![Parallel fifths on C by contrary motion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Parallel_fifths_on_C_by_contrary_motion.png)
In
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
, consecutive fifths or parallel fifths are progressions in which the
interval of a
perfect fifth is followed by a ''different'' perfect fifth between the same two musical parts (or
voices): for example, from C to D in one part along with G to A in a higher part.
Octave displacement is irrelevant to this aspect of musical grammar; for example, a parallel twelfth (i.e., an octave plus a fifth) is equivalent to a parallel fifth.
[Thus, the word "parallel" is not truly synonymous with "consecutive", as a fifth followed by another fifth approached with contrary motion would still count as consecutive fifths. The term ''parallel fifths'' may therefore be misleading because some consecutive fifths occur with contrary motion: from a true uncompounded fifth to a twelfth, for example. If parts move by ]oblique motion
In music theory, contrapuntal motion is the general movement of two melodic lines with respect to each other. In traditional four-part harmony, it is important that lines maintain their independence, an effect which can be achieved by the judicio ...
(for example, one part moving from a C to a higher C, and another part repeating a G higher than both of those Cs), the intervals are not considered to differ in the relevant way, so parallel fifths do not occur.
Though used in, and evocative of, various kinds of popular, folk, and medieval music, parallel motion in
perfect consonances (P1, P5, P8) is strictly forbidden in
species counterpoint instruction (1725–present),
and during the
common practice period
In European art music, the common-practice period is the era of the tonal system. Most of its features persisted from the mid-Baroque period through the Classical and Romantic periods, roughly from 1650 to 1900. There was much stylistic evoluti ...
, consecutive fifths were strongly discouraged. This was primarily due to the notion of
voice leading
Voice leading (or part writing) is the linear progression of individual melodic lines ( voices or parts) and their interaction with one another to create harmonies, typically in accordance with the principles of common-practice harmony and counte ...
in tonal music, in which "one of the basic goals ...is to maintain the relative independence of the individual parts."
[Kostka & Payne (1995), p.84.]
A common theory is that the presence of the 3rd harmonic of the
harmonic series influenced the creation of the prohibition.
Development of the prohibition
Singing in consecutive fifths may have originated from the accidental singing of a
chant a perfect fifth above (or a perfect fourth below) the proper pitch. Whatever its origin, singing in parallel fifths became commonplace in early
organum
''Organum'' () is, in general, a plainchant melody with at least one added voice to enhance the harmony, developed in the Middle Ages. Depending on the mode and form of the chant, a supporting bass line (or '' bourdon'') may be sung on the sam ...
and
conductus
The ''conductus'' (plural: ''conducti'') was a sacred Latin song in the Middle Ages, one whose poetry and music were newly composed. It is non-liturgical since its Latin lyric borrows little from previous chants. The conductus was northern Frenc ...
styles. Around 1300,
Johannes de Garlandia became the first theorist to prohibit the practice. However, parallel fifths were still common in 14th-century music. The early 15th-century composer
Leonel Power
Leonel Power (also spelled ''Lionel, Lyonel, Leonellus, Leonelle''; ''Polbero''; 1370 to 1385 – 5 June 1445) was an English composer of the late Medieval and early Renaissance music. Along with John Dunstaple, he was a dominant figure of 15th ...
likewise forbade the motion of "2 acordis perfite of one kynde, as 2 unisouns, 2 5ths, 2 8ths, 2
12ths, 2
15ths," and it is with the transition to Renaissance-style counterpoint that the use of parallel perfect consonances was consistently avoided in practice. The convention dates approximately from 1450.
Composers avoided writing consecutive fifths between two independent parts, such as
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
and
bass lines.
Consecutive fifths were usually considered forbidden, even if disguised (such as in a "horn fifth") or broken up by an intervening note (such as the mediant in a triad). The interval may form part of a chord of any number of notes, and may be set well apart from the rest of the
harmony, or finely interwoven in its midst. But the interval was always to be quit
ollowed?by any movement that did not land on another fifth.
The prohibition concerning fifths did not just apply to perfect fifths. Some theorists objected also to the progression from a perfect fifth to a
diminished fifth
Diminished may refer to:
*Diminution
In Western music and music theory, diminution (from Medieval Latin ''diminutio'', alteration of Latin ''deminutio'', decrease) has four distinct meanings. Diminution may be a form of embellishment in which ...
in parallel motion; for example the progression from C and G to B and F (B and F forming a diminished fifth).
"The reason for avoiding parallel 5ths and 8ves has to do with the nature of counterpoint. The P8 and P5 are the most stable of intervals, and to link two voices through parallel motion at such intervals interferes with their independence much more than would parallel motion at 3rds or 6ths."
