles that have no regard for parallel motion. In fact, it’s a part of the style. What we’re learning here is four-part harmony, intended to provide as much independence as possible to the individual voices, while allowing chords to move smoothly from one to another.

So, in traditional four-part harmony, here’s the proper way to harmonize a progression by second:

For a chord progression by 2nd with root position triads, the upper three voices (SAT) should move in contrary motion with the bass to the nearest chord tone of the next chord:

When a progression by 2nd is voiced correctly, two voices will move by step, and another by a third. In the example above, all upper voices (SAT) are moving down while the bass is moving up, thus creating contrary motion with the bass. The soprano and alto move down by step; the tenor down by third.

The video below demonstrates the IV-V progression in C major with three different right-hand (SAT) positions. Notice that, in all three examples, the top three voices move down while the bottom voice moves up. Watch the video several times, then practice playing the progression on the keyboard in all the major and minor keys. You can download this harmonic progression written in every major and minor key on the Harmonic Progressions page. You should strive, however, to play this progression in every key without looking at the music. This is the way to truly understand chord progressions and voice leading, and it will help you immensely in composing and improvising. (Click anywhere on the video to pause it.)