Three-Part Harmony in Vocal Style
Bert
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.