Chord Progressions by 4th and 5th

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

Today we’ll learn voice leading for the progressions by fourth and by fifth. Remember that the interval of a 5th is an inversion of a 4th, so essentially, the voice leading for these progressions is identical. However, since I-IV (4th) and I-V (5th) are so frequently used, we’ll cover both of them, although I refer to both of them as “progression by 5th” below.

Remember:

The secret to smooth voice leading is the common tone.

Progression by 5th

I-IV

Chords whose roots are a fifth apart have one note that is the same, that is, one common tone. Here’s how to create a smooth progression by fifth:

For a chord progression by 5th, keep the common tone in the same upper voice (S,A, or T), and move the other two voices by step to the nearest chord tone.

The example below is a I chord and a IV chord without any concern for voice leading:

Notice that the chords have one common tone, C (the red notes). Whenever there is a progression by fifth in diatonic harmony there will always be one common tone.

Now take a look at the same two chords, this time in a progression with smooth voice leading:

The common tone is kept in the tenor voice, while the soprano and alto move by step to the nearest chord tone of the IV chord.

i-V

Now we’ll do a progression by fifth in a minor key, i-V. Remember that the dominant in a minor key must be a major chord. Therefore, we use the harmonic minor form of the scale, which means we have to raise the leading tone.

For a i-V progression, the principle is exactly the same: keep the common tone in the same upper voice (S,A, or T), and move the other two voices by step to the nearest chord tone:

This time the common tone is in the soprano.

The video below demonstrates the i-V progression in A minor with three different right-hand positions. The common tone is kept in the same voice regardless of position. 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, as well as the I-IV progression written out in every major and minor key on the Harmonic Progressions page. You should strive, however, to play these progressions 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.)

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