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Unit 4 · Harmony & Voice Leading I Flashcards Cheat Sheet Essentials Visual Review MC Practice FRQ Practice

AP Music Theory Unit 4 Visual Review

A topic-by-topic visual walkthrough of Unit 4: soprano-bass counterpoint, SATB voice leading, functional harmony and cadences, and seventh chords.

← Back to Unit 4 hub
UNIT 4 · TOPIC 4.1 Soprano-bass counterpoint The outer two voices form the frame of good harmony, so they get written first. FOUR KINDS OF MOTION Parallel: both move the same way, same distance Contrary: the voices move in opposite directions Oblique: one voice holds while the other moves Contrary and oblique motion keep voices independent. GUIDELINES Begin and end on consonances. Favor contrary motion between the soprano and bass. Avoid parallel perfect 5ths and octaves. A strong outer-voice frame makes the inner voices much easier to fill in. KEY IDEA Write the outer voices first, favor contrary motion, and avoid parallel 5ths and octaves. The Review Hub · AP Music Theory · Unit 4 UNIT 4 · TOPIC 4.2 SATB voice leading Four voices, each with its own range, moving as smoothly as possible from chord to chord. THE FOUR VOICES Soprano · highest Alto Tenor Bass · lowest Keep the upper three voices close; the bass can sit farther below. THE CORE RULES No parallel perfect 5ths or octaves. Resolve the leading tone up to the tonic. Keep common tones; move other voices by the smallest step possible. Don't let voices cross or overlap. Smooth, independent lines are the goal of every part-writing exercise. KEY IDEA Move each voice the shortest distance, keep common tones, and resolve the leading tone. The Review Hub · AP Music Theory · Unit 4 UNIT 4 · TOPIC 4.3 Functional harmony and cadences Chords have jobs: they move from home, build tension, and resolve back at a cadence. THE HARMONIC CYCLE TONICPREDOMINANTDOMINANTTONIC Iii, IVV, vii°I CADENCE TYPES Perfect authentic (PAC): V to I, both root position, soprano on the tonic Imperfect authentic (IAC): V to I, but weaker (inverted or soprano not on 1) Half (HC): ends on V · Deceptive: V to vi · Plagal: IV to I KEY IDEA Harmony flows tonic to predominant to dominant to tonic; cadences mark where phrases rest. The Review Hub · AP Music Theory · Unit 4 UNIT 4 · TOPIC 4.4 Voice leading with seventh chords The seventh is a dissonance, so it has a strong pull to resolve. RESOLVING V7 TO I 7th resolves down leading tone resolves up Two tendency tones, two clear resolutions. TWO TENDENCY TONES The chordal seventh resolves down by step. The leading tone resolves up to the tonic. Because both tones resolve, the resulting tonic chord often has a tripled root and no fifth. That is normal and expected. KEY IDEA In V7, the seventh resolves down by step and the leading tone resolves up to the tonic. The Review Hub · AP Music Theory · Unit 4 UNIT 4 · TOPIC 4.5 Inverted sevenths in part writing Inverting a seventh chord puts a different tone in the bass, but the seventh still resolves down. WHERE INVERSIONS RESOLVE V6/5 to I: the bass (leading tone) rises to the tonic; strong, root-position tonic. V4/3 to I: the bass moves smoothly by step; often used to harmonize a passing bass. V4/2 to I6: the seventh is in the bass and must resolve down, so I lands in first inversion. The bass note of V4/2 always steps down. ONE RULE HOLDS No matter the inversion, the chordal seventh always resolves down by step. The bass line simply decides which inversion the tonic lands in. Track the seventh first, then let the other voices follow the smoothest path. KEY IDEA Whatever the inversion, the seventh resolves down; the bass sets which tonic inversion follows. The Review Hub · AP Music Theory · Unit 4
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How to use the visual review

Spend 30 seconds per slide before clicking next. Look at the diagram, then ask yourself: "Could I draw this from memory and explain it?"

Use the fullscreen button () on desktop for the best experience. Use arrow keys to navigate. Tap "Show all slides" to jump around.

This is great for review the night before the exam — fast, visual, and covers everything you need to remember about Unit 4's fundamentals.