• Part-writing - It requires knowledge of melody, interval, triads, seventh chords, cadences, non-chord tones, figured bass, chromatic harmony, resolution tendencies, counterpoint, and progressional norms.

The Simple Part-Writing Rules

Know the vocal ranges and stay within the heart of each range

• The soprano and the tenor are always written with the stem up.

• The alto and the bass are always written with the stems down.

Write for four different voices; they are individual characters

• Know the contrapuntal character of each voice.

• The bass is always given.

• The soprano is always the melody.

• The alto and the tenor are as static as possible.

Motion is the key to a successful counterpoint

• Motion - The direction the melody moves in relation to the bass line.

• Contrary motion - Moves the melody in the opposite direction of the bass.

• Oblique motion - When one voice remains on the same note and the other moves in either direction.

• Similar motion - When the bass and the soprano move in the same direction but at different intervals.

• Parallel motion - Where the soprano and bass move in the same direction and at the same interval.

Don’t confuse the ear

• Crossed voices - Where you can’t write the soprano voice lower than the alto or the alto voice lower than the tenor within the same chord.

  • Remember the goal is to write four different separate lines.

• Overlap - Where you don’t want to write one voice higher than another voice has been in the previous chord.

• If the bass is given, we can’t control it, but we can control the other three.

  • If the bass is in a higher range, the soprano is usually in the high end of her range.

Spacing is an issue

• The soprano and the alto must be within an octave of each other, and the alto must be within an octave of the tenor.

  • The soprano, alto, and tenor need to have an available range of two octaves.

  • It doesn’t matter how far the tenor is from the bass.

• If the soprano is high, the tenor will be high.

  • The tenor should be singing above C4 for most of the time.

Double the root first, the fifth second, and the third with a reason

• When you have a triad and four available voices, one chord member will be doubled.

  • The first choice is to double the root of the chord, especially if it’s a major chord.

  • The second choice is to double the fifth of the chord.

  • Don’t double the third of the chord except for minor chords with a reason.

    • Ex. → When V goes to vi, double the third in the vi chord to avoid parallelism.

  • Never double a tendency tone.

Resolutions

• If V goes to I (i) or VI (vi), then Ti resolves upward to Do.

• If vii°/vii°7 or V7 goes to I (i) or VI (vi), then Ti resolves to Do and Fa resolves to Mi.

• If you have a seventh chord of any kind, then the seventh of the chord resolves downward or holds until it can.

Four Part-Writing Examples From Figured Bass and Roman Numerals

Determine the Roman numerals and create the road map

• Road map - The visible reminder of the menu of chord member choices, appropriate doublings, and resolutions.

• Write the Roman numeral chord symbols below the figured bass.

  • The chord stack is written below.

Write the melody

• Look at the bass and observe the shape.

  • Recognize it has ascending and descending lines.

• Try to create a melody that moves in contrary or oblique motion to the bass line.

• Fill the alto and the tenor at the same time.

Check your work

• When you have common tones between chords, you can make them half tones.

  • Avoid syncopations using ties over the bar line.

• Be careful when resolving the tritone in the V7 chord to avoid unequal fifths.

  • Unequal fifths - The motion from the diminished fifth to a perfect fifth, especially in the soprano-bass pair.

• Typically, when resolving the root position V7 to I, particularly at cadence, either V7 or I will be incomplete for smooth voice leading.