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WAMusicQuick questions
Unit 4: Innovations
Quick questions on Harmonising a melody and voice leading: WACE Year 12 Music
4short Q&A pairs drawn directly from our worked dot-point answer. For full context and worked exam questions, read the parent dot-point page.
What are choosing chords?Show answer
For each strong beat, the melody note tells you which chords fit, because that note should normally belong to the chord. A melody note of C could be harmonised by C major (root), F major (fifth) or A minor (third). Choose among the options to make a good progression, favouring strong root movement (down a fifth, as in V to I and ii to V) and clear functional motion from tonic to subdominant to dominant and home.
What is plan the cadences first?Show answer
Cadences give a phrase its punctuation, so decide them before filling the middle:
What are voice-leading conventions?Show answer
In four-part (SATB) writing the way voices move between chords matters as much as the chords themselves:
What is not resolving the leading note?Show answer
At a perfect cadence the leading note should rise to the tonic; leaving it hanging weakens the cadence.
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