Stuart Smith
Parallel voice leading styles
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Parallel voice leading stylesThere is a family of voice leading styles in which all of the harmony parts simply follow the lead line in parallel. Every note of the lead line is harmonized with an appropriate chord, which in each case is determined by a few simple rules. Here are the first few bars of Thelonious Monk’s Blue Monk arranged in the basic “close position” parallel style, which is discussed below. As can be seen, all the parts have the same melodic contour and they all fit within an interval smaller than an octave below the lead line 
All of the other parallel voice leading styles discussed in this section are variants of this basic style. They are derived from the basic voicing simply by doubling one or more voices an octave below or by transposing a voice down an octave. All of these parallel styles are “automatic” techniques in the sense that, once a voicing scheme is chosen, the harmonizing parts can be determined in most instances by rule from the given lead line and the accompanying chord symbols. The basic close position styleThe basic close position style is aptly called the “thickened line” by Russo8 because the parallel motion from one close-position chord to another effectively produces a single, “thick” melodic line. To create an arrangement in this style, it is necessary to follow only two rules—with some qualifications: If the current lead line note is a chord tone (i.e., it is the root, third, fifth, sixth or seventh, or tension of the prevailing chord), fill out the harmony with exactly three chord tones taken in order reading down from the lead line note. Unless the lead line note is the root of the prevailing chord, the root of a chord is often omitted in favor of a tension. In any case, make sure the characteristic tones of each chord are always included. In the Blue Monk example above, the D of the BÓÏ in the first measure and the G of the EÓÏ in the second measure are harmonized with the remaining notes of the chord; however, the harmonization of the F of the BÓÏ at the end of the first measure and the Bë of the EÓÏ at the end of the second measure substitute the ninth for the root. If the current lead line note is a non-chord tone—a neighbor- or passing tone, for example—it may be harmonized with an appropriate linear chord in close position. Some experimentation with different harmonizations of non-chord tones may be necessary to achieve a completely satisfactory arrangement. A common technique used with passing tones is to harmonize them with the diminished seventh chord based on their letter pitches. In the Blue Monk example, the passing tones Eë and EÔ in the first measure are harmonized with EÓ„Ï and E„Ï, respectively. Similarly, Aë and AÔ in the second measure are harmonized with AÓ„Ï and A„Ï, respectively. After a basic arrangement has been created following these two rules, it can be modified to achieve different musical effects or to accommodate different instrumental resources by applying the simple techniques discussed next. The Widened Line: Drop 2 and Drop 3The widened line9 consists of the lead line and three harmony voices, just as in the thickened line. The difference is that one of the harmony voices of the basic close position is dropped down an octave, thereby producing a more spread-out texture. All parts still move in parallel. A “drop 2” widened line transposes the second part (i.e., the part immediately below the lead line in the basic close position) down an octave. Here is the Blue Monk example again, this time in a drop 2 arrangement. 
A “drop 3” widened line transposes the third part (i.e., again counting down from the lead line in the basic close position) down an octave. This modification has the effect of spreading the texture out quite a bit, as can be seen in the Blue Monk example:
Other variations on the basic parallel model are also used. For example, the combination of a “drop” pattern with a doubling of the lead melody at the octave above or below is often encountered. Locked-handsThe “locked hands” style is a also simple variation of the basic close position. The locked hands style is so named because, on a keyboard, the right and left hands both play exactly same melodic line one octave apart. The hands are thus “locked” together in parallel motion. This style has been popular with pianists and organists since at least the 1950s, but it was originally derived from big band section writing techniques of the 1930s and 40s. Here is an example of locked hands applied to the opening of Laura: 
Note the departure from strict parallelism in this example: the alternation between B and AÕ in measure 2 is not matched by corresponding movement in the interior parts. This partial independence of the lead and the interior parts is a common feature of the locked hands style. Exercises Choose an AABA tune from the list in the Form section of Chapter I. Write a block-chord piano accompaniment for the A section using (a) 7-3 voicing, (b) axis-3 and/or axis-7 voicing, or (c) rootless chords—whichever seems most appropriate. Write the melody on a separate treble staff above the piano’s treble/bass system. Write a piano accompaniment for the B section of the tune selected for exercise 1 using a different voicing style. On a separate bass staff, add a bass line to the arrangement you wrote for exercise 1. Play the arrangement with class members. Do exercise 1, but provide a “broken” or arpeggiated piano accompaniment suitable for a solo piano arrangement of the tune.. Write your own tune in one of the standard forms and provide a block-chord piano accompaniment and bass line. Play the arrangement with class members. Download 1.17 Mb. Share with your friends:
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