November 1 - All Sol's Day
[Sol Fa, sol good to go for Quiz 11 (Chord Cycles), to be given sometime after 7:55am, Thursday, November 8, Diablo Valley College Music Building, Pleasant Hill, CA]
Four-Part Harmony
S - Soprano
A - Alto
T - Tenor
B - Bass
The four voices above, highest-to-lowest, can be literal voices, four tones in a keyboard chord,
four instruments, etc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-part_harmony
Voicing of Root-Position Triads in Four-Part Harmony
With 3 tones, and 4 voices, one tone will be doubled (stated twice in the chord)
Typical voicing is "Root-Root-Third-Fifth,"
with one Root as Bass and the other found in one of the Upper Voices (Soprano, Alto, Tenor)
Keyboard-Style Voicing
S
Treble Clef will contain A
T
Bass Clef will contain B
Closed-Spacing Realizaton of Root-Position Chords
Over a given Bass-Clef Root,
in Treble Clef, choose a Soprano Chord-Tone,
Alto and Tenor will be the next available Chord Tones downward.
(Note the 2nd and 3rd Treble-Clef Measures look like Inversions,
but they are still Root-Position Triads, given the Root Bass Notes)
The space between Tenor and Bass can be as much as two octaves,
or as little as a Unison
Voice-Leading
The smooth connection of adjacent chords
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_leading
Common Tone(s)
Note(s) shared by two different Chords
Examples
D
B
G G Chord G
E
C Chord C C
A
F Chord F
G is the Common Tone shared by the C and G Chords
C is the Common Tone shared by the C and F Chords
B
G G
E E Minor Chord E E
C Chord C C
A Minor Chord A
C Chord shares two Common Tones (E and G) with E Minor Chord
C Chord shares two Common Tones (A and C) with A Minor Chord
Root Movement Number of Common Tones Examples
4th (or 5th) 1 C to G, or C to F
3rd (or 6th) 2 C to Em, or C to Am
2nd (or 7th) 0 F to G (no Common Tones)
Two Guidelines for Traditional Common-Practice Voice-Leading of Root-Position Triads
1. If there's a Common Tone, and it makes sense to keep it, do so,
move other Upper Voices as smoothly as possible.
2. If no Common Tone,
move all Upper Voices in Contrary Motion with respect to the Bass.
Traditional Limits of Voice Movement
Upper Voices - most movement is by Step or 3rd, occasionally 4th
Bass - no more than a 5th (but Octave leaps OK) -- i.e. no 6ths or 7ths
Doubling in Inversions
Either Root or Bass may be Doubled - in First Semester Theory, often Bass Doubling is easier
Another Unusual Interval
Diminished 3rd = d3 = 1 step notated with 3 letter names
(ex. F# Ab) - Enharmonic equivalent of M2 (ex. F# G#, or Gb Ab)
Dominant 9th Chord - ex D9
Dominant 7th Chord + Major 9th (between Root and 9th)
Octatonic and Blues Scales; Richard Berry's Louie-Louie (1955) I-IV-V-IV Rhythmic Pattern
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octatonic_scale
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues_scale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-2CKsaq5r8
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Berry_(musician)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louie_Louie
Keyboard-Solfege - Richard Rodgers - The Sound of Music (1959): Do-Re-Mi (Melody)
First System
Melody C D E ..... F
Solfege Do Re Mi .... Fa
Fingering 1 2 3 ..... 4
(R.H.)
Second System
Melody E F G ....... A
Solfege Mi Fa Sol ...... La
Fingering 1 2 3 ....... 4
(R.H.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLm07s8fnzM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Rodgers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music_(film)
Music Referenced in Quiz 11
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) - Concerto for Cootie (1940)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6ia5N_65dw
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Ellington
Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) - Quartet for the End of Time (1941):
VI. Dance of Fury, for the Seven Trumpets
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeSVu1zbF94 (@ 25:25)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Messiaen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quatuor_pour_la_fin_du_temps
Bela Bartok (1881-1945)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Béla_Bartók
Concerto for Orchestra (1943): I. [Introduzione]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb37dJFPoFg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concerto_for_Orchestra_(Bartók)
http://imslp.org/wiki/Concerto_for_Orchestra%2C_Sz.116_(Bartók%2C_Béla)
For Children (1909, rev. 1945): III. Andante
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8HGOJlycqk (@ 1:25)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Children
http://imslp.org/wiki/For_Children%2C_Sz.42_(Bartók%2C_Béla)
John Cage (1912-1992) - Suite for Toy Piano (1948): IV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9RE14hvr9U&list=RD0tl67VoKSN4&index=4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cage
https://www.allmusic.com/composition/suite-for-toy-piano-for-toy-piano-or-piano-mc0002382597
Jester Hairston (1901-2000) - Elijah Rock (1955)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=268tEOaUSnQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jester_Hairston
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_Rock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MK_JypkZ_fs
***
With no common tone, the movement of 4 voices in traditional voice-leading is 3-against-1 -- S,A,T in contrary motion to B and we play it out in Music Theory,
on
the
start-it-early
219th
day
of
summer,
high
up
5 to 87 --
tying with October 8, 12, 16, 19
as the warmest since September 27's 97 (Pleasant Hill, 85). Edit page 43 new-edition Mice and Men, Op. 45 (1992): Act III and compose
Cliff Variations, Op. 287 (2018)
Theme and 30 Passacaglic Life Changes
Variation X [John Williams (b. 1932) - Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981): I. Indiana Jones March]