Alp

Zhi score s'il vous plait

Heya! I've reworked the minuet (version 2) for a woodwind quartet. Again, a compositional exercise to start thinking in multiple instruments - a very gentle introduction to orchestration.Comments/suggestions/analysis - anything to help me learn - would be much appreciated! Minuet for Woodwind Quartet

Hey Nick! Thanks for the comment. Yeah - I'm a bit of two minds there. On the one hand, I do wonder if the change of rhythm interrupts the flow there. On the other, slowing down heightens the tension/crescendo. Hmm...

I second CJ! Beautiful piece! I love how smoothly the harmony and each section flows into the other. I wish I could look at the score - would it be possible to upload it? Following Peter's suggestion, I'm trying to teach myself the basics of classical harmony. I think I'd learn a lot if I could look at your chord progressions and how you kept to the minuet form. Looking forward to more pieces from you! Take care Alp

Hi Nic! I just started composing and am rather shaky on music theory so feel free to ignore my comments. I'm going by ear alone: 1) What I love about this piece is the melody and the texture! Great melody - it just flows so naturally! And despite the repeats, it doesn't feel 'repetitive'. The fact that it can sustain interest for about 40 measures (most of which are repeats) says a lot about the strength of the melody, I think. I also think the texture - how the melody and the accompaniment sit together - works well. 2) What I'm not sure about is the harmony. It might be because I am not used to dissonances and chromaticism, but it sounds a little off in places. Instead of dissonances either building up or melting into consonance, in a few places all I hear is one dissonant chord/melody combination followed by another. I guess because I am not familiar with 'modern' pieces, I have a very low tolerance for dissonance. Whenever I hear dissonance, my ear expects tension followed by resolution. Take for instance m1: a) It might be just me, but because the piece opens on the dominant (mi-sol-si) rather than the tonic (la-do-mi), I almost get the feeling that I started listening halfway through. As if I've just turned on the radio and caught an excerpt from the middle section of a work. b) I'm also not sure that V is the right harmony for that phrase. Maybe if the tone was established earlier, it would be easier on the ear to tolerate the chromatic dissonance until the end of the phrase. But since it's the very first thing you hear, it came across as a little jarring to me. 3) Do you intend to continue or is the piece finished? Why are there 5 empty measures at the end? What would be really cool is if you could come up with a "B" section to really contrast with what you have. (So that the piece as it stands would be Part-A (composed of a smaller aba pattern). Then a contrasting B section to 'clean the palate' a little - and round off with a variation of A perhaps? All in all, I think this is a VERY promising start. The only recommendation I have is to run it past someone well versed in harmony. They might be able to smooth a few bits and bobs here and there (or perhaps confirm that there is nothing that requires fixing). I don't know if any of that helped - just my two cents! :) Take care Alp

Well then. I guess I fall into your third category of people when it comes to dates :P

Beautiful piece! I just started composing a couple of weeks ago, and I would love to see your chord progressions and instrumentation here. :) I don't know how to express this in musical terms, I really liked the 'colour' of this piece. It would be very cool to analyse the score to see how this was achieved. Would it be possible to upload a score? And I agree with Alpha - keep the good music coming!

Hi there! Would it be possible to upload a score as well? Ideally a pdf version? Take care Alp

I've reworked the piece in light of the suggestions/comments. What do you think of the changes?I'm treating this as a learning exercise, so if anyone is feeling generous with their time, a detailed analysis/critique would be most welcome! :)Changes from original version:1) Cadences edited.2) Simplified m21-22. It seemed a little too ornate and interrupted the flow.3) Reworked the harmony, bridges etc a bit. See especially: m13-24.4) Tempo increased from Quarter = 60 to Quarter = 68 Minuet (Version 2)

Thanks for the comments! I'm learning a lot from these observations. A few follow-up questions: 1) MINUET FORM: Peter, I'm a bit confused. I thought I was following the minuet form rather closely? The only book I have on composition is Schoenberg's "Fundamentals of Musical Composition" (eds Strang and Stein), so I looked it up again: As regards rhythm & tempo: "The only specific rhythmic feature of a minuet is the metre: 3/4 (or, rarely, 3/8). [...][He goes on to say that the minuet is distinguished from eg waltzes in terms of tempo in that the tempo of the minuet is more moderate. (He then mentions the minuets of Beethoven's Symp 1 & 8 as notable exceptions/extremes.)] [...] [blah blah blah...] and the harmony changes more frequently than in the scherzo and other dance forms. "The minuet originated as a rustic dance and was adapted by the court in the 17th century. In its earliest days the minuet dance [had the following rhythm]: 2 (half note) 4 (quarter) / 4 88 88 / 2 4 / 4 88 4. [NB: I can't really type it out. Here's a wiki link with a helpful visual/note version: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minuet]" [...] "However, from the Baroque period onwards this specific rhythm was seldom used and no longer considered to be a necessary feature of the minuet form. [in literature], minuets appear as independent pieces or as middle movements in cyclic forms such as the suite, symphony or sonata." As regards form: "The minuet is an A-B-A1 form, quite similar to the small ternary form. The distinguishing feature of the minuet form is its /:A:/:BA1:/ structure. [Whilst inventing melodies], the fact that the B-section must follow the first A-section then the A-1 section has to be taken into consideration." Could you point out which parts/measures deviate from the form so that I can align them? The way I tried to mirror the /:A:/:BA1:/ format --> A (m1-8): / B (m9-16) + A1 (m17-24: transposed and with slight variation of the motives) : / I'd really like to learn more about forms. I would be very grateful if you could walk me through the features of a minuet. Or perhaps refer me to a written source that discusses this? EDIT: Now that I think about it, should I make a new thread in either the lesson or the Q/A board on the minuet form? Would anyone else consider this to be a good topic to examine with the teachers here? 2) CADENCES: Duly noted. Good to learn that! I've made some changes to incorporate both of your suggestions and will post a new version shortly.

