# Three-Part Harmony in Vocal Style



## xtheunknown0 (Jul 15, 2008)

Hi, could you give me some more tips on how to harmonise a melody in three parts? Dulcie Holland wrote in Master Your Theory 7:

Approach three-part writing as you would four-part, deciding on modulations and chords. The middle part will become a combined alto and tenor and will need to move around fairly freely. Try to make it flow rather than jump about.

Though there is more freedom in the spacing of the parts than in 4-part writing, it is generally advisable to keep the two upper parts reasonably close together (say, within an octave); there is no restriction on the space between middle and bottom parts.

The two upper parts are written on the treble stave, and the bass by itself on the bass stave. Sometimes when the middle part runs rather low, it may be convenient to let it move onto the bass stave to avoid leger lines and make it easy to read.

In three-part writing, many chords will be incomplete. But the use of exchanged chord notes and various kinds of unessential notes will prevent the texture from sounding bare.


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