"Since the octave really represents a repetition of the same tone in a different register, if two or more octaves occur in succession, the result is a reduction in the number of voices; for example, in a two-voice setting, one of the voices would temporarily disappear, and along with it the rationale of the intended two-voice setting. The octave acts merely as a doubling; if, in a particular instance, it is not intended to act as such, this must be sufficiently emphasized by what precedes and follows it. But even the succession of two octaves brings the sense of doubling into the foreground. Of course, this must not be confused with an intentional doubling used to strengthen sonority, for which, however, strict counterpoint offers no motivation." Similarly, "Parallel 8ves...reduce the number of voices...since the voice that
omentarilydoubles at the 8ve...is not an independent voice but merely a duplication. Parallel 8ves...may also confuse the functions of the voices...If the upper voice succession...is merely a duplication of the bass, then the actual
soprano must be...the
alto voice. This interpretation of course makes no sense, for it turns the
texture
Texture may refer to:
Science and technology
* Surface texture, the texture means smoothness, roughness, or bumpiness of the surface of an object
* Texture (roads), road surface characteristics with waves shorter than road roughness
* Texture ...
inside out."
[Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept & Practice'', p.50. Third edition. .] "Parallel 5ths are avoided because the 5th, formed by
scale degrees 1 and 5, is the primary harmonic interval, the interval that divides the
scale and thus defines the
key. The direct succession of two 5ths raises doubt concerning the key."
![Power chords parallel on E](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Power_chords_parallel_on_E.png)
The identification and avoidance of perfect fifths in the instruction of counterpoint and
harmony help to distinguish the more formal idiom of classical music from
popular
Popularity or social status is the quality of being well liked, admired or well known to a particular group.
Popular may also refer to:
In sociology
* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
* Popular music
* Popular science
* Populace, the total ...
and
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
s, in which consecutive fifths commonly appear in the form of
double tonics and
shifts of level. The prohibition of consecutive fifths in
European classical music originates not only in the requirement for contrary motion in counterpoint but in a gradual and eventually self-conscious attempt to distance classical music from folk traditions. As
Sir Donald Tovey explains in his discussion of
Joseph Haydn's
Symphony no. 88, "The trio is one of Haydn's finest pieces of rustic dance music, with
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vi ...
drones which
shift in disregard of the rule forbidding consecutive fifths. The disregard is justified by the fact that the essential objection to consecutive fifths is that they produce the effect of shifting hurdy-gurdy
drones." A more contemporary example would be guitar
power chord
A power chord (also fifth chord) is a colloquial name for a chord in guitar music, especially electric guitar, that consists of the root note and the fifth, as well as possibly octaves of those notes. Power chords are commonly played on ...
s.
In the course of the 19th century consecutive fifths became more common, arising out of new textures and new conceptions of propriety in voice leading generally. They even became a stylistic feature in the work of some composers, notably
Chopin; and with the early 20th century and the breakdown of common-practice norms the prohibition became less and less relevant.
Related progressions
Unequal fifths
Unequal fifths, motion between perfect and diminished fifths is often avoided, with some avoiding only motion one way (diminished to perfect fifth or perfect to diminished fifth) or only if the bass is involved.
Notice that unequal fifths resemble similar rather than parallel motion, since the perfect fifth is seven semitones and the diminished fifth is six semitones.
Parallel octaves and fourths
![Sousa -](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Sousa_-_%22Washington_Post_March%2C%22_m._1-7.png)
Consecutive fifths are avoided in part because they cause a loss of individuality between parts. This lack of individuality is even more pronounced when parts move in parallel octaves or in unison. These are therefore also generally forbidden among independently moving parts.
[The restriction to independently moving parts is important. It has always been standard to double a part in unison or at the octave, even at several different octaves simultaneously, for the duration of a ]phrase
In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...
or beyond. For contrapuntal and harmonic analysis this does not add new parts at all. By convention, common practice sometimes allows more transient parallel octaves, or even fifths, with certain melodic embellishments such as anticipations
''Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress upon Human Life and Thought'', generally known as ''Anticipations'', was written by H.G. Wells at the age of 34. He later called the book, which became a bestseller, "the keys ...
.(Piston 1987, pp. 306–312.)
Parallel fourths (consecutive perfect fourths) are allowed, even though a P4 is the
inversion
Inversion or inversions may refer to:
Arts
* , a French gay magazine (1924/1925)
* ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas
* Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory
* ...
and thus the
complement
A complement is something that completes something else.
Complement may refer specifically to:
The arts
* Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave
** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...
of a P5.
