Voicing (music)

{{Short description|Placement of notes in music}} {{For|the adjustment of an organ pipe for sound quality|Voicing (pipe organ)}} {{use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=April 2021}} [[File:Voice leading of secondary dominant progressions.png|thumb|upright=1.15|Various  voicings: V/V-V-I progression. {{audio-nohelp|V of V in C four-part harmony.mid|1st}},{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2003|p=269}} {{audio-nohelp|V6 of V in four-part harmony (Bach).mid|2nd}},{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2003|p=274}} {{audio-nohelp|V of V in C four-part harmony (Chopin).mid|3rd}},{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2003|p=276}} {{audio-nohelp|V of V in C guitar.mid|4th}}, {{audio-nohelp|V65 of V in C four-part harmony (Bach).mid|5th}}{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2009|p=74}} and {{audio|V of V in C four-part harmony II.mid|6th}}{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2009|p=74}}]]

In [[music theory]], '''voicing''' refers to two closely related concepts:

# How a musician or group distributes, or spaces, notes and chords on one or more instruments # The [[simultaneity (music)|simultaneous]] vertical placement of notes in relation to each other;<ref>{{cite book |last=Corozine |first=Vince |title=Arranging Music for the Real World: Classical and Commercial Aspects |year=2002 |publisher=Mel Bay |location=Pacific, MO |isbn=0-7866-4961-5 |oclc=50470629 |page=7}}</ref> this relates to the concepts of spacing and [[Voicing (music)#Doubling|doubling]]

It includes the [[instrumentation (music)|instrumentation]] and vertical spacing and ordering of the [[musical note]]s in a [[chord (music)|chord]]: which notes are on the top or in the middle, which ones are doubled, which [[octave]] each is in, and which instruments or voices perform each note.

== Vertical placement== The following three chords are all [[C major|C-major]] triads in [[root (chord)|root position]] with different voicings. The first is in [[close position]] (the most compact voicing), while the second and third are in [[Close and open harmony|open position]] (that is, with wider spacing). Notice also that the G is doubled at the [[octave]] in the third chord; that is, it appears in two different octaves.

:<score sound="1"> { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/4) \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"piano" \relative c' { <c e g>1^\markup { \column { "Close" "position" } } <c g' e'>^\markup { \column { "Open" "position" } } <c g' e' g>^\markup { \column { "Open" "position" } } } } </score>

=== Examples === Many composers, as they developed and gained experience, became more enterprising and imaginative in their handling of chord voicing. For example, the [[Theme (music)|theme]] from the second [[Movement (music)|movement]] of [[Beethoven|Ludwig van Beethoven]]'s early [[Piano Sonata No. 10 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 10]] (1798), presents chords mostly in close position: {{listen | filename = Klaviersonate Nr. 10 G-Dur, op. 14.2 - II. Andante.ogg | title = II. Andante | description = Performed by [[Artur Schnabel]] }} [[File:Beethoven Sonata 10 andante.png|thumb|center|upright=2.25|Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 10, Andante]] On the other hand, in the theme of the Arietta movement that concludes his last [[piano sonata]], [[Piano Sonata No. 32 (Beethoven)|Piano Sonata No. 32, Op. 111]] (1822), Beethoven presents the chord voicing in a much more daring way, with wide gaps between notes, creating compelling sonorities that enhance the meditative character of the music:

[[File:Beethoven Arietta.png|thumb|center|upright=2.25|Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 32, Arietta: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndv73B-pVas Listen] ]]

Philip Barford describes the Arietta of Op. 111 as "simplicity itself… its widely-spaced harmonization creates a mood of almost mystical intensity. In this exquisite harmonization the notes do not make their own track – the way we play them depends upon the way we catch the inner vibration of the thought between the notes, and this will condition every nuance of shading."<ref>{{cite book |last=Barford |first=P. |year=1971 |chapter=The Piano Music – II |editor-last1=Arnold |editor-first1=D. |editor-last2=Fortune |editor-first2=N. |name-list-style=amp |title=The Beethoven Companion |place=London |publisher=Faber |page=146}}</ref> [[William Kinderman]] finds it "extraordinary that this sensitive control of sonority is most evident in the works of Beethoven's last decade, when he was completely deaf, and could hear only in his imagination."<ref>{{cite book |author-link=William Kinderman |last=Kinderman |first=W. |year=1987 |title=Beethoven's Diabelli Variations |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |place=Oxford |page=64}}</ref>

