August 2, 201312 yr Hello everyone, just a quick question on resolving 7ths. I read that if you have a minor 7th chord then the 7th should resolve down a half-step. Does this mean that that specific voice on the seventh has to go down by one note? For example: The Soprano is playing the 7th of a Dm7 chord -C- When I move into a Em chord I have the alto voice resolve to the B an octave lower while the soprano goes up to a G. Is this considered a resolution of the 7th? Or would the Soprano need to be the one to resolve it one note down? Thank you for your time Edited August 2, 201312 yr by ansthenia
August 2, 201312 yr According to trends in the Common Practice Era the C would typically resolve down to B, regardless of what voice it is in. Resolving up to a G while the alto goes to B and octave lower would actually break two "rules". One being an incorrect resolution of the 7th, but also you'd have and octave plus a 5th between your soprano and alto voice. Ideally you should keep less than an octave between adjacent voices. That being said... We are currently living in the 21st century. If you're composing because you want to compose music for the sake of having composed music, you can resolve that C to and F# three octaves higher for all I care (might be a bit difficult to sing/play/listen to, but it up to you). If this is for a theory assignment on the other hand, you'll probably be loosing points by choosing to take that C up to a G. Hope this helps :)
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