Horizontal And Vertical Thinking: Part 1. Vertical Thinking

In the world of music (especially when we are talking about Western music) there are two primary ways of thinking about, analyzing, and composing music.

The first school of thought is taught at most classical conservatories and is specific to that style of music, although it can be applied to many other genres. It is called “Horizontal” thinking and differs quite a bit from the way that most of us think about music who have grown up in a popular music world.

The second school of thought is usually gained by personal experience through listening or playing popular music styles like Rock, Blues, and Jazz; however it can be and is taught in many different modern music schools. It is called “Vertical” thinking and this is usually the most familiar and comfortable way that most of us listen to, analyze, and compose music.

Let me start by saying that neither method is superior to the other; they are just different. However, if both methods are used or at least understood then you (the player or composer) can use the benefits of both Schools of thought to more fully express your musical intentions.

Without further ado, I will introduce and explain “Vertical Thinking”; which is usually the most familiar way of analyzing and composing music for many of us.

When one listens to or composes music vertically, they are interested in what is happening at that moment in time. They are more interested in the sound as a “whole” and how each different instrument interacts with one another to create a unified “sound.” This way of thinking is used very often in popular music styles like Pop, Rock, and Blues; where chords/harmony are the backbone of the composition. This is not to say that “Horizontal” thinking can’t be applied to popular music, nor does it mean that harmony does not exist in “Horizontally” composed music.

This is also why you see a lot of lead sheets in Jazz, Pop, and Rock, with just the chords listed and every now and then a rhythmic figure that is usually played by all the instruments involved. Also, groove is usually much more prevalent in music composed “Vertically,” because a great amount of attention is placed on a short rhythmic pattern which is usually repeated many times (a common technique in popular music). Depending on the style, this can be classified as a Riff, Groove, or Clave.

Please take a look at the Vertical Thinking example below as I demonstrate how a string quartet part may be written for a common Rock song.

Example Here

As you can see in this example, the Melody is in the highest voice (violin) and separates itself from the rest of the instruments by a different rhythmic pattern (1 half note followed by 2 quarter notes). The rest of the instruments playing in a lower register, are holding whole notes and filling an accompanying roll. Their purpose is to do nothing more than create a Harmonic foundation for something melodic to happen on top of it. You could think of it as a Castle being built on top of a giant dirt mound. The dirt isn’t very exciting compared to the castle, but it’s necessary that it stays solid so that the Castle can be built and decorated with all the things that make Castles cool.

You will also notice that the chord symbols are placed above each measure, as is common in popular music styles. This means that if a guitarist or pianist comes in to the recording session, they know the chord to play at that certain time. The rhythm they play is usually simple and improvised, as is also common in “Vertically” composed music.

Last but not least you will notice the note I made *Does not contain proper voice leading found in Horizontally composed music. This isn’t always true, because a lot of Jazz stresses some voice leading; however most popular music styles are ignorant of or ignore the rules of voice leading. If you would like to find out more about the topic of voice leading, please read Mike Philippov’s article here.

For those of you familiar with the concept of voice leading, you will notice that many “rules” are broken; however I will just point out one. If you take a look at the notes contained in measure 4 (the last measure) you will notice that the intended chord is a G7. However, there is no third (B) held by any of the instruments and the 7th of the chord (F) is doubled by both the cello and viola, which is a big “No-No” for dominant 7 chords if you follow the rules of voice leading.

This concludes Part 1 of this 2 part series on “Horizontal and Vertical Thinking”. I hope this article helped you better understand and become more aware of the Vertical School of thought and composing. Look out for my next article on “Horizontal Thinking” in the future, especially if you aren’t familiar with that school of thought.

Until next time, take care and keep on composing fellow artists!

Copyright © 2008 Kole (Kyle Hicks). All rights reserved.

