Lesson 11c - Voice-leading for Second Inversion Chords

Class Discussion

Voice-Leading for Second Inversion Chords

Second inversion chords have the most rules when it comes to part writing. To exist in a progression, they have to be used for one of 4 functions:

1. Cadential
2. Passing
3. Pedal
4. Arpeggiated

A I6/4 chord is close to functioning in the same way as the V. It has the most static motion in a movement to the V.

Cadential Motion

The Cadential 6/4 uses a I6/4 as an extention of the dominant leading to a cadence. Progression: I - IV - I6/4 - V - I.

• doubling the 5th in the I6/4 makes it an extention of the V as it leads to I
• must go from a I6/4 to a root position V or V7
• leads to static motion between the two chords

Example: In C

Lead Sheet: C - F - C/G - G

Soprano: C5 - C5 - C5 - D5

Alto: E4 - F4 - E4 - G4

Tenor: G3 - A3 - G3 - B3

Bass: C3 - F2 - G2 - G2

Roman Numerals: I - IV - I6/4 - V

Without the cadential 6/4, we would have parallel perfect fifths in the soprano and alto voices between the IV and the V. The cadential 6/4 avoids this problem by sticking a I6/4 in between the two chords as an extention of the dominant. It functions with the dominant chord as one. The I6/4 goes to a root position V chord. This means that the interval of a 6th resolves to a 5th, and the interval of a 4th resolves to a 3rd.

Labeling the Cadential 6/4

• sometimes it is just labelled with a I6/4 - V
• sometimes it’s also bracketed as a V underneath the I6/4 - V progression
• it is also labelled underneath all of this as a V(I6/4)
  • that is overkill and unnecessary
  • just using the second option is the most efficient

Passing 6/4 Chords

If you have a progression of I - V - ii6/4 - V6 - I, the last 4 chords move the bassline in a sol - la - ti - do motion. With do in the soprano voice on the I chord, the soprano line moves in contrary motion to the bass line as do - ti - la - sol - sol. The inversions in the bass line create smooth voice leading in all the voices that make it easier to avoid part writing errors.

• leads to passing motion in the bass

Example

Lead Sheet: C - G - Dm/A - G/B - C

Soprano: C5 - B4 - A4 - G4 - G4

Alto: E4 - D4 - D4 - D4 - E4

Tenor: G3 - G3 - F3 - G3 - G3

Bass: C3 - G2 - A2 - B2 - C3

Roman Numerals: I - V - ii6/4 - V6 - I

Seven Diminished Chords (viio)

The viio chord functions as a dominant chord. It is the same as a V7 without the root. It mostly consists of tendancy tones which makes it more difficult to resolve. As far as voice leading, the V6/4 is the same as a viio6.

Example

Lead Sheet: C - G/D - C/E - C - Bo/D - C/E

Soprano: E5 - D5 - C5 - E5 - D5 - C5

Alto: G4 - G4 - G4 - G4 - F4 - G4

Tenor: C4 - B3 - C4 - C4 - B3 - C4

Bass: C3 - D3 - E3 - C3 - D3 - E3

Roman Numerals: I - V6/4 - I6 - I - viio6 - I6

• the two sets of three chords have the same notes aside from one in the alto line to outline the different chords
• the V6/4 and viiio6 resolve to the same notes and chordal inversion

Arpeggiated Motion

If you have a bass line that wants to outline a triad, but you still feel that each beat deserves its own chord, you have arpeggiated motion. There may be different chords, but if the bass line outlines a triad of any kind it is arpeggiated motion.

Pedal Motion

• pedal 6/4 chords are pedal figures
• it leads to complete static motion in the bass line between multiple chords The pedal 6/4 is a 6/4 chord that creates static motion in the bass line between multiple chords.

Example

Lead Sheet: C - F/C - C - G

Soprano: C5 - C5 - C5 - D5

Alto: E4 - F4 - E4 - G4

Tenor: G3 - A3 - G3 - B3

Bass: C3 - C3 - C3 - G2

Roman Numerals: I - IV6/4 - I - V

Figures

Any non-chord tone shape classification can be used to describe chord tones.

This includes:

• passing
• neighbor
• pedal
• appoggiatura
• escape tone
• suspension
• retardation
• anticipation

All of these terms can be used to describe movement between chord tones by tagging on the word “figure.”