Voice leading is often times also referred to as part writing. Both terms refer to the way
chords are produced by the movements and embellishments of
individual musical lines.
Voice leading is also closely related to
counterpoint in that counterpoint is the careful combination of two or more independant lines. As voice leading is more of a common-sense-like consideration, voice leading may be categorized as one
aspect of counterpoint.
As students, most budding
musicians learn the accomplished voice leading methods of
J. S. Bach, as the technique set the standard for late
baroque methodology in
choral writing. His method consists of a general subset of counterpoint rules, ie: no
parallel fifths or octaves, write in a
conjunct manner whenever possible, don't cross anything above the
soprano line or below the
bass line as the outer counterpoint will be lost, etc.
Since voice leading also deals with the
aural aesthetic of
harmony,
tendency tones also come into play.