Lessons with Matthaeus

Hi Máté, I'm really pleased with what you've done here! I will have to double check later, but as far as I can see you haven't done anything wrong at all.

However, there's one minor thing I'd like to mention quickly.
In your plagal cadence in E major, the tenor voice is actually above the alto. This is called part-crossing, and sometimes when you're writing complex counterpoint it can't be avoided, but it's never a 'desirable' thing to do, if you see what I mean. All you need to do here is swap the two voices around, putting the two Es in the alto.

To answer your questions:
1. It's entirely up to you where you double your notes, and it all depends on the context - the most important thing to remember is that the voices need lead smoothly.

2. No, it's not always necessary to keep the tenor and bass as far apart as possible. Sorry I should have elaborated more on this, and I will talk more about it later to make it all clear.
If you look at the first chord (iv) of your plagal cadence in f minor, you can see that the notes are arranged as close together as is possible within an octave. This actually has a name - close position - and with this chord, in this position, it sounds good. The main reason for this is that the bass note is quite high up. If you moved the chord down an octave it would sound quite muddy though, especially if sung!
The first chord of your A major imperfect cadence is what might be called open position, and sounds much more resonant because of the 10th between the tenor and bass. But basically the only 'rule' you should observe is that the tenor and bass should not be too close together when very low down, and that the upper voices should never be to far apart from one another. There's also an element of taste in all this, and you'll get a good sense for it as we get on to more complicated things!

3. It would be ok to double the third in this situation, although in that particularly situation there's no real reason for it, and I think it sounds stronger to keep the semi-tonal step down from E to D-sharp, but obviously this would depend very much on what came before.

4. It is possible to create an imperfect cadence starting on iv in root position, but its tricky, and, I think it sounds a bit incomplete (I'd be expecting a i chord after the V, which would make it into a perfect cadence instead). As you'll see in the next lesson, it's quite difficult to move between chords that are 1 step apart (like iv and V), and you have to be very careful to avoid consecutives.

I'm impressed with what you've done in the last cadence with ii6/3. As it turns out, a lot of composer use diminished chords at imperfect cadences (particularly Mozart actually), and it sounds very strong. We'll discuss these in more detail very soon!

Keep up the good work.

Sorry about the part-crossing, I should be more careful in the future! I have time for my homework after work only when my brain's already "out-of-order".

You shouldn't be impressed about the ii6/3 imperfect cadence, since you was who mentioned it in your 2nd lesson. I've just tried it, and I think it sounds best!

Thanks for the instructions, it makes many things clear for me.

Máté

Hey Máté, here is the next lesson. For homework, (shouldn't take long) please do interrupted cadences in these keys:

MAJOR:
G major, D-flat major, B major

MINOR:
F-sharp minor, B minor and C minor.

Don't worry if you find the next part of the lesson a bit too much, it's more for your reference, something you can refer back to when it comes up. It's also for the benefit of one or two others on the forum who are interested...

Good luck with the H/W. Matt

Thanks, I will check it!

Just a technical question:

Is it a good idea to write my homework on paper first, than copy it into some notation program? Just asking because when I'm writing something on computer I have the feeling that I'm just _editing_ it.
But it might be just my foolish thought...

Hmm, I don't think i matters too much, but perhaps in these early stages it's probably a good idea to work on paper first. But it's obviously up to you!

Thank you, Matt! I will be working on paper then, because I'm really in "early stages" yet!

My homework is done.
I'm just wondering if it is possible to insert a passing note between the 3rd-leap (similar to the I6/3 imperfect major cadence)

Hey Máté, once again, well done, everything you've written is good. You're right in noticing that the second cadence in D-flat major isn't great because you've doubled the root, but I wouldn't worry too much! As long you remember the rules I'm showing you I don't think you're going to have any problems. It's interesting you ask about the passing note. That would actually be correct, and sound very good - because it would be a passing 7th, which would actually make chord V into V7. In fact this is exactly what happens in the Bach example I gave you.

Before we get onto sevenths, passing notes and suspensions (which will be soon) I'm going to do a lesson on basic chord progressions. But don't worry it won't be long!

Originally Posted by matt.kaner

Before we get onto sevenths, passing notes and suspensions (which will be soon) I'm going to do a lesson on basic chord progressions. But don't worry it won't be long!

It sounds exciting! Till then I'm practicing cadences.

Hi Máté,

Sorry about the delay! Next lesson is ready.

Thanks, Matt! It looks really challenging!

I've already started to do my homework (on paper first ), but some things are still unclear

1.) about the lesson (pdf):
- It seems to me, that IV -> I is a progression by fifth instead of fourth.
- "Please write four progressions" means that I should write 4 progressions in each 6 keys (so I have 24 homeworks?)? Nothing is bad about it, just asking to be sure.

2.) about chord progression:
- Can I use cadences (V->I, IV->I) in the middle of the progression, or these are only permitted at the end?
if YES:
- If a cadence has a "weaker version", is it a good idea to use that in the middle, and use the "stronger" at the end?

- I have to use chords 3rd,4th,5th or 6th apart from each other. Is this rule applies for final cadences, too? So, can I use an imperfect IV6/3 -> V ending cadence, which is a progression by 2nd?

3.) about voice leading:
- You've mentioned that the soprano may leap to create interest. Should I let the soprano leap in this excercise or I just lead it as smooth as possible?
- During my A major chord progression excercise, one of the inner voices (the tenor) started to move steadily in one direction (up). At the end of the progression it reached "a1" which was 2 octaves higher than the "A" of the bass! I find it bad that one of the inner voices pulled the other upper voices in one direction.
Should I try another chord progression or it's better to leave as it is and break the "smooth voice leading rule" and force the tenor to move down in some places?