How to Write 4-Part Harmony: the Basics Writing basic 4-part harmony requires some fundamental guidelines for: 1) proper notation, 2) the ranges of the voices, 3) doubling rules and 4) spacing. Let's go over these one by one. The Notation As we said, 4-part harmony is written for 4 voices: Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Bass (SATB in short).
The maximum distance between S and A and A and T is a P8. The maximum distance between T and B is 2 P8s. Important Rules for 4-Part Progressions In general, some theorists (including Ottman and myself) try to spend most of our time telling you what to do rather than what not to do.
If you internalize all of our little procedures then you should be able to churn out progressions quickly and easily without really worrying about making mistakes. Check Harmony Rules - check Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass for conformance to good harmony writing rules. Installation instructions: Download locations: [inline.
This list of rules for 4-Part Harmony was taken from the web page of a teacher in the music department at Walnut Hill School for the Arts. This page disappeared some years ago, so I am publishing these rules here for the help of others. Unlock the power of basic harmony with Signature Sound.
Learn the foundations of musical cohesion and create stunning melodies with ease. The doubled note can be the root, 3 rd or 5 th of the triad. Following the doubling guidelines will help you to write good harmony, but do bear in mind that they are guidelines, not rules, so you may find exceptions in published music.
When choosing the note to double, you need to be aware of: the inversion the chord is in, and whether it is major, minor, diminished or augmented. Rules of Harmony The document provides guidelines for writing bass lines that follow the rules of harmony, including rules regarding consecutive intervals, proper voice leading between parts, and doubling notes within chords. Harmony The basic idea is to justify all notes of the melody as being Harmony notes, Passing notes, Appoggiaturas, changing notes (notes echappee) or notes of anticipation.
Melodic and smooth part writing can help to avoid a lot of parallel octaves and 5ths. When writing in a contemporary style, these strict rules for four part harmony don't apply. You can listen to some of my compositions (improvised) using more contemporary harmonies here.
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