Leaderboard

This is a mini tutorial on how to write a two-voice crab canon. For more voices it gets more complicated, but it can be done. The canon should be written in invertible counterpoint to the octave, so that the voices can be interchanged. This means that all intervals in strong position must be unisons, octaves, thirds or sixths. Everything else is considered dissonant, including the fifth (because when inverted it becomes a fourth). Establish the length of the canon, which can be divided into two equal parts (8 bars, 16, etc...). Establish tonality, etc... First step: write the first bar, so that the intervals are as mentioned above. It is convenient to start both voices on the tonic, otherwise when inverting, there will be a third or fifth at the end of the bass and it sounds weak. Second step: write the last bar so that the upper voice moves to the lower voice written backwards and one octave down. The lower voice writes retrograde and one octave up. Third step: write two more bars in double or invertible counterpoint. Fourth step: transcribing the new measures to the end of the piece, as before: transposition to the octave and retrogradation. Fifth step: proceed in the same way until reaching the meeting point of the voices, it is convenient that this moment sounds cadential in the tonic or in the dominant. This is the result: crab canon.mp3 Afterwards, you can add ornaments, write dynamics, etc... There are, of course, many variations, but this is a first step. Writing a canon of this type in three or four voices, if you want to make it strict, is complicated because all the voices must be invertible. I managed to write a double crab canon (4 voices). I did it just as an exercise.

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. Anyway, this is supposed to be a prelude (to an as of yet incomplete fugue), though it likely is significant enough to stand alone, unlike my previous preludes. For those who have listened to my previous works, this piece has considerably more classical/early romantic style harmony (as opposed to strictly baroque). Interestingly, I started this piece as an attempt to demonstrate how to properly use (and most importantly exit) long pedal points in the bass. I encourage everyone to try and find the common pattern between all of the pedal points in this piece.

This has been my main project for the last few months, it's my biggest project ever by far. This is the first completed draft, and there are lots of sections I plan to work on and make better. There are some midi errors that you will notice if you follow with the score. There shouldn't be an auditory break between sections, but alas. Please give feedback, and enjoy!

A lovely romantic lyrical work. Maybe the repetitive left hand in the beginning theme can be a bit more varied. Mark

Regardless of whether it is a strict canon or not it sounds very good. I wrote this post, in case you are interested.