Two related ideas
- Inner voices are the parts between the melody and the bass (alto and tenor in a choir, violas and second violins in an orchestra, the middle of the hand at the piano). They are often treated as filler, but great composers make them move like melodies, and their chromatic or stepwise motion is what gives depth to the harmony.
- Hidden lines (latent polyphony, compound melody) are implied melodies within a single line that leaps between registers: the ear separates the high notes from the low ones and hears two or three voices even if only one instrument is playing.
Inner voices: techniques
- Inner chromatic line over a static chord: Am – Am(maj7) – Am7 – Am6 (A–G♯–G–F♯ in the inner voice). It is the line cliché, used from "My Funny Valentine" to "Stairway to Heaven" (see the dedicated entry).
- Suspensions in the inner voices: 4–3 or 9–8 in the alto or tenor make the cadence expressive without touching the melody.
- Block chromatic descent of the inner voices: Chopin, Prelude op. 28 No. 4 in E minor: the left hand moves chords downward by step and by semitone while the melody stays almost still on B–C: the emotion of the piece lies entirely in the inner voices.
- Inner countermelodies: in Brahms's romances or Schumann's lieder the real secondary melody is often in the tenor or in the thumb of the right hand. In Schumann's Humoreske op. 20 there even appears a third staff titled "Innere Stimme" (inner voice), written but not to be played: the performer must "hear" it while playing the other parts.
- Inner pedal: a held note in the middle of the chord (for example a constant G in C – Am – F – G) that creates dissonances and resolutions against the outer voices.
Hidden lines: how to recognize them
- Bach, Solo Cello Suites BWV 1007–1012 and Solo Violin Partitas BWV 1001–1006: the instrument plays one note at a time, but the notes on the beats or in the high registers form a melody, the low ones a bass. In the Prelude of Suite No. 1 in G major the repeated bass G and the changing high notes form two distinct voices.
- Bach, Prelude in C major BWV 846: each bar is an arpeggiated chord; the highest notes of each bar (E–F–F–E in the first four bars) form a slow melody, and the low notes a bass: Schenker derived his famous reduction from it.
- Modern riffs and arpeggios: in a synth arpeggio the highest note of each group is often perceived as the melody. If it changes in a disorderly way, the arpeggio sounds confused.
- Funk and walking bass lines: the notes on beats 1 and 3 often trace a stepwise line under the harmony, while the others are ornaments.
How to analyze them
- Write the high, middle and low notes of each rhythmic group on separate staves.
- Connect the notes of each level: if they move by step, you have found a voice.
- Check that each voice respects the voice leading: leading tone rises, seventh descends.
Example to write (C major, sixteenth-note arpeggio)
- m. 1 C: C3–G3–E4–G3 (top voice E)
- m. 2 G/B: B2–G3–D4–G3 (top voice D)
- m. 3 Am: A2–E3–C4–E3 (top voice C)
- m. 4 F: F2–C3–A3–C3 (top voice A… or C4 for continuity)
The top voice E–D–C–(B or C) is a descending hidden melody; the bass C–B–A–F is a second line. If you sing a melody over it, check that it does not clash with the hidden line.
Application in mixing and arranging
- If an inner voice is important, give it a timbre and a space: a viola panned slightly right, a synth with a softer attack, a slight boost around 1–3 kHz to make it audible.
- An inner chromatic line in a pad becomes more evident with a filter that opens slightly or with a chorus that separates it from the rest.
Exercise for a producer
Write a 4-chord loop with the pad held and add a single inner voice that descends by a semitone at each chord (for example G–F♯–F–E under a static melody). Then do the same with an arpeggio and try to bring out a hidden melody in the high notes.
Related topics
Line cliché, Voice leading in pop, pads and synths, Schenker: Ursatz and levels, The Bach chorale, Arranging for the rhythm section.