Another example of the later Beethoven's daring approach to voicing can be found in the second movement of his [[Piano Sonata No. 29 (Beethoven)|''Hammerklavier'' Sonata, Op. 106]]. In the [[Minuet and trio|trio]] section of this movement (bars 48ff), [[Martin Cooper (musicologist)|Martin Cooper]] notes that “Beethoven has enhanced the strangeness of the effect by laying out much of the music four or five octaves apart, with no comfortable ‘filling’ between. This is a layout common in the works of his last years.” <ref>Cooper, M. (1970, p.162) Beethoven, the Last Decade. Oxford University Press.</ref>[[File:Beethoven Piano Sonata 29, second movement, bars 48-54.wav|thumb|Beethoven Piano Sonata 29, second movement, bars 48-54]][[File:Beethoven Piano Sonata 29, second movement, bars 48-55.png|thumb|center|500px|Beethoven Piano Sonata 29, second movement, bars 48-54]]

During the [[Romantic Era]], composers continued further in their exploration of sonorities that can be obtained through imaginative chord voicing. [[Alan Walker (musicologist)|Alan Walker]] draws attention to the quiet middle section of [[Chopin]]'s [[Scherzo No. 1 (Chopin)|Scherzo No. 1]]. In this passage, Chopin weaves a "magical" pianistic texture around a traditional Polish [[Christmas carol]]:<ref>{{cite book |last=Walker |first=A. |year=2018 |page=189 |title=Fryderyk Chopin, a Life and Times |place=London |publisher=Faber}}</ref> [[File:Chopin Scherzo No. 1, bars 305-312.wav|thumb|Chopin Scherzo No. 1, bars 305-312]] [[File:Chopin Scherzo No. 1, bars 305-313.png|thumb|center|upright=2.25|Chopin Scherzo No. 1, bars 305-313]]

[[Maurice Ravel]]'s ''Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant'' from his 1908 suite ''[[Ma mère l'Oye|Ma Mère l'Oye]]'' exploits the delicate transparency of voicing afforded through the medium of the [[piano duet]]. [[Piano four hands|Four hands]] can cope better than two when it comes to playing widely spaced chords. This is especially apparent in bars 5–8 of the following extract: [[File:Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant.png|thumb|center|upright=2.25|Pavane de la Belle au Bois Dormant. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGUoEQMeEuE Listen]]] Speaking of this piece (which also exists in an orchestral version), [[William Weaver Austin]] writes about Ravel's technique of "varying the sonority from phrase to phrase by telling changes of [[Register (music)|register]]."<ref>{{cite book |last=Austin |first=W. |year=1966 |title=Music in the 20th Century |place=London |publisher=Dent |page=172}}</ref> {{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f { \new PianoStaff << \new Staff { \clef treble \time 4/4 <g' e'' g'' b''>4^\markup { \column { "Opening" "chord" } } r r2 \bar "||" <c' c'' c''' e'''>1^\markup { \column { "Final" "chord" } } \bar "||" } \new Staff { \clef bass \time 4/4 <e, g, b, g>4 r r2 \bar "||" <c, c>1 \bar "||" } >> } } </score>|width=220|caption=The chords that open and close Stravinsky's ''Symphony of Psalms''}}

The two chords that open and close [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Symphony of Psalms]]'' have distinctive sonorities arising out of the voicing of the notes. The first chord is sometimes called the ''[[Psalms chord]]''. William W. Austin remarks:

