Introduction to voice leading

by Ben Rose (Phobucket)

Introduction to Voice Leading

I once had an instructor who referred to Smoke on the Water as “modal jazz with bad voice leading”. Taking this with a grain of salt (as it was the same guy who told me to “quit playin’ them a**hole notes”), he was onto something. Voice leading is a big part of what makes different genres sound the way they do. Whether you listen to Miles Davis, Stevie Wonder, Alex Lifeson, or Willie Nelson, learning how to connect the harmonic structure of a song will improve your sound and give you greater control of your instrument.


As a concept, voice leading deals with how notes flow from one chord to the next. For the touch guitarist, learning the basic voice leading techniques, and the particular voice leading style of your favorite genres or artists will give your playing greater economy of motion and a more connected sound. To achieve a smoother sound, find chord voicings that have as many notes that are the same, or within a small interval (minor 3rd or less), as the previous chord.


Let’s start with a basic blues in C to see how voice leading works. In Example 1a, you can see the first 2 chords of a C blues, C7 and F7 played without consideration given to voice leading. This example shows the equivalent of playing the C7, and them moving your hand up a string (if you’re in a fourths-based tuning). Each note in the C7 chord moved up 5 half-steps (a fourth) to make the corresponding chords in the F7. The 3rd of C (E) moves to the 3rdof F (A). The flat 7th of C (Bb) moves to the flat 7th of F (Eb). It gets the job done, but sounds a little disconnected. This type of motion between chords, where every note moves by the same interval, is a voice leading technique called parallel motion. It may not sound very smooth or sophisticated, but it is very muscular and powerful. This is the type of voice leading used in the aforementioned Smoke on the Water riff, and everywhere else guitars are chugging through power chords.


Example 1.a : First two bars of a blues without voice leading



Now we’re going to take those same two chords and apply some basic voice leading concepts to smooth out the sound. When playing 7th chords that move in fourths, as is the case with C7 to F7, the 7th of the first chord can move to the 3rd of the second chord, and the 3rd of the first chord will move to the 7thof the next chord. In Example 1.b, the 3rd of C (E) moves down 1 half-step to the flat 7th of F (Eb). The flat 7th of C (Bb) moves down 1 half-step to the 3rdof F (A). Note the difference in sound between the two examples. In both of these examples, the movement of the root of the chord didn’t change. That’s OK for basic voice leading.


Example 1.b : First two bars of a blues with voice leading



Next we’re going to look at a chord progression where some of the notes don’t move at all. In Example 2a, the 3rds will lead to 7ths, and 7ths to 3rds, just like in the previous example. The difference in this example is that one note will not change between each set of chords. The 7th of the Dmin7 (C), resolves down 1 half-step to the 3rdof G7. Meanwhile, the F, which is the minor 3rd of D remains in place to become the flat 7thof the G7. As the chord transitions from G7 to the CMaj7, the B remains consistent and the F moves down a half-step to the E.


Example 2a: ii-V-I in C Major



This type of movement is not limited to 3rds and 7ths. The same concept can be applied to upper extensions like 9ths and 13ths. In Example 2b we add an E, which is the 9thin a Dmin9. That E will become the 13thof the G13. Then, the E moves down 2 half-steps to become the 9th of the CMaj9. Depending on your tuning, this example may be very tricky to play with just one hand. Try playing the 9th/13thas a melody note in your right hand while playing the rest of the chord in your left hand. Also, consider varying the octave individual parts, such as lowering the bass notes by an octave. Good luck and good tapping.


Example 2b: ii-V-I in C Major with a little extra flava



- Ben Rose (Phobucket)

Posted: 04/26/08 at 08:00:24 • [Permalink] •

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