10133 / 18210 · Workshop 83 — Voice-Leading Reharmonization: Building New Chords from Melodic Lines Instead of Substitution Lists← prev⊞ allnext →
83.103Mini-composition exercise
Write a 32-bar reharmonization étude generated primarily from voice leading.
Requirements:
- one bass line C-C♯-D producing a passing-diminished effect
- one bass line D-D♭-C producing a chromatic/tritone-sub-type approach
- one inner line A-A♭-G producing borrowed iv or equivalent color
- one top line E-E♭-D generating changing extensions
- one sustained melody note over at least four bass changes
- one passage where outer voices are fixed but middle harmony changes
- one cadence designed backward from tonic
- one parallel-semitone approach chord
- one functional dominant cadence for contrast
- one bass note functioning as inversion rather than root
- one passing bass note that receives no new chord symbol
- one deceptive bass arrival that delays tonic
- final four bars must simplify to melody + bass + one inner line
The study should be explainable almost entirely as lines, even if the resulting chord symbols look sophisticated.