Is this voice-leading?

[Rev J]

I think the main question here breaks down to chord function.

If you are in the key of C then the C is the I chord and the F is the IV chord which is generally a "tension" chord. In this situation pedaling on the C emphasizing the fifth of the chord brings out that tension.

If you are in the key of F then F is the I chord and the C is the V chord which is setting up the classic V-I cadence. In this case pedaling the C probably isn't the best choice.

In a nutshell to quote Bootsy Collins, "It all depends on the angle of your dangle baby."

C/S,
Rev J

 

[smperry]

Not according to my old Aldwell Schacter.

Answered in second post, I know.

 

[Real Soon]

Take the following major-key example of a Baroque-style lead up to a perfect cadence:

G7/F (3rd inversion!)
C/E (1st inversion)
F
C/G (2nd inversion)
G7
C

The bass is playing F, E, F, G, G, C in those chords, and really MAKES the chords move. Yet, it only pedals once, holding that G, and it does so by starting on an inversion, then moving into root position (essentially a tension-resolution of a low sort), which makes it so worthwhile to do.

If you start on the tonic in root position, then add tension by changing chords but keeping that same note, that's quintessential pedal-point bass writing, and whether it's good or bad is really a question of whether you want to add that tension there. In much of rock & roll music, the focus is so often on other elements that doing so would be distracting, but it's certainly not impossible.... but it's perhaps more common to r&b, soul, and of course jazz (though jazz is so adaptable that things like the tritone substitution became "things" to refresh the sounds of old warhorse cadences; anything is possible).

In classical, inversions are such a powerful tool that the 2nd inversion of the tonic had a special role: for literally centuries, landing on the I^6/4 in a concerto piece signified the start of the cadenza, the dazzling unaccompanied passage by the solo performer. They could be used elsewhere, but had to be written smartly to not give the sense of that passage's arrival.

Ehhh lol I love this stuff. Rules are made to be broken but the conventions arose because people had an ear for what sounds good, and it's really fun (if you ask a nerd like me) adapting some of them to modern contexts.

 

[Mili]

I don't think so, it's voice changing not leading...

 

[Mushroo]

A popular/common/familiar example of voice leading from C chord to F chord might look like this:

E goes up to F and G goes up to A (movement by step, creating parallel 3rds)
One of the C's (usually the bass voice) goes down a 5th to F (movement by skip)
The other C stays the same (common tone)

So in this textbook example, "voice leading" is achieved with a blend of 2 steps, 1 skip, and 1 common tone.

The OP's example in post 1 is proposing to invert the role of the two C's in the overall voice leading, so that the bass holds the common tone C, while presumably the other instruments/voices in the band are moving by step or by skip.

 

[ForestFriend]

I think you'd really need to look at the whole picture to determine if it's voice-leading or not, rather than just the bassline. Of course in voice-leading, the goal typically is to from chord to chord with the least movement possible, and though you can't get any less movement than staying on the same note, there's usually an exception for bass to make a leap to a sensible bass note. Typically 2nd inversion triads are avoided due to instability, but as people have stated, it might just be a pedal. Of course that's common-practice rules... you're probably not writing authentic baroque or classical music so you don't need to worry about that.

If your guitarist is going from a basic open C chord to a basic F barre chord on the first fret, then as far as voice-leading goes, that's pretty tight (if you imagine each string to be its own voice) - some octave doubling, but when you've got six "voices" going on, you probably won't have them all independent. But if they're doing a barred C at the 3rd fret and sliding up to F at the 8th fret, it's not very smooth voice leading, but still artistically valid (if you wanted singers to sing that, it would be significantly harder). To be honest, the bass line is the least of considerations in this equation.

 

[Biggbass]

Droning?