Four-Part Harmony - SATB and Keyboard

Question 1

four part writing

Answer 1

• when looking at it, you can four separate parts
• register for each part
• bass is in bass staff primarily
• tenor is in the upper bass staff but go above the staff frequently
• alto is in and below the treble staff
• soprano is in and sometime above the treble staff
• look at the spacing between the parts (intervals get confusing when looking at parts that cross staves, such as alto and tenor)

Question 2

when writing SATB music there are 5 concepts to keep in mind

Answer 2

• notation
• range
• spacing
• voice crossing (watch between the alto and tenor voice in particular)
• voice doublings

Question 3

notation

Answer 3

• use the grand staff
• Treble clef:
• soprano parts written with note stems up
• alto parts with not stems down
• Bass clef:
• tenor parts written with note stems up
• bass parts with stems down
• occasionally there will have pitches shared. the note is either side by side (such as whole notes, since they do not have a stem) or one note with two stems to mark both parts

Question 4

range

Answer 4

• SATB settings use somehwat standard ranges for each part. these are determined by the average singing range for each part. they are a little flexible but should be used almost all of the time
• soprano: C4 to G5
• alto: G3 to D5
• tenor: C3 to G4
• bass: E2 to D4
• basically an octave and a fifth with the exception of bass
• some singers fall in between two of these groups, such as baritones and mezzo-sopranos

Question 5

spacing

Answer 5

• 4-part chords sound best if the intervals between the three upper adjacent parts is an octave or less (watch especially between tenor and alto voice)
• the interval between the tenor and bass may be larger than an octave. lower parts sound muddy when voice too closely together so larger intervals between tenor and bass is preferred
• also be careful about voice crossing as well

Question 6

voice crossing

Answer 6

• don’t do it
• there are moments that this rule can be broken because it can create an interesting effect. but there must be a reason why it’s broken. as of now, learn how to follow these rules and understand when to break them

Question 7

voice doubling

Answer 7

• we have four voices but sometime only three notes to choose from, some voices will share a pitch
• never double an accidental or tendency tone
• notes that can be doubled:
• the root of the chord
• try to double the soprano unless it has an accidental or leading tones
• if bass has a fifth, then double the bass tone
• diminished chords, we double the bass or the third of the chord (because these chords are usualyl in first inversion)

Question 8

writing for keyboard

Answer 8

• the main difference for keyboard writing is that most people have ten fingers and less limited ranges
• keyboard is an excellent setting for 4-part harmonization
• small changes are made to fit the nature of the key board performance
• divide four parts into two hands
• right hand stems are up
• let hand stems are down
• many times the tenor voice is moved to the treble clef staff. giving three voices to the right hand and the bass part in the left hand
• to harmonize a melody, the melody can be played in the right hand while the chords are played in the left hand
• or instead of chords, have arpeggios or alberti bass
• spacing between pitches now become physical considerations
• normal range or normal hand is an octave range
• three notes per hand is common, four notes is possible
• be careful of spacing of more than a tenth between the hands

Question 9

when writing four-part harmony, five basic concepts must be considered. are they notation, range, spacing, voice crossing, and doubling?

Answer 9

• yes

Question 10

from the lowest to the highest voice, name the four voices in four-part harmony
1. 
2.
3.
4.

Answer 10

• bass; tenor; alto; soprano

Question 11

four-part harmony is notated on the _______ staff. these voices have stems down _______. these voices have stems up___________

Answer 11

• grand; bass and alto; tenor and soprano

Question 12

in four-part harmony, most of the chords will be triads. what pitch should be doubled to complete the chord in: root position_______; 1st inversion__________; 2nd inversion always the_______

Answer 12

• root; soprano; bass

Question 13

what pitches should never be doubled in four-part harmony?
1.
2.
3.

Answer 13

• leading tone; root; tendency tone