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Hello @Sidewinder and welcome to the forum! There are probably two main concepts for the term "texture". The first is referring to whether your music is Monophonic, Polyphonic, Homophonic or Heterophonic. Monophonic music is made up of just one voice, like Gregorian Chant (or if there's multiple instruments involved, they'd all be doubling the same melodic line). Polyphonic music is where many melodies of equal importance are being played at the same time, also often referred to as counterpoint or countermelody, and a prime example would be any of Bach's music, especially fugues. Homophonic music is the innovation of the classical period in music history meaning the music of Mozart and Haydn and occurs when there's a clear hierarchy of importance between melody and accompaniment. Like often when in a piano sonata, the left hand has some accompanimental pattern while the right hand plays the melody (usually the melody is louder or brought out in some way). Finally Heterophonic textures occur when variations of the same melody are all being played at the same time or almost at the same time. The other way of defining texture is through tone color or orchestration. When a certain combination of instruments through playing together in some specific way create a unique sound or harmony or counterpoint, that is also a texture. For now I'll leave it at that. Thanks for your post!

The "correct" usage of key can be context dependent, but the general rule would be to stay IN key. To modulate (the nerd term for fluctuate/change) you need smooth voice leading; it can make even the wildest changes seamless. However, certain chords "want" to go to others. For example, if I am on the G chord in the key of G major, modulating to C major or A minor would be a good choice, because it is not only a chord shared by those keys, but it is the dominant V chord of C major and the VII of A minor. A very strong sense of "pull" Should you modulate? Well, it's up to you of course, but it definitely can make your piece more interesting. Every scale or mode presents its own assortment of major and minor harmonies. If you have a C note, and you're using the C major scale, you have three obvious choices: the C major chord, the F major chord, and A minor because the note "C" is present in all three. There are of course other options, but that is the basic idea.

I've stitched together a few melodies I've come up with while improvising the last two days. I'll notate the next version in musescore and produce the audio in FL Studio, but this is basically just a quick rough draft. I don't have a title yet and I'm not set on the final structure so feel free to give suggestions. I also want to make the left hand more flowy in some places, but without clashing with the melody. https://flat.io/score/66929dc1b395c51c02ac86cf-my-music-score?sharingKey=98cac817028336424b11d90cc66fa77cd45d5e30e50203c06577a8bc91100bb9750be725c131fc4335ff3112b110adb3639cee49094807e58474a443e83f5148

Yes, I agree. These titles or mentions are very very subjective. I wanted to explore some subgenres of romanticism like, of course, nocturne, but also barcarolle, tristesse, elegy, dreams (Reverie, sorry I can't speak French). And it is often difficult to distinguish one from the other because except for some formal issues, they are very free pieces.

Amazing, I love it. There wasn't a single moment where I thought "get on with it" -- nothing seemed to overstay its welcome. I really love the busy textures where individual ideas still manage to come through and play very nicely with the others. Really nice contrasts and transitions. I think a piece being "disorganised" (which I don't really detect here) is much better than being obviously organised (to the listener). around 7:47 from measure 153, I think that would really come through nicely in a live performance since string players know how to make an effective diminuendo with tone vibrato etc. The playback didn't really seem to want to do it 🙂

I have a couple questions. 1. What are textures? 2. How do I correctly use keys and fluctuate between them smoothly? SHOULD I fluctuate between them? 3. How can I use major/minor chords accurately?

Hi @Luis Hernández, Nice flow, very pleasant. Harmonic arrangements are very subtle, and well made. I will follow your advice and read a little more on harmonic theory. Very interesting transitions bb. 25-27 and later bb. 52-53. They emphasise a feeling of anxiety... A philosophical note: I am note sure I retain a feeling of "sadness" from this piece, maybe more a feeling of "loss, with no clear target". Thanks for sharing! Julien

@Thatguy v2.0 great piece ! Did you end up with this girl ? 😉

I am writing a sextet which features a six voice fugue so I think I can answer the question. For me six voice part writing is exponentially more difficult to write than a four voice one if you want to avoid any parallel fifths and octaves. For me the doubling depends, sometimes I use three root, two fifths and one third, sometimes I use three thirds, but never have more than three voices in the thirds since it would be too bright. It’s avoidable, even though it takes way more effort to avoid it than a four voice texture. I sometimes slip the details and have two voices in parallel octaves, but I never allow any voices to have parallel fifths since it’s sound is more disruptive than a parallel octave. Yeah you don’t need to overthink it, just write it and you will know! Basically SATB part writing is just one style of writing to ensure the voice leading is smooth and rich, but if you wanna have other effects, it’s up to you to choose the “rules” to have. Henry