Voice Leading Quotes

Chopin was a master of melody, harmony and voice leading - the art of smoothly moving from chord to chord.

I started studying counterpoint and theory with a physicist whose hobby was music.

I want to make the music that's not there anymore. I'm so passionate about the singing voice... What I'm trying to do actually with my album is show that it's my voice that's leading. It's my voice that's the instrument.

Anytime I can use open strings in a chord, or add a ninth, I will.

The nature of the contrapuntal experience is that every note has to have a past and a future on the horizontal plane.

The element of harmony is super important.

I don't have an extensive background in theory, but the amount of it that I've learned, I've applied, so I have a vocabulary of melodic and rhythmic relationships. And that's all theory is - it's symbols to help you identify those relationships.

Instead of thinking in terms of chords, I think of voice-leading; that is, melody line and bass line, and where the bass line goes. If you do that, you'll have the right chord. [These voices] will give you some alternatives, and you can play those different alternatives to hear which one suits your ear. Keep the bass line moving so you don't stay in one spot: if you have an interesting bass line and you roll it against the melody, the chords are going to come out right.

Same thing with harmonies. If you hear something that harmonically is interesting, express it. So that's what I'm saying about talking the music rather than just playing through.