PDA

View Full Version : Smooth voice leading

POLISH SAUSAGE
10-31-2005, 05:39 PM
As an aspiring jazz guitarist, smooth voice leading is a key to playing well...i guess. Anyways, i am having a brain fart as to what my teacher adn I went over last week, so if any of you have websites/comments about smooth voice leading, especially while playing chords, that would be great.
Ned
11-04-2005, 03:12 AM
Basic part-writing is four semesters, five days a week--and then there's counterpoint. In other words, voice-leading is not a thing you learn quickly once and for all; it's an art in itself. Ars longa, vita brevis.
Frankenstrat
11-04-2005, 06:57 PM
Well what I usually do is just take the meldoy and make sure that its the highest or soprano note in my chord.
what
11-05-2005, 10:37 AM
Basically it's "no leaps" which means that each voice should move in half/whole steps. But there is so much to it that it's pointless explaining over the internet..
darrell
11-05-2005, 01:31 PM
It's definitely not "no leaps"... It's a balance of leaps and stepwise motion. Not large leaps though... like maybe a fifth or less. There's a lot more that goes into it though.
what
11-06-2005, 11:32 AM
I said "basically" no leaps...
darrell
11-10-2005, 01:24 PM
I said "basically" no leaps...

Yes, but from that I gather that approx. 19 out of 20 motions should be stepwise, which is not good.
jam9383
11-10-2005, 05:33 PM
Yes, but from that I gather that approx. 19 out of 20 motions should be stepwise, which is not good.
whats going on, you pointed out he said no leaps then he pointed he meant some leaps are but now you seem to be giving trouble over him saying leaps were allowed
Ned
11-11-2005, 01:37 AM
One problem is that we seem to be assuming "smooth" to be synonymous with "good".

Let's suppose we are confronted with a C7 chord going to an F major triad. If we voice the chords (bottom to top) C E G Bb and C F A C, we won't have any leaps but we won't have (what's generally considered to be) good voice-leading either because the seventh will not have been resolved.
what
11-11-2005, 07:24 PM
Ok, I'm either too sleepy or I'm missing something, but how is the seventh not resolved? Doesn't the Bb go to A?
Ned
11-12-2005, 01:57 AM
Ok, I'm either too sleepy or I'm missing something, but how is the seventh not resolved? Doesn't the Bb go to A?

You're sleepy. No, in this example it goes to C. The fifth of the C7 chord, G, goes to the third of the F chord, A.
what
11-12-2005, 06:38 PM
yah, yeah, I get it. Sometimes I'm slow. There's 4 voices. gah