<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This section needs expansion . You can help by adding to it . (October 2017) </Td> </Tr> <P> In the baroque era, a set of rules developed for voice leading in four - part harmony . The bass voice would be assigned the root of the chord, although it can occasionally be assigned the fifth or the third . If the chord is a triad, the root is generally doubled by one of the other voices . When two voices are harmonized in perfect intervals (fifths and octaves), repeats of the same interval between the two voices (also known as moving in parallels) are almost always avoided . </P> <P> Another rule concerns perfect cadences . In such cadences, the leading tone (the seventh scale degree) must resolve step-wise to the tonic . That is, the voice that plays the leading tone must resolve up to the tonic, and if the chord is a dominant seventh chord, the subdominant should resolve to the mediant . </P> <P> Another concern of four - part writing is tessitura . The music being usually written for four - part choirs, each part should be able to be sung by the appropriate section of the choir, thus it should remain in the appropriate pitch range . As well, each voice should be easy to sing, meaning that large intervals within the same voice are to be avoided, instead favoring step-wise motion . Voices should also not overlap: the pitch sung by the alto should not be higher than that of the soprano, and so on for the other voices . Voices should also remain suitably close to each other, usually within an octave of each adjacent voice, except for the bass . </P>

Which voice part carries the melody in chester