{{Blockquote|The first and last chords of the Symphony of Psalms are famous. The opening [[staccato]] blast, which recurs throughout the first movement, detached from its surroundings by silence, seems to be a perverse spacing of the E minor triad, with the minor third doubled in four octaves while the root and fifth appear only twice, at high and low extremes... When the tonic C major finally arrives, in the last movement, its root is doubled in five octaves, its fifth is left to the natural overtones, and its decisive third appears just once, in the highest range. This spacing is as extraordinary as the spacing of the first chord, but with the opposite effect of super-clarity and consonance, thus resolving and justifying the first chord and all the horror of the miry clay.<ref>{{cite book |last=Austin |first=W. |year=1966 |title=Music in the 20th Century |place=London |publisher=Dent |page=334}}</ref> |sign=|source=}}

Some chord voicings devised by composers are so striking that they are instantly recognizable when heard. For example, ''[[The Unanswered Question]]'' by [[Charles Ives]] opens with strings playing a widely spaced G-major chord very softly, at the limits of audibility. According to Ives, the string part represents "The Silence of the Druids—who Know, See and Hear Nothing".

== Doubling == In a chord, a note that is duplicated in different [[octave]]s is said to be ''doubled''. Doubling may also refer to a note or a melodic phrase that is duplicated at the same pitch, but played by different instruments.

Melodic doubling in parallel (also called ''[[parallel harmony]]'') is the addition of a [[rhythm]]ically similar or exact melodic line or lines at a fixed [[interval (music)|interval]] above or below the [[melody]] to create parallel movement.{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2009|p=253}} Octave doubling of a voice or pitch is a number of other voices duplicating the same part at the same pitch or at different octaves. The doubling number of an octave is the number of individual voices assigned to each pitch within the chord.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}} For instance, in the opening of [[John Philip Sousa]]'s "[[The Washington Post (march)|Washington Post March]]",{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2003|p=133}} the melody is "doubled" in four octaves.

:<score> { { \new PianoStaff << \new Staff { \relative c'' { \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t \tempo 4. = 120 \clef treble \time 6/8 \key f \major <c c'>4\ff <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4.~ <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <c c'>4 <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4.~ <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <c c'>4 <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <bes bes'>4 <a a'>8 <g g'>8 r r <c e g bes c>-> r r } } \new Staff { \relative c { \clef bass \time 6/8 \key f \major <c c'>4 <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4.~ <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <c c'>4 <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4.~ <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <c c'>4 <cis cis'>8 <d d'>4 <des des'>8 <c c'>4 8 <bes bes'>4 <a a'>8 <g g'>8 r r <c, c' c'>-> r r } } >> } } </score> :[[File:Sousa, Washington Post.wav|Sousa, Washington Post]] Consistent parallelism between [[part (music)|melodic lines]] can impede the independence of the lines. For example, in m. 38 of the [[gigue]] from his [[English Suites (Bach)|''English Suite'' No. 1 in A major, BWV 806]], [[Johann Sebastian Bach|J.S. Bach]] avoids excessive [[parallel harmony]] in order to maintain the independence of the lines: parallel thirds (at the beginning) and parallel sixths (at the end) are ''not'' maintained throughout the entire measure, and no interval is in parallel for more than four consecutive notes. :<score> \new PianoStaff << \new Staff << \relative c' { \set Score.currentBarNumber = #38 \bar "" \clef treble \key a \major \time 6/8 fis16 gis a b cis a d cis b a gis fis } \addlyrics { "3" "3" "3" "5" "7" "6" "3" "8" "6" "6" "6" "6" } >> \new Staff << \relative c { \clef bass \key a \major \time 6/8 d16 e fis e d cis b cis d cis b a } >> >> </score> :[[File:Bach Gigue from English Suite in A major.wav]]

Consideration of doubling is important when following [[voice leading]] rules and guidelines, for example when [[resolution (music)|resolving]] to an [[augmented sixth chord]] never double either notes of the augmented sixth, while in resolving an Italian sixth it is preferable to double the [[tonic (music)|tonic]] ([[third (chord)|third]] of the chord).{{sfnp|Benward|Saker|2009|p=106}}

