Playable BooksREADING EDITIONS
Rimsky-Korsakov, Practical Manual of Harmony in English

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov · section 11 of 96

Melodic Position of Triads

Read and hear this section in the playable edition →

§ 10. 1) When a triad is set in four parts, the root should preferably be doubled. At the start of these studies this doubling is used exclusively.

2) Triads can be in close or open spacing.

In close spacing the three upper parts lie a third or a fourth apart:

C major triad in close spacing, four arrangements on two staves
Fig. 51 · See it in the reader

In open spacing the three upper parts lie a fifth or a sixth apart:

C major triad in open spacing, four arrangements on two staves
Fig. 52 · See it in the reader

3) Depending on which note is in the upper part, a triad can appear in the following melodic positions:

Position of the octave: the root in the soprano, close and open (8)
Fig. 53 · See it in the reader
Position of the third: the third in the soprano, close and open (3)
Fig. 54 · See it in the reader
Position of the fifth: the fifth in the soprano, close and open (5)
Fig. 55 · See it in the reader

4) A triad may move freely from close to open spacing and back, and may change its melodic position:

The C major triad respaced seven times; the figures give the soprano’s position
Fig. 56 · See it in the reader