Kole has just finished his eclectic and highly anticipated debut album, “Exile,” and it is now available Here. He has also finished two years studying music composition and classical guitar at Indiana University and is currently attending Musicians Institute (GBM). Kole has also studied with guitar virtuoso, Tom Hess, and world renowned vocalist, Jaime Vendera.

If you would like to find out more information about Kole, his music, articles, or lessons feel free to visit his site at KoleMusician.com.

Comments

[Froggy McHop]

first?

[bassdrum]

Interesting thoughts, but what is horizontal thinking?

[metallicafan616]

i read it twice..still dont have clue what you mean..

[.QOTSA.]

yeah im lost completely

[Eirien]

nice article. I wanna hear more about horizontal thinking now though. Also, was there supposed to be a picture? I can't see it.

[Eirien]

metallicafan616 wrote:

i read it twice..still dont have clue what you mean..

It'll probably be easier to understand when he posts the lesson on horizontal thinking.

[MiG_853]

I'm pretty sure classical music is analysed vertically, I wouldn't call them schools of though as much as styles. And to be honest it's the amount of horrizontal thinking in modern popular music that pisses me off.

[philipisabeast]

There's already a lesson on horizontal and vertical learning from waaaay back isn't there?
But it could be interesting to see this guys opinion on it

[lazlow325i]

this makes no sense to me.

[zebrahead234]

READ THE LINK IN THE ARTICLE

if you dont know what voice leading is, the article in the link seems much more helpful that this article. it probably should have been posted before this one

[I_love_sandbags]

dude, your album is almost done? can't wait to hear it man, you always post helpful stuff, i'm sure your album will be killer

[jamstation]

yeah the article is alright, not detailed enough..
also, not to sound rude or anything, but "highly anticipated debut album" ... ?

[Guitarfreak777]

Good article man, can't wait for horizontal. Thanks for the insite.

[chickrawker]

bassdrum wrote:

Interesting thoughts, but what is horizontal thinking?

part 2

[AngryGoldfish]

That sounds so funny Guitafreak777, "Good article man, can't wait for horizontal."
It is an interesting way to look at the different aspects of music but I don't think you can divide music into only two groups. Its like in that film Donnie Darko where that stupid teacher has a chalk board that divides life into two sections, Love and Fear and Donnie starts raving on about how you can't lump life into two catagories, no matter how important they are.
Also I thought the two sections should of been put together into one and not two articles. I don't know if I'll bother reading the next one cause' its already difficult to understand as it is, let alone without the other half to the story. Very well wordered though, really excellent.

[dann_blood]

bassdrum wrote:

Interesting thoughts, but what is horizontal thinking?

Horizontal thinking is the long-term outcome of a music piece. For those who are still confused about vertical thinking, basically it is the short term.
It's best to give examples.
Horizontal thinking includes orchestral music and prog rock. Metaphorically, it's a bit like a story. Something might happen that isn't relevant at the time, but eventually something happens as a result of what we thought to have been non-relevant. Things like crescendos, it happens alot in Dream Theater's longer pieces. It can be found in alot of classic rock as well.
Vertical thinking is, as the artical says, what is happening at that exact moment. It almost always doesn't build up to anything. Alot of this happens in Red Hot Chili Peppers, ACDC and Fallout Boy.

[K!nj!]

I play electric guitar for about 2 years which is both vertical and horizontal and classic guitar which is horizontal...but I really am a vertical player:improvising,chords and ofcourse voice-lead imo the most important thing for a guitarist in a band (Rythm and Lead) is supporting each other but I'm glad I have the ability to master horizontal music to,it gives an insight in certain musicstyles and partitures u'll start thinking different,more progressive and more complicated compositions

[callum2903]

nice yeh im both ways when i compose lol i spose lol

[Guitarfreak777]

AngryGoldfish wrote:

That sounds so funny Guitafreak777, "Good article man, can't wait for horizontal."
It is an interesting way to look at the different aspects of music but I don't think you can divide music into only two groups. Its like in that film Donnie Darko where that stupid teacher has a chalk board that divides life into two sections, Love and Fear and Donnie starts raving on about how you can't lump life into two catagories, no matter how important they are.
Also I thought the two sections should of been put together into one and not two articles. I don't know if I'll bother reading the next one cause' its already difficult to understand as it is, let alone without the other half to the story. Very well wordered though, really excellent.

