BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
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.