Voicing (music)

1
Voicing (music)
In music composition and arranging, a voicing is the instrumentation and vertical spacing and ordering of the pitches
in a chord (which notes are on the top or in the middle, which ones are doubled, which octave each is in, and which
instruments or voices perform each). Which note is on the bottom determines the inversion.
Voicing is "the manner in which one distributes, or spaces, notes and chords among the various instruments" and
spacing or "simultaneous vertical placement of notes in relation to each other."
For example, the following three chords are root-position C major triads voiced differently:
Close position
PlayWikipedia:Media
helpFile:Major triad on C.mid
Open position
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:C
triad open position.mid
Open position, doubled fifth
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:C
triad with doubling.mid
All three voicings above are in root position, while the first is in close position, the most compact voicing, and the
second and third are in open position, which includes wider spacing. In triadic chords, close root position voicing is
the most compact voicing in thirds which has the root in the bass. Open and closed harmony are harmony and
harmonization constructed from open and close position chords, respectively.
The Psalms chord is noted for its characteristic spacing of an E-minor triad.
Doubling
Octave doubling in John Philip Sousa's
"Washington Post March", m. 1-7
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:Sousa -
"Washington Post March," m. 1-7.mid.
Melodic doubling in parallel is the addition of a rhythmically similar
or exact melodic line or lines at a fixed interval above or below the
melody to create parallel movement
[1]
while octave doubling (and
doubling at other intervals, also called parallelism
[]
) of a voice or
pitch is the number of other voices duplicating the same part at the
same pitch or at different octaves. The doubling of an octave is the
number of individual voices on each pitch within the chord. For
example, in the three images in the introduction above only one pitch is doubled, the G in the rightmost image
(above).
Voicing (music)
2
Non-octave doubling in Debussy's Sarabande
from Pour le Piano (For the Piano), m. 1-2
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:Debussy -
Sarabande from Pour le Piano (For the Piano), m.
1-2.mid.
J.S. Bach - "Gigue" from English Suite no. 1 in A
Major, BWV 806, m. 38
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:Bach - Gigue
from English Suite no. 1 in A Major, BWV 806,
m. 38.mid.
Parallelism destroys, creates, or maintains independence of lines; for
example, in deference to the practices of his day always requiring and
desiring a degree of independence in all lines, in Bach's "Gigue" from
his English Suite no. 1 in A Major, BWV 806, m. 38 note that neither
thirds (at the beginning) nor sixths (at the end) are maintained
throughout the entire measure, nor any interval for more than four
consecutive notes, but rather that the bass line is given its own part.
The Italian sixth moving to V.
PlayWikipedia:Media helpFile:Italian sixth
moving to V.ogg Note that the third of the first
chord (tonic, C) is doubled.
Consideration of doubling is important when following voice leading
rules and guidelines, for example when resolving to an augmented sixth
chord never double either notes of the augmented sixth, while in
resolving an Italian sixth it is preferable to double the tonic (third of the
chord).
[2]
Some pitch material may be described as autonomous doubling in which
the part being doubled is not followed for more than a few measures
often resulting in disjunct motion in the part that is doubling, for
example, the trombone part in Mozart's Don Giovanni.
[3]
Sources
[1] Benward & Saker (2009). Music in Theory and Practice: Volume II, p.253. Eighth
Edition. ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0.
[2] Benward & Saker (2009), p.106.
[3] Guion, David M. (1988). The Trombone: Its History and Music, 1697-1811, p.133. Musicology: A Book Series, Vol. VI. Gordon and Breach.
ISBN 2-88124-211-1.
Article Sources and Contributors
3
Article Sources and Contributors
Voicing (music) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=596537399 Contributors: Adagio Cantabile, Another Stickler, Blehfu, Booyabazooka, Dpa9694, Hearfourmewesique,
Hyacinth, Jerome Charles Potts, Kleinzach, Loksu, McSush, Raven4x4x, Rigadoun, Smartiger, Tony1, Wprlh, Zundark, 28 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Loudspeaker.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Loudspeaker.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Arctic Kangaroo, Bayo, Frank C. Mller, Gmaxwell,
Gnosygnu, Husky, Iamunknown, Mirithing, Myself488, Nethac DIU, Nixn, Omegatron, Rocket000, Shanmugamp7, Snow Blizzard, Steinsplitter, The Evil IP address, Trelio, Wouterhagens, 29
anonymous edits
Image:c triad.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:C_triad.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: C_triad.png: Original uploader was Bryan Derksen at en.wikipedia
Later version(s) were uploaded by Mtze at en.wikipedia. derivative work: McSush (talk)
Image:C triad open position.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:C_triad_open_position.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: Alex299006, Hyacinth, McSush
Image:C triad with doubling.svg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:C_triad_with_doubling.svg License: Public Domain Contributors: McSush
Image:Sousa - "Washington Post March," m. 1-7.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Sousa_-_"Washington_Post_March,"_m._1-7.png License: Public Domain
Contributors: John Philip Sousa (18541932)
Image:Debussy - Sarabande from Pour le Piano (For the Piano), m. 1-2.png Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Debussy_-_Sarabande_from_Pour_le_Piano_(For_the_Piano),_m._1-2.png License: Public Domain Contributors: Claude Debussy (18621918)
Image:Bach - Gigue from English Suite no. 1 in A Major, BWV 806, m. 38.png Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Bach_-_Gigue_from_English_Suite_no._1_in_A_Major,_BWV_806,_m._38.png License: unknown Contributors: Hyacinth (talk). Original
uploader was Hyacinth at en.wikipedia
Image:ItalianSixth.png Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ItalianSixth.png License: Public domain Contributors: Hyacinth
License
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/