The literature deals with them less systematically however, and theorists have often restricted their use. Theorists commonly disallow consecutive perfect fourths involving the lowest part, especially between the lowest part and the highest part. Since the beginning of the common practice period, it has been theorized that all dissonances should be properly resolved to a perfect consonance (there are few exceptions). Therefore, parallel fourths above the bass are generally dismissed in voice leading as a series of consecutive unresolved dissonances. However parallel fourths in upper voices (especially as part of a parallel "6-3" sonority) are common, and formed the basis of fifteenth-century
fauxbourdon
Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – French for ''false drone'' – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, ...
style. As an example of this type of allowed parallel perfect fourth in common practice music, see the final movement of
Mozart's A minor Piano sonata whose theme in bars 37–40 consists of parallel fourths in the right hand part (but not above the bass).
Hidden consecutives
![Horn fifths (enwiki)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Horn_fifths_%28enwiki%29.png)
So-called hidden consecutives, also called ''direct'' or ''covered'' octaves or fifths,
[The traditional terms for these progressions are as vague and variable as the traditional rules that govern them.] occur when two independent parts approach a ''single'' perfect fifth or octave by
similar motion instead of oblique or contrary motion. A single fifth or octave approached this way is sometimes called an ''exposed fifth'' or ''exposed octave''. Conventional style dictates that such a progression be avoided; but it is sometimes permitted under certain conditions, such as the following: the interval does not involve either the highest or the lowest part, the interval does not occur between ''both'' of those extreme parts, the interval is approached in one part by a semitone
step, or the interval is approached in the higher part by step. The details differ considerably from period to period, and even among composers writing in the same period.
An important acceptable case of hidden fifths in the common practice period are ''horn fifths''. Horn fifths arise from the limitation of valveless brass instruments to the notes of the
harmonic series (hence their name). In all but their extreme high registers, these brass instruments are limited to the notes of the major
triad. The typical two-instrument configuration would have the high instrument playing a scalar melody against a lower instrument confined to the notes of the tonic chord. Horn fifths occur when the upper voice is on the first three scale degrees.
Traditional horn fifths actually come in pairs. Begin with the upper instrument on the third scale degree and the lower instrument on the tonic. Then move the upper instrument to the second scale degree and the second instrument down to the fifth scale degree. Because the distance from 5 up to 2 is a perfect fifth, we have just created a hidden fifth by descending motion. The first instrument can then complete its descent to 1 as the lower instrument moves to 3. The second hidden fifth of the pair is obtained by making the upward maneuver a mirror image of the downward maneuver. These direct fifths are preferable to other less acceptable voice-leading alternatives including doubling the third scale degree at the octave, and limiting the low instrument to the use of only the first and fifth scale degrees. Although traditional horn fifths come in pairs and in passing, the acceptability of horn fifths has been generalized to any situation of hidden fifths where the top voice moves by step.
Special uses and exceptions in early music
Consecutive fifths are typically used to evoke the sound of music in medieval times or exotic places. The use of parallel fifths (or fourths) to refer to the sound of traditional Chinese or other kinds of Eastern music was once commonplace in film scores and songs. Since these passages are an obvious oversimplification and parody of the styles that they seek to evoke, this use of parallel fifths declined during the last half of the 20th century.
In the medieval period, large
church organ
Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.
...
s and
positive organ
A positive organ (also positiv organ, positif organ, portable organ, chair organ, or simply positive, positiv, positif, or chair) (from the Latin verb ''ponere'', "to place") is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more o ...
s would often be permanently arranged for each single key to speak in a consecutive fifth. It is believed this practice dates to Roman times. A positive organ having this configuration has been reconstructed recently by Van der Putten and is housed in
Groningen, and is used in an attempt to rediscover performance practice of the time.
In
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, the traditional song style known as ''tvísöngur'', "twin-singing", goes back to the Middle Ages and is still taught in schools today. In this style, a melody is sung against itself, typically in parallel fifths.
Georgian music frequently uses parallel fifths, and sometimes parallel
major ninths above the fifths. This means that there are two sets of parallel fifths, one directly on top of the other. This is especially prominent in the sacred music of the
Guria
Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region (''mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital.
Geography ...
region, in which the pieces are sung
a cappella by men. It is believed that this harmonic style dates from pre-Christian times.
Consecutive fifths (as well as fourths and octaves) are commonly used to mimic the sound of Gregorian
plainsong
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ''plain-chant''; la, cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text ...
. This practice is well-founded in early European musical traditions. Plainsong was originally sung in
unison
In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm.
Definition
Unison or per ...
, not in fifths, but by the ninth century there is evidence that singing in parallel intervals (fifths, octaves, and fourths) commonly ornamented the performance of chant. This is documented in the anonymous ninth-century theory treatises known as ''
Musica enchiriadis
''Musica enchiriadis'' is an anonymous musical treatise of the 9th century. It is the first surviving attempt to set up a system of rules for polyphony in western art music. The treatise was once attributed to Hucbald, but this is no longer accept ...