.....didn't realize I said that.....lol.

[nasadm]

I don't know how I understood it

[druz15_UG]

it seems like there was supposed to be a link to a diagram or something you kept saying "see how i did this, and this is here" we can't see because we don't know what you're talking about

[Pyro_TheVampire]

When I started to learn how to play guitar, I swaped from vertical to horizontal (Im assuming what horizontal means)
Kinda of a intresting read

[ns9977a]

To make it very simple, "Vertical Thinking" refers to harmony, where as "Horizontal Thinking" refers to melody. Any piece, be it Rock, Pop, Jazz, or Classical, uses both elements.

When composing, you should not neglect either. However, some composers favor using one first or visa-versa. For example, when Bach wrote his fugues, he always began with a melodic motif in a single voice (horizontal) and then wrote counterpoint to it (vertical). The opposite approach may come when you write/improvise a guitar solo for a song with a pre-determined harmony.

It is, however, common to use these techniques in loop. For instance, when you right a song you start with a main riff, which is both melodic and implies a harmony. You then add a bass line to clarify that harmony. Then you write a guitar solo over that harmony. Perhaps then, you get a melodic idea from the solo and write a counterpoint to it in another instrument to create a secondary harmonic progression, and so on.

[ghostofhendrix]

I thought this was going to be about playing scales in one part of the fretboard (vertical) and all along the fretboard (horizontal)....obviously I was wrong lol

[Dsing44]

is it safe to say that in the song Rooster (Alice in Chains)the wahhed guitar is the vertical and the 2 chords the bass plays is the horizontal? or did i mix them up lol

[a7xsoad]

OK, So i'm definetly a horizontal thinker

dann_blood wrote:

bassdrum wrote:

Interesting thoughts, but what is horizontal thinking?

Horizontal thinking is the long-term outcome of a music piece. For those who are still confused about vertical thinking, basically it is the short term.
It's best to give examples.
Horizontal thinking includes orchestral music and prog rock. Metaphorically, it's a bit like a story. Something might happen that isn't relevant at the time, but eventually something happens as a result of what we thought to have been non-relevant. Things like crescendos, it happens alot in Dream Theater's longer pieces. It can be found in alot of classic rock as well.
Vertical thinking is, as the artical says, what is happening at that exact moment. It almost always doesn't build up to anything. Alot of this happens in Red Hot Chili Peppers, ACDC and Fallout Boy.

Ahh, OK. So i'm definetly a horizontal thinker.
Long live DT

[XKR]

This was a very bland article and you clearly have no idea what you are talking. Quit spouting a bunch of metaphorical shit about music. You think you are coming off as insightful and intelligent, but to anyone with a brain, your article just comes off as a bunch of words lumped together that vaguely relate.

Since you took the time to right yourself a mini bio at the end, I took the time to check out your website. You are very ..confident in yourself and its pretty hilarious you have the nerve to charge $30 for a half hour lesson when you have no credentials.

Voted 1.

[mp3stalin]

XKR wrote:

This was a very bland article and you clearly have no idea what you are talking. Quit spouting a bunch of metaphorical shit about music. You think you are coming off as insightful and intelligent, but to anyone with a brain, your article just comes off as a bunch of words lumped together that vaguely relate.

Since you took the time to right yourself a mini bio at the end, I took the time to check out your website. You are very ..confident in yourself and its pretty hilarious you have the nerve to charge $30 for a half hour lesson when you have no credentials.

Voted 1.

sooo if he's so bad could you do a correct article on it for us?

[guitaringsailor]

XKR wrote:

This was a very bland article and you clearly have no idea what you are talking. Quit spouting a bunch of metaphorical shit about music. You think you are coming off as insightful and intelligent, but to anyone with a brain, your article just comes off as a bunch of words lumped together that vaguely relate.

