Four-Part Harmony: Getting Started

Harmonizing in four parts, or voices, is also called scoring, (I use these terms interchangeably) has its origin in vocal music. We therefore give the names soprano, alto, tenor, and bass to the four parts, even when they’re not actual human voices. Still, the basis for what we will be learning here is intended to be primarily vocal. Let’s begin then by assigning approximate ranges to each of the four voices:

Types of Four-Part Scoring

There are several ways voices can be arranged on a staff. In four-parts, we generally use a grand staff and arrange the voices in either vocal scoring or keyboard scoring.

Vocal Scoring

With vocal scoring, the soprano and alto voices are on the treble staff with their stems pointed in opposite directions:

Keyboard Scoring

Keyboard scoring places one note on the bass staff, and the other three voices on the treble staff. Keyboard scoring is convenient when you don’t have access to actual singers, and you must resort to playing the parts on a keyboard:

Spacing

Spacing refers to the distance between each of the voices in a chord. Close spacing is a chord where there is less than an octave between the soprano and tenor:

Open spacing is where there is an octave or more between the soprano and tenor.

Both of these types of spacing are good. Generally, good four-part writing has a mixture of both. Notice how the example below begins in unison and octaves, then blossoms from close spacing to open spacing. (The letters “C” and “O” above the score are indicating close and open spacing respectively:

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Standard Doubling Procedures

Since triads having only three pitches, it is necessary to double one of the chord members when writing in four voices. (Seventh chords already have four voices, so doubling problems, for the most part, do not exist.) These standard doubling procedures for scoring triads in four voices should be viewed as guidelines, not necessarily strict rules, although there will be times, as we’ll see later, when certain doublings must be adhered to strictly. For now, memorize these principles:

1. When a triad is in root position double the bass (the root of the chord).
2. When a triad is in first inversion double either the root or the fifth. Do not double the bass. In other words, the third usually is not doubled.  Frequently, the soprano is the voice that is doubled.
3. When a triad is in second inversion double the bass (the fifth of the chord)

Very seldom will you find exceptions to principles one and three above. With principle two, however, we’ll see that there are several times where it actually is better to double the third. Below are different voicing of triads in four voices in various inversions, open and close spacing. All of them adhere to the standard doubling procedures:

Types of Motion

Voice leading is the term we use to describe how individual voices (again, voice, parts, and lines are synonymous terms) relate to one another. We relate the voices (SATB) to one another by comparing the contour of two simultaneous lines (e.g., soprano and bass, alto and tenor, soprano and tenor, etc.) There are four principal types of motion in music:

1. Parallel motion – both voices move in the same direction (up or down) and remain the same interval distance apart (e.g., parallel 3rds, parallel 6ths, etc.).
2. Similar motion – both voices move in the same direction (up or down) but do not remain the same interval apart.
3. Oblique motion – one voice remains on the same pitch while the other voice moves either up or down.
4. Contrary motion – both voices move in opposite directions (one moves up while the other moves down).

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By comparing these types of motions, notice that voices moving in contrary motion have the most independence. In other words, since they are moving in opposite directions, we have no problem hearing two distinct musical lines. Voices moving in parallel motion, on the other hand, tend to be the least independent, that is, they are always moving in the same direction. When two voices move in parallel motion for any length of time, we tend to hear them as a single line. This brings us to the “forbidden zone” that we will cover in the next lesson.

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