Lesson Goal: To understand the concept of Voice Leading… and to start applying this understanding when you read, compose, and improvise…
Table of Contents
Prerequisites
Basic music reading skills… the LOVE of music… and the discipline to study and practice.
back to… Table of Contents
Voice Leading Defined
Voice Leading refers to the arrangement of chord tones within a chord progression such that each tone moves horizontally through the chord changes as a single voice… as you will see in the example that follows…
Voice Leading Applied to a I-V-I Chord Progression
Consider, for example, a I-V-I chord progression in the key of C Major…
Without Voice Leading, the I-V-I chord progression could be played like this…
where each chord is conceived as a separate, self-contained vertical structure.
With Voice Leading, the I-V-I chord progression could be played like this…
where each chord also behaves as three individual voices that flow horizontally through the chord progression.
Voice Leading Principles
- Tones that are common to each chord typically remain stationary.
- Tones that are different typically move to the nearest note.
Takeaway
Voice leading is used in a wide variety of music to add sophistication and to the way that chords and chord voices can be connected to each other in a chord progressions… and highlights the practical importance of knowing how to play your chords in a variety of inversions and to think about harmony as a horizontal as well as vertical construct.
learn more… Chords & Chord Progressions