SATB Style

 

Lesson 16

March 19th, 2021

Lesson 16

Lecture notes:
  • SATB stands for soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. These four parts are the basic structure for four-part harmony.
  • The perfect authentic cadence is primarily used at the end of a piece of music which consists of the fifth and tonic being in root position with the tonic being in both the bass and soprano lines. This cadence has the soprano line moving from 7 to 1 or 2 to 1.
  • Music consists of phrases, much like sentences in a paragraph with commas and full stops. However, these pauses are indicated with cadences in music after either a four-bar or eight-bar phrase.
  • Never double a note with an accidental or notes with tendency tones when writing in SATB style.
  • The basic conclusive phrase consists of three parts which include the opening tonic area (T), dominant area (D), and tonic closure (T). This is the harmonic structure of the basic phrase.
  • An imperfect authentic cadence is when the soprano line ends on the third and not the tonic.
  • When writing SATB on a grand staff, the soprano and alto parts are written in the treble clef with the soprano note stem going up and the alto note stem going down. Likewise, the tenor and bass parts are written in the bass clef, with the tenor note stem going up and the bass note stem going down.
  • In SATB style, the interval between soprano and alto and alto and tenor should be an octave or less. The interval between the bass and tenor can exceed an octave but should be no more than a twelfth apart.

The photo above shows an SATB four-bar phrase in a closed score.


The photo above shows a piano accompaniment to the song Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head.


The video above explains how to create and write parts in SATB style.


The video above explains how to create an accompaniment part for a melody on the piano.


The photo above is an SATB-style arrangement I wrote to the melody of Hush Little Baby. I will be playing the trombone part.


The video above is me playing the trombone/tenor part from the photo above the video.


The photo above shows a piano accompaniment part I wrote out for Hush Little Baby.


The video above is me playing the melody of Hush Little Baby with the accompanying piano part that I wrote from the picture above the video.

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