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One voice moves while the other stays on the same note.
Oblique motion is useful when one voice needs to create a pedal point or sustained note while the other moves freely. It provides moderate independence — less than contrary motion, more than parallel.
Pedal points in Bach's fugues — one voice sustains the tonic or dominant while the others move freely above in oblique motion.
Oblique motion is one of 228 terms in the Gradus musical dictionary, where every definition is written around how composers actually use the word.
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