To prepare for the undertaking of the Bach Chorale composition section within the AQA

music course, I studied Bach’s use of harmony, to increase the complexity of my own
chorales. Bach’s style is reliant on functional harmony and most importantly his use of triads.
Bach uses triads to form four part chords starting with doubling the root (the tonic) of the
chord. Bach's use of harmony is vital to understanding the structure of his chorales. His
chorales are based on four chord voicings divided into soprano, alto tenor and bass. Bach
ends each music phrase with a cadence. Bach commonly uses perfect cadences which shift
from chord V to chord I, as well imperfect cadences which are any Chord ending on V. I have
attempted to integrate this use of cadences into my own chorales. Bach also uses a number
of suspensions - a temporary dissonance made up of a preparation stage, a suspension
and then ending in a resolution. I have also attempted to implement these into my chorales.