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So I decided that since it might be a while before I get any further progress on it, that I would post what I have so far of my bagatelle. I am composing a bagatelle and it is turning out to be sort of a hybrid between your typical bagatelle and a sonata. However, even once the piece is finished, it would be too short for me to put Sonata in the title(5 minutes at most, that isn't long enough for an entire sonata). I mean, I guess I could call it the Sonata Bagatelle but then the title would be confusing. Here is how I was planning things out. I was planning to do it in rondo form. At first I thought of sticking to ABACA such as in Fur Elise. But the rondo form quickly expanded to be ABACABA, the typical form of a rondo in a sonata. But I was still planning on having 2 sections in the tonic. That is, until my melodic improvisation lead me somewhere else. This is really when the hybridization of the typical bagatelle and the sonata started happening. And it is why I am asking this question relating to bagatelles and sonata form. I will show both the general terms and the Sonata Form terms here. Here is the First Theme/A section of my bagatelle: And here is its motive division: As you can see, I have a lot of motives here. This means that I can have an extensive development without it being boring or completely unrelated sounding. Here are the motives: Red - Starting motive and its inversion Green - Second motive Blue - Triplet motive Purple - Dominant motive Orange - Scale motive Dark red - Cadential motive Here is my Second Theme/B section: And here is its motive division: As you can see, I have a single motive here, a scale step that descends through the theme. This means that the Second Theme/B section can't contribute as much to the Development/C section as the First Theme/A section can, but it is pretty typical for 1 theme to have more motives than another theme in a sonata form piece. With this, my bagatelle "Exposition" is in this form: ABA The C section, I am planning on having be in the parallel minor. So since I am in C major here, the C section would be in C minor. I have been told that my piece is getting too motivic to be called a bagatelle. But I thought bagatelles could very much be motivic. For example Bagatelle in C minor by Beethoven has a motive that has just 1 note extra but otherwise is almost exactly the Fate Motive. So I'm keeping bagatelle in the title of my piece, for now at least. I might change it to Sonatina if I think it is better suited as such after composing it. But here is what I have so far, the Exposition in ABA form and a short transition into the development. What do you think of it? Should I flush out my syncopated sounding bass line(I'm saying syncopated sounding because it isn't in the truest sense of the word, syncopated, but it sounds like it is) from simple arpeggiation to full blown chords? What about those left hand triplets in the B section/Second Theme? Should I continue those triplets instead of alternating triplets with rests? And is there a better way for me to transition to C minor than the fourth to fifth motion I have right now?

It's good. Not exactly minimalistic in the theoretical sense of the word. Minimalism in that sense normally expands upon one central process or idea (i.e. the music of Steve Reich). Your melody changes over what we call a basso ostinato, essentially a bass that repeats itself over and over again. In your first broken chord in the bass, the second note (the G-flat) will sometimes clash with a note in the melody, most notably F or A-flat. This isn't inherently a problem, but if it keeps happening without melodic unity or development, it'll start sounding a little unplanned.

I think you have that talent. You short piece sounds beautiful to me. I personally tend to write long pieces. My shortest piece so far has been like 5 minutes long. My longest piece was easily 20 minutes long. Usually when I hear minimalism, I hear dissonance(or to put it more understandably for you, unpleasant sound). Not so with your piece.

Depends on the DAW. I use Digital Performer and mostly do them by hand or sometimes by phrase. Based on selections, I have functions for 1/setting a vel. 2/setting a limit, 3/ Plus or minus by percentage, 4/ raising only the lowest. Or I can draw them via a line shape tool. Straight, free, random, whatever.