CONTRARY 251s (ii-V7-I Harmonic Voice-Leading Workout using Stepwise Contrary Motion)

CONTRARY 251s (ii-V7-I Harmonic Voice-Leading Workout using Stepwise Contrary Motion)

In this short harmonic study I present a fun and intricate way to practice ii-V-I voice-leading and a great way to discover new and exciting chord patterns when we use a contrary stepwise motion between the lowest and highest voice of each harmony.

Forcing oneself to be able to voice any ii-V-I progression anywhere on the fretboard and over any possible melody/bass note is a great tool and important harmonic technique that can bring a degree of comfort and harmonic understanding of the instrument that is essential for the development of the modern chordal improviser.

There are 2 variations of the contrary motion exercise. In the first one the Melody will always be ascending in a stepwise manner and the Bass will always be descending with a stepwise motion.

In the second variation we will flip this relationship and now the Melody will descend and the Bass will ascend in a stepwise fashion as the ii-V7-I progression cycles throughout the entire range of the instrument.

All ii-V-I examples are presented in the key of C major but I highly recommend to try it in all 12 keys once you get accustomed to the exercise.

The chord selections included here are just a small sample of all the contrary motion that can be achieved on the guitar within a basic ii-V7-I progression. However, I believe it will be enough to give you and idea as to how you can explore new sound textures and ways of voice-leading when you are limited by the contrary stepwise motion.

Materials Included:

“Contrary 251s” study (PDF file - TAB and Standard Notation).

"HD Video" of all Harmonic Phrases.

For more info please e-mail: hristo@hristovitchev.com