'' and its commentary ''
Scolica enchiriadis
''Scolica enchiriadis'' is an anonymous ninth-century music theory treatise and commentary on its companion work, the ''Musica enchiriadis''. These treatises were once attributed to Hucbald, but this is no longer accepted.Hoppin, Richard H. ''Medi ...
''. These treatises use
Daseian {{about, the medieval musical notation, the Greek diacritic, rough breathing
400px, ''Tu patris sempiternus es filius'', written in Daseian notation. The Daseian signs are at the far left of the staff.
Daseian notation (or dasian notation) is the t ...
music notation, based on four-note patterns called ''
tetrachord
In music theory, a tetrachord ( el, τετράχορδoν; lat, tetrachordum) is a series of four notes separated by three intervals. In traditional music theory, a tetrachord always spanned the interval of a perfect fourth, a 4:3 frequency pr ...
s'', which easily notates parallel fifths. This notation predates
Guido of Arezzo's
solmization
Solmization is a system of attributing a distinct syllable to each note of a musical scale. Various forms of solmization are in use and have been used throughout the world, but solfège is the most common convention in countries of Western cultur ...
, which divides the scale into six-note patterns called ''
hexachords'', and the modern octave-based staff notation into which Guido's gamut evolved.
Mozart fifths
In
Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...
's essay "''Octaven und Quinten''" ("Octaves and fifths"), he identifies many cases of apparent consecutive fifths in the works of
Mozart. Most of the examples he provides involve accompaniment figuration in small note values that moves in parallel fifths with a slower moving bass. The background voice-leading of such progressions is oblique motion, with the consecutive fifths resulting from the ornamentation of the sustaining voice with a chromatic lower neighbor. Such "Mozart fifths" occur in bars 254–255 of the Act I finale of ''
Così fan Tutte'', in bar 80 of the Act II sextet from ''
Don Giovanni'', in the opening of the last movement of the
Violin Sonata in A Major, K. 526 and in bar 189 of the overture to ''
Zauberflöte
''The Magic Flute'' (German: , ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a '' Singspiel'', a popular form during the time it was written that inc ...
''.
Another use of the term "Mozart fifths" results from the non-standard resolution of the
German augmented sixth chord that Mozart used occasionally, such as in the retransition of the finale of the
Jupiter Symphony
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completed his Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, on 10 August 1788. The longest and last symphony that he composed, it is regarded by many critics as among the greatest symphonies in classical music. The work is nicknam ...
(bars 221–222, second bassoon and basses), in the
Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448 (third movement, bars 276–277 (second piano)), and in the example at the right from
Symphony No. 39 (Mozart)
The Symphony No. 39 in E major of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 543, was completed on 26 June 1788.
Composition
The Symphony No. 39 is the first of a set of three (his last symphonies) that Mozart composed in rapid succession during the su ...
. Mozart (and all common-practice composers) almost always resolves German augmented sixth chords to cadential chords to avoid these fifths. The Jupiter example is unique in that Mozart spells the fifth
enharmonically (A/D to G/D) as a result of the progression arising from a B-major harmony (presented as a dominant of e-minor). Theorists have tried to make the case that this resolution of the
augmented sixth chord
In music theory, an augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth, usually above its bass tone. This chord has its origins in the Renaissance, was further developed in the Baroque, and became a distinctive part of the musi ...
is more frequently acceptable. "The parallel fifths
n the German sixtharising from the natural progression to the dominant are always considered acceptable, except when occurring between soprano and bass. They are most often seen between tenor and bass. The third degree is, however, frequently tied over as a suspension, or repeated as an appoggiatura, before continuing down to the second degree".
[Piston (1987), p. 422.] However, seeing as the vast majority of German augmented sixth chords in common-practice works resolve to cadential six-four chords to avoid parallel fifths, it can be concluded that common-practice composers deemed these fifths undesirable in most situations.
See also
*
Parallel harmony
In music, parallel harmony, also known as harmonic parallelism, harmonic planing or parallel voice leading, is the parallel movement of two or more melodies (see voice leading).
Illustrative example
Lines with parallel harmony can be viewed as ...
Notes
Sources
Further reading
*
Jeppesen, Knud. ''Counterpoint: the polyphonic vocal style of the sixteenth century'', English translation 1939, reprint by Dover, NY, 1992. .
*Meech, Sanford. "Three Musical Treatises in English from a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript", ''Speculum'' X.3, July 1935.
*Mast, Paul (1980). "Brahms's Study, Octaven u. Quinten u. A., with Schenker's Commentary Translated", ''Music Forum V''. Cited in Jonas (1982), p. 112n84.
External links
* Hopkins, Pandora and
Þorkell Sigurbjörnsson: Iceland, ''Grove Music Online'' ed. L. Macy (Accessed 8 June 2006)
Grove Music - Access by subscription only
{{DEFAULTSORT:Consecutive Fifths
Chord progressions
Counterpoint
Shifts of level