Leaderboard

hi, I've been working on a simple jazzy tune. Looking for feedback and tips on how to end this piece. I am so close to finishing but can't find the right ending as usual... 🙂 I am thinking to repeat the beginning melody with a slight variation and hopefully land on an ending I like? Thanks in advance!

Wrote this for a friend, and we had a lot of fun recording it. Recording isn't amazing, but I don't think it's horrible either. This is a light pretty piece, writing this reminded me why I do this. Please enjoy!

Hello Composing a leak, no matter how small, is no small feat. Especially if we start to do without knowing well. By ear it will not come out for sure. You see, whether the response to the subject is tonal or real, is not a choice. There are certain things that condition one or the other, so that it works. To write a real answer (with all the intervals exactly the same in the subject and in the counter-subject), the subject must start on the tonic and end on the tonic (C, in this case). When the subject has the dominant note (G) preponderant, either because it appears at the beginning or because it appears by leap, the answer has to be tonal. And tonal means that sometimes the intervals have to be changed to bring the notes back to the tonic. Anyway, this is long to explain here, but that's the way it is, otherwise it doesn't work well. On the other hand, the subject has a very irregular thing in the melody design. In measure 2 there is a melodic scale that ends in the sensitive (G-A-B-E).... This should resolve to C. But even stranger is that it jumps from B natural to F natural (tritone jump, in strong position).

Hi @Luis Hernández, if you understand French, I have been following Etienne Guéreau, who is really knowledgeable in this area: https://www.youtube.com/@Pianojazzconcept He also published an excellent book (unfortunately not translated): En Harmonie - Fondements de l'harmonie tonale et modale dans le jazz After some research yesterday (your last post on Tristesse motivated me 😉), I think this book should also be excellent (in English this time): The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony (do not buy the Kindle version, it only gets bad reviews) (not really jazz-related, but I think I will also go for this book: Contemporary Counterpoint: Theory & Application) Hasta luego, Julien

Hi again @Ho Sen Ken! Now that I can listen to the piece along with the score, I am able to admire the many idiomatic tempo fluctuations in the various series of chords which let your music breathe. The dynamics and dovetailing in and out of the foreground of the various melodies and accompanimental patterns also make it sound more like a real performance and it takes quite a bit of craft to be able to do that. Even though you didn't play this yourself, I can tell from how it was written that you must be an accomplished pianist yourself. I think you succeeded at writing a "song without words" with this piece. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you very much for your (and everyone's) words. I would like to explain briefly... I am an amateur musician. But passionate to the end. I have been studying and learning for many years (because for me it is an enjoyment, not an obligation). When you take on many techniques and things that people overlook, a world of expression opens up to you. The point is to be able to try to master all the elements of music to bring out an emotion. This is very clear to me. The more you can master harmony, counterpoint, rhythm, forms, etc... The more you can say. And if you add to that a moment of inspiration, of a feeling that you want to bring out from inside, then beautiful things can come out. I have always looked for and bet on originality, within what is already well established. For me, the most predominant thing is harmony. One of my objectives is to make the progressions sound natural but at the same time not the same as always. Regards...........

Hello @Ho Sen Ken, The harmony sounds really complex! I also love the thick texture of the piece. That modulation in b.18 is quite lovely! The ending on Gb major is quite surprising for me as it’s the first time appearing in the piece! Thx for sharing and joining the forum! Henry