What is the difference between real and tonal sequence

You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Related Content Related Overviews rosalia fugue. Show Summary Details Overview sequence. Subjects: Music. All rights reserved. Sign in to annotate. Delete Cancel Save. Cancel Save. I have suggested a version of this below. Using my progression, try adding a third voice as an alto line. As you do this, remember that the sequential pattern will not start until the second measure, so the first measure can just fill out missing chord tones.

Your line does not have to have all stepwise motion like the outer two voices do, but it should follow some sort of repeating pattern.

The next example uses my suggested alto voice. It provides the required missing chord tones for each chord in this progression. In your classification of the two-voice progression above, you likely described each line individually e.

Neither of these is sufficient, however, once we add a third voice. Instead, we classify harmonic sequences by describing the movement of the roots of each chord. We do not label harmonic sequences by inversions or the bass line. If we were to identify sequences by bass lines, all sequences that created a particular style of bass line e.

You can see this concept in the next two examples below. Taking this into account, the description of the sequence in the example above would be:. The above sequence has only one interval and direction in its root movement pattern, a descending P5.

Similar to the final example of the melodic sequences above, though, it is also possible for harmonic sequences to have two or more parts within each repetition. Look at the example below, and classify it using our terms from above:.

Hopefully you were able to identify that the sequence only covers the first three measures, the final measure is simply a way to allow the pattern to repeat smoothly. For the sequence, there are two possibilities to describe it. You could consider each measure a pattern in which case you would say that this is a diatonic sequence that descends by 3rd.

If you consider the pattern to be a half note, though, it has multiple parts. It is a diatonic sequence of triads that moves down by 4th and then up by 2nd. Either is correct, but the second version communicates a clearer picture of the pattern.

While any sequence that establishes a pattern and has clear voice-leading can function, there are common sequences that many composers have relied upon. This sequence gets its name from the fact that each successive chord has a root note that is a fifth lower than the previous chord.

Descending circle of 5ths Harmonic Sequence. In a descending thirds sequence the chords move down a third for each repetition, hence the name. Descending Thirds Harmonic Sequence. Ascending Circle of Fifths Harmonic Sequence. Sequences are an excellent tool for composing music — I use them in a lot of the pieces I write. The piece shows clear examples of melodic and harmonic sequences I have annotated the sheet music to show the sequences.

I hope you have found this lesson on sequences helpful. I am sure that you will be pleasantly surprised by what you discover! As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.