The following etude is based upon spread 3 part fourth cycles.
One of the delights of Mick Goodrick’s amazing three volume voice-leading almanacs for guitar is finding new harmonic sounds and applying them in your own individual way.
Indeed, the almanacs are ideally suited to someone who is bored with convention and wants to explore the unknown.
Spread 3 Part Fourth Cycles
Volume 2 of Mick Goodrick’s Almanacs starts harmonic exploration with 3-part 4ths in both closed and spread positions.
For those new to these terms a little explanation is in order.
Fourth harmony is essential quartal harmony.
Typically chordal harmony is build on stacked thirds so we start at the start of the scale and we select every second note (which is a distance of a third).
So the C major scale is C D E F G A B C
If we start with the C note and pick every second note we get the notes C E G which spells the C major triad.
In quartal harmony however we start with the C note but pick every third note so this time for the C chord we get C F B.
Don’t Forget The Inversions
Just like the C major triad which as three inversions;
C E G
E G C
G C E
The quartal C chord also has inversions;
C F B
F B C
B C F
Enter the Suspended Chords
Mick Goodrick starts volume 2 of the almanacs with what could be called C suspended 2 chords.
For example the first triad is D G C which makes sense as G is a fourth above D and C is a fourth above C but how is this called a C chord?
Well since the above notes are a fourth apart we can rearrange them through inversions so now our C chord is C D G or what guitar players would better know as a Csus2 chord.
Remember Sus chords don’t have a 3rd but rather they feature the 2nd or 4th instead of the 3rd. This gives those chords that suspenseful sound.
Etude 1 Spread 3 Part Fourth Cycles
The etude below is comprised of several cycles.
The first section of the 3 sections is based on Cycle 2 in C major.
There are embellishment notes through especially when moving from a note that is a third apart from another.
For example the first chord is a C G D and is played C G D G then the F and B notes are played however these notes are not included in the cycle but they lead nicely to the the next notes of A and E which are the notes of the next chords in the cycle.
See page 21 Volume 2 of the Almanacs.
Section 2 is based on cycle 4 and indeed the triads outline the C and F Sus 2 triads with plenty of diatonic embellishment and liberties.
The final section is based on the descending cycle 2 at the bottom of page 21 and resolves with a lovely C F B C arpeggiated chord.
All Types of Music
The exciting thing about the almanacs is that you can make almost all types of music with the harmonies contained therein although classical sounding harmonies and more advanced jazz type harmonies will probably be the outcome.
Your Turn
Why not try your own hand at writing etudes or whole pieces based upon the voice-leading almanacs.
It’s a great way to find yourself musically through the process of writing such an etude.
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