# Satb



## henrikhank

Hi!
I am learning how to harmonize melodies (SATB style). This is one of the melodies I am working on: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gTIe992WyOU/maxresdefault.jpg

My questions to you:
Are there any special voice leading rules for dealing with an anacrusis or should I just voice lead it like I would if the first note were no anacrusis at all?

In the second bar we see two A notes in a row. The soprano part would be the same for those two notes. I am not so sure one should have the same ATB notes in a row. What should I do in this situation? My text books deal mostly with moving soprano notes (without two notes in a row) so no rules for this were written in my books (as far as I know).

As far as I understand common era practise theory the big leaps are only to be placed at the beginning of a period like it's done in this song. Is this the right theoretical understanding?


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## EdwardBast

1) If a choral starts on the first beat of a measure, almost always the root will be in the bass. For an anacrusis there is more freedom. Any member of the chord can be in the bass.

2) If you are following the normal theory class rules about spacing and not crossing voices, chances are you will want to make the other voices move up for the second A, to close up the gap that opens between soprano and alto with the leap of a sixth. Otherwise, one can certainly repeat a voicing. Or, for more variety, on can change the harmony completely from one A to the other.

3) Leaps can occur anywhere, although you have probably noticed that chorales tend to use lots of conjunct motion rather than leaps.


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