Walter Everett, Making Sense of Rock's Tonal Rhythms

Table 2. Criteria for Establishing Voice-Leading and Harmony Values
 

Voice-leading:
  1. stepwise melody in actual or implied lines; diatonic/chromatic linear progressions and other melodically connective tissue
  2. strong, clear resolution of (vocal) melodic tendency tones
  3. expected, transferred, implied, or ironic resolutions of non-harmonic tones
  4. presence of linear-intervallic patterns
  5. independence of bass from chord roots
  6. independence of parts, particularly among outer voices
Harmony:
  1. single all-consuming tonal center; strong identity of scale degrees
  2. superficial predominance of functional relationships (falling fifths, thirds)
  3. V-I for structural cadence
  4. structural leading harmony for end of contrasting section (such as V7 preparing I)
  5. few non-functional chords or non-functional structural relations; no "truck-driver's" modulation or similarly "inorganic" large-scale relationships
  6. no modally subjugated leading tone