Open Position

• close position = soprano, alto, and tenor are in direct succeeding intervalic order

• open position = the voices are separate from the soprano by two intervals
  • the easiest way to think of this is by writing in close position and transposing the alto down an octave to make it your new tenor
    • even when doing this, the inner voices are still subordinate to the soprano
• closed and open positions = normal positions
  • they are not the most free
    • freer = more beautiful harmony
  • we will encounter other types of voice leading