Keyboard Style Harmony

FOUR-PART HARMONYWORKING IN KEYBOARD STYLE

TH101 - Seth Monahan

Learning to connect chords smoothly and idiomatically is a crucial part of your early musical training. In TH101, we will compose four-part harmony with two complementary methods: chorale style and key-board style. This handout introduces both and then focuses on keyboard style, which we will use for most of our assignments.

In chorale style, each of the four voices (SATB) is independently notated and stemmed, on a grand staff: S and A are notated together on the top staff, T and B together on the bottom. In this format, stem-direction helps to differentiate the voices: S and T are always stemmed upward, while A and B are always stemmed downward, as show below in J. S. Bachs setting of the famous hymn tune Ein feste Burg (A Mighty Fortress):

The biggest limitation of keyboard style is that the four voices have far less independence than in chorale style. This is because the inner voices are always stuck to the topmost voice, both rhythmically and regis-trally. The kinds of four-part settings found in Bachs chorales, for instance, would be impossible in keyboard style, as they require the tenor and alto voices to move entirely independently:

By contrast, keyboard style groups the top three voices on one staff, leaving the bass by itself on the bottom staff. Stem direction still matters: the top voice is stemmed upward, while the inner voices are stemmed downward together, as shown here:

CHORALE VS. KEYBOARD STYLE

PROS and CONS OF KEYBOARD STYLE

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However, keyboard style offers many advantagesespecially to the novice:

It lets us focus on the most important contrapuntal relations, those between the outer voices. (In this respect, keyboard style is like a first-species exercise with inner-voice filler.

By limiting the range of the upper voices, it encourages efficient, smooth voice leading in manysituations.

It makes illegal parallels between three pairs of voices (SA, ST, AT) easier to see.

It typically puts the RH in one of only a few standard configurationsor handshapesallowingyou to target likely errors more efficiently.

As in species counterpoint, parallel perfect fifths and octaves are forbidden, between any pair of voices.However, parallel fourths are fine (!!!); indeed, you will use them often.

PROS and CONS OF KEYBOARD STYLE (contd.)

VOICE-LEADING RULES AND GUIDELINES

PARALLEL PERFECT INTERVALS

When the outer voices move by similar motion, the soprano should move by step. If the soprano leaps,the result is direct or hidden octaves, a sound that composers traditionally avoided. Inner voicesare note bound by this rule.

DIRECT (or HIDDEN) OCTAVES

Whenever possiblewhich is almost always!use complete chords. The only acceptable way to leavea chord incomplete is to omit its chordal fifth. Your handouts on resolving V7 to I offer several scenariosin which incomplete chords are acceptable and even necessary.

COMPLETE VS. INCOMPLETE CHORDS

Unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwiseusually for reasons of sculpting a nice melodyitis wise to connect your chords as smoothly as possible in the right hand, moving voices by step (or notat all!) whenever possible.

SMOOTH CONNECTIONS

All else being equal, it is wise to move your hands in contrary, rather than similar motion. This will ensurethat you avoid the most common opportunities for parallel P5s/P8s. When moving between 5/3 chords astep apart (e.g., Iii, or Vvi), this is especially important!

CONTRARY MOTION

The other limitation of keyboard style is that it is difficult to sing from. This is because (1) the inner voices are bound to the melody, they often range much too high for male voices; and (2) the inner voices also tend to leap more oftenand fartherthan in chorale style.

Working in keyboard style can be less overwhelming than chorale style, since the motion of the inner voices is in large part dependent on the melody. This means that there are fewer options and thus fewer opportuni-ties for mistakes. Still, there are a number of important guidelines and rules to be kept in mind:

Keyboard-Style Harmony, p. 2

-chords (i.e., root-position triads) 53

TRIAD

HANDSHAPES

When playing triads or seventh chords in keyboard style, the right hand will tend to fall into one of 13 hand-shapes. These, in turn, fall into four families:

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-chords (i.e., first-inversion triads) 63

-chords (i.e., first-inversion triads)

a. b. c.

a. b. c.

a. b. c.

a. b. c. d.

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-chords (i.e., second-inversion triads)

ONE NOTE WILL DOUBLE THE BASS VOICE



ONE NOTE DOUBLES THE BASS VOICE

NO TONES IN COMMON WITH BASS(chordal root is in LH)

NO TONES IN COMMON WITH BASS(chordal root is in RH)

-chords (i.e., first-inversion seventh chords) 65 NO TONES IN COMMON WITH BASS(chordal root is in RH)

-chords (i.e., second-inversion seventh chords) 43 NO TONES IN COMMON WITH BASS(chordal root is in RH)

(chordal root is in both hands!) -chords (i.e., incomplete seventh chords in root

position)

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(chordal root is in RH)NO TONES IN COMMON WITH BASS

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-chords (i.e., root-position seventh chords)753

-chords (i.e., third-inversion seventh chords)

These are used mainly with first-inversion triads. They ensure that the chordal third (in the bass) is not doubled.They consist of a fourth and/or a fifth.

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These, the most common handshapes, combine two thirds or a third and a fourth. They are used for five types of chords:

NEUTRAL

These are used mainly with first-inversion seventh chords.

DISSONANT A

These are used for two types of chords (see below). They are recognizable by their dissonant seventh or second.

DISSONANT B


HANDSHAPE DEMONSTRATION

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

On the next page, youll find a color-coded demonstration of handshapes used to realize a bassline in keyboard style. Triad-style handshapes are shown in green; neutrals are shown in blue; and dissonants are shown in red/orange. A few things to notice here:

Notice that two of the neutral handshapes use two, rather than three notes. This is fine. Indeed, if youhave several 6/3 chords in a row, you may use a string of such handshapes, effectively reducing froma 4-voice texture to a 3-voice one.

NEUTRAL HANDSHAPES IN 3 VOICES

Most of the neutral and dissonant handshapes have a gap of a fifth in them. When such handshapesare used properly, the bass note will always be the missing note that would divide that fifth intotwo thirds. (On the next page, look at the last chord in m. 1: see how the fifth FC could be dividedinto thirds by an A? See the bass? Its A. Thats what I mean.)

RELATION OF RH TO LH

When you realize a 3-note chord in four voices, one note will appear twice. With 5/3 and 6/4 chords,the doubled note should always be the same as the BASS voice. (I.e., the bass note will also appearsomewhere in the RH.) If you use a triad handshape for such chords, the correct doubling is guaran-teed.

But with 6/3 chords, the correct doubling varies. This chartwhich applies in many but not all situa-tionswill help you in the coming weeks:

DOUBLING in TRIADS

CHORD DOUBLE HANDSHAPE

As predicted, triad handshapes are the most common (11 out of 17 chords).

Triad handshapes are used not just for triads, but also for root position seventh chords (see the ii7 chord in m. 4) and third-inversion seventh chords: notice how the bass under the vi chord (m.3)moves down by step, producing a 4/2-chord, while the RH remains stationary!

The same Dissonant B handshape, on the same notes (!), is used in the first and last bars to realizea dominant 4/3 chord AND an incomplete root-position V7. (The difference is that the missingchordal fifth appears in the bass voice in bar 1, but not in bar 4.)

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TRIAD orNETURAL

anynote

TRIAD orNETURAL

NETURAL

TRIAD

bass TRIAD

CHORD DOUBLE HANDSHAPE

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TRIAD

HANDSHAPE DEMONSTRATION

NEUTRAL

DISSONANT ADISSONANT B

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Keyboard Style Harmony