Some [[pitch material]] may be described as ''autonomous doubling'' in which the part being doubled is not followed for more than a few measures often resulting in [[disjunct (music)|disjunct]] motion in the part that is doubling, for example, the [[trombone]] part in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[Don Giovanni]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Guion |first=David M. |year=1988 |title=The Trombone: Its History and Music, 1697–1811 |page=133 |series=Musicology: A Book Series, Vol. VI |publisher=Gordon and Breach |isbn=2-88124-211-1}}</ref>

===Doubling in orchestration=== ====In unison==== Instrumental doubling plays a crucial role in [[orchestration]]. Near the start of [[Schubert]]'s [[Symphony No. 8 (Schubert)|Symphony No. 8]] (the "Unfinished" Symphony), the [[oboe]] and clarinet play a theme together in [[unison]], an "evocative and uncommon combination,"<ref>{{cite book |last=Newbould |first=Brian|author-link=Brian Newbould|year=1997 |page=377 |title=Schubert, the Music and the Man |place=London |publisher=Gollancz}}</ref> "an embodiment of melancholy... over a nervous shimmer of semiquavers in the strings".<ref>{{cite news |last=Service |first=Tom|author-link=Tom Service|date=14 January 2014 |title=Symphony Guide: Schubert's Unfinished|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

:<score override_audio="Schubert Unfinished Symphony 1st movement, bars 13-20.wav">

\relative c'' {

\key b \minor \time 3/4 \clef treble \set Staff.midiInstrument = "oboe" \set Score.currentBarNumber = #13 \bar "" fis2.( | b,4. ais8 b cis) | fis2.( | b,4. ais8 b cis) | d2. | e4( f4. e8) | d4( cis2 | d4) }</score>

====At the octave====

The opening theme of the last movement of [[Mozart]]'s [[Piano Concerto No. 24 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto No. 24]] is played throughout by the violins, but selected phrases are doubled, firstly by the flute playing an [[octave]] above; followed by the bassoon an octave below. Finally the violin is joined by both oboe and bassoon together, creating a doubling spanning three octaves: [[File:Mozart Piano Concerto K491 finale, bars 1-8.wav|thumb|Mozart Piano Concerto K491 finale, bars 1-8]] [[File:Mozart Piano Concerto K491 finale, bars 1-8.png|thumb|center|upright=2.75|Mozart Piano Concerto K491 finale, bars 1-8]]

The opening bars of the third movement of [[Janáček]]'s [[Sinfonietta (Janáček)|Sinfonietta]] combine unison and octave doublings. The passage illustrates how subtle and carefully differentiated doubling can contribute to the sound of a delicate and nuanced [[orchestration|orchestral texture]]:

In these three bars, the Bass Clarinet and the Tuba simultaneously sound a sustained [[pedal point]] on a low E flat, creating a distinctive blend of [[timbres]]. Similarly, the harp [[arpeggios]] are also doubled at the [[unison]] by the violas, while the first violins and ‘cellos double the main melody an octave apart.

== Drop voicings == {{unreferenced section|date=August 2021}} One nomenclature for describing certain classes of voicings is the "drop-n" terminology, such as ''drop-2 voicings'', ''drop-4 voicings'', etc. (sometimes spelled without hyphens). This system views voicings as built from the top down (probably from [[Horn section|horn-section]] arranging where the melody is a given). The implicit, non-dropped, default voicing in this system has all [[Part (music)|voices]] in the same octave, with individual voices numbered from the top down. The highest voice is the first voice or voice 1. The second-highest voice is voice 2, etc. This nomenclature doesn't provide a term for more than one voice on the same pitch.

A dropped voicing lowers one or more voices by an [[octave]] relative to the default state. Dropping the first voice is undefined—a drop-1 voicing would still have all voices in the same octave, simply making a new first voice. This nomenclature doesn't cover the dropping of voices by two or more octaves or having the same pitch in multiple octaves.

