Cross-relation
A cross-relation (also called false relation) occurs when two notes of the same name but different raising or lowering appear close together in different voices, for example a C in one and a C♯ in another. Harmony teaching often avoids it, but in English music of the 16th and 17th centuries it is a deliberately used expression.
- Feature
- chromatic contradiction between two voices
- Example
- C♯ in the upper voice, C in the lower voice
- Also called
- false relation
- Effect
- sharp, often expressive
One note, two faces
A cross-relation arises when two notes of the same name, one of which is chromatically altered, appear close together in different voices. The classic case is the change between C♯ in one voice and C in another. Because both notes have the same letter name, C and C♯, the change sounds sharp, like a contradiction that the voices do not settle among themselves.
Cross-relation: C♯ above, C in the lower voice
In the first chord (A major) the C♯ lies in the upper voice. In the following chord (C major) the C appears, but in the lower voice (C4 at the bottom). The voices contradict each other: that is the cross-relation. The second chord is in open position so that the voices do not run in parallel.
Defused: the same note changes in the same voice
If, by contrast, the upper voice itself changes from C♯ to C, it is a chromatic alteration and no cross-relation. The ear hears a single voice line.
In the glossary: Chromaticism · Alteration
Avoiding or exploiting
Strict harmony teaching avoids the cross-relation, above all in dense, many-voiced writing. It often arises where in minor the seventh degree is raised (leading tone) while another voice at the same time or shortly before has the natural seventh degree. In English music of the 16th and 17th centuries, by contrast, it is used deliberately as a means of expression: the contradiction gives the sound its edge. The cross-relation is thus an example of how a rule of harmony teaching is no law of nature but a question of style.
How to recognise it
You check whether a note is chromatically altered in one voice that the neighbouring voice had shortly before or after in its unaltered form. In analysis it is worth looking at chord changes in which leading tones form: A major to C major in our example, or E major followed by a chord with a natural G.
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Related terms
ChromaticismAlterationParallel octavesHarmonic minorCadence
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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