Which term describes lines moving in the same direction while maintaining the same interval?

Which term describes lines moving in the same direction while maintaining the same interval?

• A. Parallel motion
• B. Similar motion
• C. Suspension
• D. Oblique motion

Answer: (C)

When two melodic lines move together in the same direction and the distance between them stays the same, that is parallel motion. The key idea is that both voices move the same way (up or down) and the interval they form with each other doesn’t change. For example, if one line goes from C to D and the other from G to A, both rise by a step and the interval between them remains a fifth. If the voices move in the same direction but the interval between them changes, that’s similar motion. If one voice stays still while the other moves, that’s oblique motion. Suspension refers to a nonharmonic tone that resolves, not to the overall direction of two moving lines. So the term that fits “lines moving in the same direction while maintaining the same interval” is parallel motion.

When two melodic lines move together in the same direction and the distance between them stays the same, that is parallel motion. The key idea is that both voices move the same way (up or down) and the interval they form with each other doesn’t change. For example, if one line goes from C to D and the other from G to A, both rise by a step and the interval between them remains a fifth.

If the voices move in the same direction but the interval between them changes, that’s similar motion. If one voice stays still while the other moves, that’s oblique motion. Suspension refers to a nonharmonic tone that resolves, not to the overall direction of two moving lines. So the term that fits “lines moving in the same direction while maintaining the same interval” is parallel motion.