A drop-2 voicing lowers the second voice by an octave. For example, a C-major triad has three "drop-2 voicings". Reading down from the top voice, they are C E G, E G C, and G C E, which can be heard as the voicings supporting the first three melody notes (following the introductory phrase) of the [[Super Mario Bros. theme|''Super Mario Bros.'' video game theme]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Super Mario Bros. Theme Song |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTa6Xbzfq1U |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/NTa6Xbzfq1U |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|website=Youtube |access-date=2021-01-15}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

There are four drop-2-and-4 voicings for G{{music|7 chord}}. Reading down from the top voice, they are G D F B, B F G D, D G B F, and F B D G. Various drop combinations are possible, given enough voices, such as drop-3, drop-2-and-3, drop-5, drop-2-and-5, drop-3-and-5, etc.

:<score vorbis="1"> { \new Staff << \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \override Score.SpacingSpanner.strict-note-spacing = ##t \set Score.proportionalNotationDuration = #(ly:make-moment 1/8) \time 4/4 \new Voice \relative c'' { <d g>2 \once \stemUp <d g>^\markup { \center-align { "drop-2-and-4" } } <f g b> <f b>^\markup { \center-align { "drop-2-and-4" } } <g d'> <g d'>^\markup { \center-align { "drop-2-and-4" } } ^\markup { \center-align { "drop-2-and-4" } } } \new Voice \relative c'' { \override TextSpanner.bound-padding = #1.0 \override TextSpanner.style = #'line \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.arrow = ##t \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text = #"fof" \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.text = #"gag" \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.padding = #0.6 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.stencil-align-dir-y = #CENTER \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.stencil-align-dir-y = #CENTER \override Glissando.bound-details.right.arrow = ##t \override Glissando.arrow-length = #0.5 \override Glissando.arrow-width = #0.25 <f g>2\glissando f, g'\glissando \once \stemDown g, b'\glissando \once \stemDown b, d'\glissando \once \stemDown d, } \new Voice \relative c'' { \override TextSpanner.bound-padding = #1.0 \override TextSpanner.style = #'line \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.arrow = ##t \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.text = #"fof" \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.text = #"gag" \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.padding = #0.6 \override TextSpanner.bound-details.right.stencil-align-dir-y = #CENTER \override TextSpanner.bound-details.left.stencil-align-dir-y = #CENTER \override Glissando.bound-details.right.arrow = ##t \override Glissando.arrow-length = #0.5 \override Glissando.arrow-width = #0.25 b2\glissando b, d'\glissando \once \stemDown d, <f' g>\glissando \once \stemDown f, g'\glissando \once \stemDown g, } >> } </score>

Drop voicings are often employed by [[guitar]]ists, as the perfect fourth intervals between the guitar's strings typically make most close position chords cumbersome and impractical to play, particularly in [[Jazz guitar|jazz]] where complex extensions are commonplace. While [[open chord]]s are the most commonly employed voicings on the guitar and other fretted instruments for the volume and resonance they produce, the fingerings used for drop voicings on guitar are easily moved horizontally and vertically around the [[fingerboard]], allowing more freedom for the guitarist to play chords in any key and in any area of the guitar's range, without the use of a [[Capo (musical device)|capo]]. This facilitates easily playing chord progressions featuring [[Modulation (music)|modulation]] or [[Modulation (music)#Chromatic modulation|chromatic movement]] between keys.

==See also== *[[Blind octave]] *[[Consecutive fifths]] *[[Open chord]] *[[Partial voicing (music)|Partial voicing]]

==Sources== {{reflist}} '''Sources''' * {{cite book |last1=Benward |first1=Bruce |last2=Saker |first2=Marilyn Nadine |year=2003 |title=Music: In Theory and Practice, Volume I |edition=7th |isbn=978-0-07-294262-0}} * {{cite book |last1=Benward |first1=Bruce |last2=Saker |first2=Marilyn Nadine |year=2009 |title=Music: In Theory and Practice, Volume II |edition=8th |isbn=978-0-07-310188-0}}

==External links== * [https://www.jazzguitar.be/blog/drop-3-chords-and-inversions/ Drop 3 Chord Voicings and Examples for Jazz Guitar] *[https://www.mindfulharmony.app/learn/chord-voicing-guide "5 Beautiful Ways To Voice A CΔ9 Chord"], Sebastian Karika, ''Mindful Harmony''.

[[Category:Voicing (music)| ]]