Two Voices 'Inverted'??

Subject: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: GUEST,Malcolm L (by email)
Date: 24 Jun 23 - 08:13 PM

Dear Joe
If this is inappropriate, I apologise. Please advise, & I will do what is necessary in order to post my query.

I have posted this query on a variety of places like reddit & Facebook, but have yet to have it answered. This is frustrating because I do know that there is a specific musical term/direction for this deliberate & distinctive effect.

What I would like to know is the correct musical term for when two voices go against their usual/expected relationship to each other; defying their expected range/pitch relationship? It is likely that this is seen involving more than two voices, but I am unaware of that.
The two (or more voices) continue singing in their 'normal' range, but they both/all become 'inverted' ( 'inverted' is unlikely to be a correct term) i.e. the soprano is now singing a 'lower' pitch than the bass & the bass is now pitched 'higher' than the soprano?

Purely as a means of simplifying for clarity, I am assigning gender to the voices & apologise if this causes any offence. So: the top voice is to be female; the lower voice to be male.

If so, then the soprano voice is now singing a 'lower' part than the bass?

They have not 'switched' parts & begun singing the other person's line; they both continue, completely normally, singing 'their' line, and very simply, their line has taken them above or below the other's pitch?


It does not require any special techniques nor changing of vocal style: both voices continue as 'normal' but their individual voices are not; the bass's pitch is now higher than the sopranos & similarly: the soprano's pitch is now lower than the bass's

A fairly well-known example of this in a popular song is: 'Somethin' Stupid' (sic) by Frank & Nancy Sinatra.

Thank you,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_t2gNCXYbY

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: Joe Offer
Date: 24 Jun 23 - 08:20 PM

Good question, Malcolm. I don't know if there's a name for it, but I like it. I'm a baritone, and I sometimes find I can't sing below the melody line for a song. So, I sing what I call "high harmony" (mostly a third above the melody). In many of the Ian & Sylvia recordings, Sylvia Fricker sang what might be called "the man's part," while Ian Tyson sang high harmony.

There are some real music geeks among us who will most probably come up with a more technical answer.

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: JennieG
Date: 24 Jun 23 - 11:18 PM

Very timely question, Malcolm.

Yesterday I was speaking to a 'proper' musician (something I wouldn't call myself....a very enthusiastic amateur of long standing, me) about Joni Mitchell's song 'Both sides now' being difficult to sing. If the first part of the songs suits one's voice then the second part can be too high; likewise, if the second part suits then the first part is too low.

She used the word "inversion" and when I must have looked puzzled, she explained that it could make the song much easier to sing. I can see how that would happen.

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: GerryM
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 12:28 AM

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music says the bass range is E2 to C4, the soprano is C4 to A5, so I'd be surprised to hear a bass singing a note that was literally at a higher pitch than what a soprano was singing. It could happen with a bass and an alto, or a tenor and a soprano, as those ranges actually overlap.

I wonder whether what's meant is something like a soprano singing F4, say, while a bass is singing G3. G is a higher note than F, but the bass is in a lower octave – it might sound like a higher pitch, though it really isn't.

Anyway, sorry, but I don't know what, if any, musical term there is for this. I've heard the term "inversion" used in music, but for something very different; say there's a series of notes F-G-A-B somewhere in a piece of music, followed by B-A-G-F, the second series is an inversion of the first.

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: GUEST,Ed.
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 05:00 AM

Voice Crossing?

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 06:34 AM

If the original poster's example is Somethin' Stupid, then (from memory) Frank's pitch never goes above Nancy's: his voice carries the melody, and hers is a descant less than an octave above it. Drop her voice by an octave, and it becomes a more usual harmonising.

I can't honestly think of a better expression for it than "the bass carries the melody", though perhaps "inverted harmony" might be appropriate; it's certainly effective (er, "somethin' different"?). For comparison, I used to get thrown by hearing Paul Robeson sing on the wireless in the 1950s, as the piano accompaniment was pitched above his voice --- this seemed Just Wrong to my six-year-old ears, but I later realised the piano couldn't do anything else to accompany a bass-baritone.

Hope this helps, and apologies for the blethers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got an earworm to evict .... :-(

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: Mo the caller
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 07:40 AM

Sounds like Ed has the answer.Wiki says that voice crossing was common in C16 music. Our choir had just sung Gloria by Weelkes (1576 – 1623) where the 1st and second alto parts are interchanged when the first section returns at the end, so we started higher than 1st altos. Our MD said this exchange was usual.

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: Tiger
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 09:02 AM

Listen to "True Love" from "High Society" with Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly.

There's a good example towards the end.

True Love

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: G-Force
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 10:26 AM

I believe this may be the origin of the musical term 'fauburdon' (possibly misspelled).

Anyway, I'm sure I remember a folk duo Capella who sometimes did this.

Subject: RE: Two Voices 'Inverted'??
From: Helen
Date: 25 Jun 23 - 01:21 PM

G-Force, I have never heard that term, but a quick search found this article, which also has an image of a short piece of music notation as an example. From the description of homophony and parallel harmony, it seems to be a different technique from voice crossing.

Fauxbourdon

"Fauxbourdon (also fauxbordon, and also commonly two words: faux bourdon or faulx bourdon, and in Italian falso bordone) – French for false drone – is a technique of musical harmonisation used in the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance, particularly by composers of the Burgundian School. Guillaume Dufay was a prominent practitioner of the form (as was John Dunstaple), and may have been its inventor. The homophony and mostly parallel harmony allows the text of the mostly liturgical lyrics to be understood clearly.

"Description

"In its simplest form, fauxbourdon consists of the cantus firmus and two other parts a sixth and a perfect fourth below. To prevent monotony, or create a cadence, the lowest voice sometimes jumps down to the octave, and any of the accompanying voices may have minor embellishments. Usually just a small part of a composition employs the fauxbourdon technique."