SATB Aanlysis

Wrote a simple SATB chorale, how did I do?

I thought that fourths were allowed in the upper voices, not between bass and tenor.

19 minutes ago, Luis Hernández said:

I thought that fourths were allowed in the upper voices, not between bass and tenor.

I remember that as long as the fourth acts as the bass two note of a faxbourdon that will be fine and the fourth will be a consonance on that situation.

Hi @GospelPiano12,

Actually I don't think this is a simple SATB! There are many non harmonic notes, add notes and unusual chord progression in it!

All I say may not be applicable here, since it's more a traditional SATB approach!

In b.2 the G minor seventh chord with the F in alto is not too appropriate with a dominant seventh before and the F sharp in different voice. In b.3 there's crossing of voice between S and A. In b.4 the augmented chord with double leading tone of C sharp seems too dissonant for me. In b.6 the F following a B natural creates a tritone. In b.8 there's a parallel 8th btw S and B. The harmonic progression is not quite smooth overall but I don't know what is the crieteria of writing it, so I can't judge on that.

Thanks for sharing!

Henry

10 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hi @GospelPiano12,

Actually I don't think this is a simple SATB! There are many non harmonic notes, add notes and unusual chord progression in it!

All I say may not be applicable here, since it's more a traditional SATB approach!

In b.2 the G minor seventh chord with the F in alto is not too appropriate with a dominant seventh before and the F sharp in different voice. In b.3 there's crossing of voice between S and A. In b.4 the augmented chord with double leading tone of C sharp seems too dissonant for me. In b.6 the F following a B natural creates a tritone. In b.8 there's a parallel 8th btw S and B. The harmonic progression is not quite smooth overall but I don't know what is the crieteria of writing it, so I can't judge on that.

Thanks for sharing!

Henry

 

Any suggestions on how I could make it smoother? This is one of my hymns that I wrote into an SATB setting

I think a D in the alto following a fully dim7 chord would work better

Actually it really depends on which style you want. E.g the augmentes chord in b.4 and penultimate bar will be considered too crude in traditional SATB but it's absoultely fine if you want a less traditional one. I will prevent those parallels though since it will reduce the individuality of each voice, e.g. that of b.8 btw S and B.

4 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I remember that as long as the fourth acts as the bass two note of a faxbourdon that will be fine and the fourth will be a consonance on that situation.

 

I don't understand that...

As I have studied this, fauxbourdon technique consists in three voices:

• Cantus firmus in the upper one 
• Middle voice at a fixed interval of a 4th from the upper voice
• Bass voice at a 6th from the upper one

This results in a sequence of harmonies in first inversion.

I mean if it's consecutive harmonic chords of first inversion, then the parallel fourths can allowed. That's quite similar to the faxbourdon I guess!

5 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Actually it really depends on which style you want. E.g the augmentes chord in b.4 and penultimate bar will be considered too crude in traditional SATB but it's absoultely fine if you want a less traditional one. I will prevent those parallels though since it will reduce the individuality of each voice, e.g. that of b.8 btw S and B.

 

I like a #5aug chord going to the 6, really it's just the I augmneted in an inversion, but I like to mix it up

4 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I don't understand that...

As I have studied this, fauxbourdon technique consists in three voices:

• Cantus firmus in the upper one 
• Middle voice at a fixed interval of a 4th from the upper voice
• Bass voice at a 6th from the upper one

This results in a sequence of harmonies in first inversion.

 

Could you maybe mark up some areas that need adjusting then?

Hi. First of all don't take my words literally, of course, do what you want.

As far as I know, in 4 part writing, or generally speaking, since tonality became common, the fourth is a consonance if it is in the upper part of  chord, that is, in first inversion (E - G - C). But when the fourth involves the bass, it is a dissonance.

The 4th was used as the normal interval (together with the 5th) in times before the Renaissance (when the 3rd and the 6th were considered dissonances).

On the other hand, Fauxbourdon, Faburden and Falsobordone are different harmonization and improvisatory techniques developed in the final part of the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. They are techniques that harmonize a cantus firmus in three or four voices. Fauxbourdon has its origin in Bourgogne (France), Faburden in England, and Falsobordone in Italy. In these techniques the upper voice was strictly harmonized in the interval of 4th by the middle voice.

These devices were used much more later, here you have an example of Fauxbourdon in the Impromptu Op. 29 by Chopin. As you can see, it is a sequence of chords in first inversion. Notice how in every of them the bass forms a third with the middle voice, and the middle a fourth with the upper voice .

In your piece, some fourths involving the bass are in passing spots, or they seem prepared. But other ones are in strong places. As I said, you can do what you want. In my opinion, the fourths in this situation provides an "ancient" sound, and it is a bit incongruent with the piece following the tonal rules we all know.

I added the melody in the bass in measure 8 for emphasis

page 2/Chorus section of song

I actually think the leap of seventh from b.3 to 4 quite difficult for the bass, though not necessarily a problem. I love that D# and Db "clash" in b.8, very spiritual for me. The chord in b.16 is great as well. 

3 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I actually think the leap of seventh from b.3 to 4 quite difficult for the bass, though not necessarily a problem. I love that D# and Db "clash" in b.8, very spiritual for me. The chord in b.16 is great as well. 

 

I wasn't sure what to call the chord in b.16 since it moves through FM7, Bb, Bbm6, before resting on an F chord, so I'm just gonna leave it. 

Also, I meant to bring the bass down an octave lower in b.4. And the Gm7-Eb7/Db-C7 is a chord progression I use a lot, it's just a varied ii-V7.

Harmony options on "chorus"

Not an analysis, but did I notate this correctly? Pls, pls excuse the rough vocals, I could not find the key lol, but I think my notation is correct. I haven't played it on a piano, but I think aural skills has helped with my pitch/solfege identification and notation.

Hoping to harmonize this similar to how "Cleanse Me Oh God" is harmonized. And maybe with some passing tones in the alto, tenor, and bass.

Hey @GospelPiano12,

53 minutes ago, GospelPiano12 said:

Not an analysis, but did I notate this correctly? Pls, pls excuse the rough vocals, I could not find the key lol, but I think my notation is correct. I haven't played it on a piano, but I think aural skills has helped with my pitch/solfege identification and notation.

Your notation is perfectly right! You sing it perfectly too as the key is right in Db major!

The harmonization seems great as well!

Henry

4 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Hey @GospelPiano12,

Your notation is perfectly right! You sing it perfectly too as the key is right in Db major!

The harmonization seems great as well!

Henry

 

Thank you, I'm feeling much more confident in my notation abilities.

I'd love to see some harmonization options from some of you

How could I add that V-V7-I that I had written into that?

Use this in the last three bars seems great except the 10th bte S and A in b.2 :

Sorry for the blurred image...

I like that a lot, I'm actually going to move it up to A flat major so it'll be in an easier range, and parts will be in a better range as well. 

Finished parts. Anyway to have the Eb7 walkup in contrary motion? Please let me know if you have any suggestions for adding some decoration to the parts, especially the Bbm-Eb7 phrase

Like my example above?