voice leading
The art of moving individual voices smoothly from one chord to the next.
In Depth
Voice leading (or part-writing) governs how individual notes move when chords change. Good voice leading minimises large leaps, avoids parallel fifths and octaves, and resolves dissonances according to established conventions. The result is smooth, elegant harmonic motion where each voice part makes melodic sense on its own.
Voice leading is the bridge between melody and harmony — it ensures that vertical (harmonic) and horizontal (melodic) elements work together seamlessly. Bach's chorales are the gold standard of voice leading, and music students worldwide study them as models. The principles of voice leading also underpin jazz arranging, choral composition, and even the chord progressions in pop music.
Bach's 371 chorales have been used to teach voice leading for over 250 years — every music student in the Western world studies them, making Bach the most influential music teacher in history.