Since you took the time to right yourself a mini bio at the end, I took the time to check out your website. You are very ..confident in yourself and its pretty hilarious you have the nerve to charge $30 for a half hour lesson when you have no credentials.

Voted 1.

Seems like someone is a little pissy because he didn't understand anything... There there... It will come around articles that might be easier to understand later =)

[funkbass369]

this is okay but will only be good for novices beacuse im sure most people already do this. and so ummm yea...might wanna fix that.

[funkbass369]

ahh my mistake i missed the end where it said another part was coming for horizontal thinking because i wanted to skip your obnoxious bio... =/

[Stampede]

yeah i didnt understand a thing. maybe the next one will make some sense

[iml84myd8]

I love castles. PS this guys still a joke.

[iml84myd8]

XKR wrote:

This was a very bland article and you clearly have no idea what you are talking. Quit spouting a bunch of metaphorical shit about music. You think you are coming off as insightful and intelligent, but to anyone with a brain, your article just comes off as a bunch of words lumped together that vaguely relate.

Since you took the time to right yourself a mini bio at the end, I took the time to check out your website. You are very ..confident in yourself and its pretty hilarious you have the nerve to charge $30 for a half hour lesson when you have no credentials.

Voted 1.

amen. I thought I was the only one. His articles only make him sound ignorant. He sounds like such a prick. O0oo look at me I went to university and now I know what notes go in a seven chord. The articles not hard to understand either. He's saying sometime musicians write riffs and sometimes they play chords under a melody. Wow, way to stretch that out into TWO lame articles.

[Billyjack]

AngryGoldfish wrote:

That sounds so funny Guitafreak777, "Good article man, can't wait for horizontal."
It is an interesting way to look at the different aspects of music but I don't think you can divide music into only two groups. Its like in that film Donnie Darko where that stupid teacher has a chalk board that divides life into two sections, Love and Fear and Donnie starts raving on about how you can't lump life into two catagories, no matter how important they are.
Also I thought the two sections should of been put together into one and not two articles. I don't know if I'll bother reading the next one cause' its already difficult to understand as it is, let alone without the other half to the story. Very well wordered though, really excellent.

My thoughts EXACTLY!

[CasanovaBass]

...Is that a penis I spy on his bloated forehead? +1 for XKR

[~SouthWillRise~]

that sucked

[~SouthWillRise~]

that sucked!

[justpucky]

I'll hold off the spam until I see the included (NOT) graphic example :tt:

[ShaDoW0lf]

Underrated article.
If the reader throws in some time to think about it, this article makes sense. Wouldn't suggest it as an A grade article, but it's not half as bad as XKR makes it out to be. In reality, if the reader analyzes their guitar-playing friends (assuming you have friends who do) It's easy to see the different styles of thinking this article's pointing out.
It's an article not just for guitarists, but for anyone interested in the psychology of composers in general. Psychology has as much a say in composition as all the skill in the world (hence the "feeling" in the music.)

[DarKMaTTeR.tm]

very interesting topic but nothing useful said

[Kole*]

Thanks for reading everyone. If you do have any more questions on this topic and how it applies to writing/analyzing music, send me a message.

P.S. The Example is up and working now (it's linked).

[JoshUrban]

Hey man, nice article. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for providing an intelligent piece for folks to chew on.

Rock on!

[JoshUrban]

Also, your article is mentioned in my latest blog entry at www.joshurban.blogspot.com (I tried to email you, but it ain't workin' right now.)

[whisperffs]

I think you should have clarified for everyone that the concept goes...vertical=melody, horizontal=harmony, with harmony (in reference to guitar) being strumming. Also, I don't think horizontal is strictly classical, but the idea was thrown around more then.

[corrda00]

Good lesson. Ur starting to sound like my jazz band teacher.

[swinghead]

very nice