16c Discussion - Advanced mode mixture

Magical Modes

“What strategies can we use to voice these progressions with modal mixture?”

• Try to find stepwise motion in each voice. Smooth voice leading!
• Keep in mind our traditional voice leading rules. We want to keep our voices independent.
• Dont double tendency tones!
• Start from the beginning? (maybe not) The voice leading can be easier to manage if you start from the end and work backwards.
• In a weird kind of way, smooth voice leading trumps function and can make these progressions with modal mixture sound convincing. ii should not go to I by our traditional rules, but iiø7 sure can because it has such good voice leading.

“Modal Mixture or non-chord tone?”

• Look for whether or not it is on or off the beat. This can determine the strength of the chromatic pitch.
• Is it in the melody? If so, it can be heard as a passing tone.
• Look at the duration of the pitch. A longer note could more easily be argued into being a chord tone of modal mixture.

Harmonizations demonstrated in class

Poor voice leading

Reasonable - Each line is independent.

Expanding beyond four voices