Heya! I'm on an extended vacation so I decided to start taking piano lessons again after a five year break during university. My teacher's speciality is actually composition and music theory - so she had been pushing me for years to try my hand at composing. I finally gave in! I'm not sure I have the talent to pull through though :P Nonetheless, it is a passion and I've always wanted to pursue composition as a hobby - so highly motivated to learn!These are my first five pieces - with the exception of No1, they were all composed within the last week or two. (Hehe - I did say I was an utterly newbie composer :P) Admittedly, I cannot posting them in the most logical order as not all of them are finished yet, so it's hard to see a sense of growth in my understanding of compositional theory. (Hehe - is there one? Or am I paddling in circles? :P )I think I might drive her slightly mad now that Op 1 No 3&5 are finished while Op 1,2 &4 languish, waiting desperately for recapitulations/variations of the main themes followed by a coda. All this jumping from branch to branch and working on multiple things simultaneously... Not good for one's sanity...Ok, as far as the piece goes: It's meant to be a short compositional exercise - in other words, homework for this week's lesson. We were looking at Kuhlau Op 55/1 last week to warm up my keyboard skills again. We tried to analyse it as we went to introduce me to musical theory. And of course, there had to be homework...Anyway, I'd appreciate it if I could hear some thoughts/comments/critique on the piece to help me learn/grow as a composer before I submit it.I kind of hate the beginning - any ideas on what I could do there?Btw Sibelius is performing it, albeit a little flatly.Cheers! Exercise for the piano based loosely on Kuhlau Op 55 No 1

Hmm... Is it not possible to format text into paragraphs? I wrote it out as separate paragraphs but it appears to have merged into one unintelligible 'blob' of text...

Thank you so much for your kind words ParanoidFreak! (Oh dear- that almost sounded like an insult!) Could you help me with the following as well, please: 1) Ideally, I'd like to convert this into a woodwind quartet (no idea if I can pull it off though!). I want the piano version to stand on its own, albeit as a small and simple piece - a bit like the 'beginner' pieces in the Der Erste Bach album. That said, in one sense I intended this almost as a note to myself - you know, an outline of the harmony and melodic contours. I wanted to keep the texture (is this the right word?) as open (?) as possible so that I'd feel as if I were still inventing rather than just arranging for the quartet. My question is: Is it too simplistic? Or would it be acceptable as a short, beginner's piece? 2) When I post the pdf score, could you point out a few places you feel would benefit from further V-I progression to affirm the tonality? The first ending of part-b ties it (or rather: tries to!) from G-minor back to F-major for the repeat. The second time around, I ended the sequence in G-minor. If I were to leave it as is (ie as a minuet only), I guess it would be a little weird to end in a different tone than the one you started. But would the second, G-minor ending work if it is going to lead to a trio in D-major? So that the opening of the trio (tonic of D) would sound like the dominant of the G-minor tonic the minuet 'ended' in. (ie G minor I ---> V / D-major I) Would that work to make one part flow into the other or is that just sloppy on my part? Thanks again for your insightful comments. <img src="http://network.youngcomposers.com/elgg/ipb/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif" alt=":)" /> PS: Good point about the pdf! I'll look into it and see if I can figure out how to get Sibelius to save as a pdf file. Would a scorch version be acceptable as well?

Wow! I'm blown away by this! It's light-years ahead in terms of both technique and beauty from what I can compose... Hehe - oh well... a boy can dream. In a sense, I feel it is not my place to say this but I agree with the comment that the second tremolo part feels a bit empty. (Not in terms of number of notes but of forward direction and its function in helping the theme.. well, 'grow'. Maybe (for the second recap), you could try a sort of written-out tremolo effect with modulation? So instead of repeating the same note it could bring forth harmony change/development? Hmm... I don't really know how to describe what I mean. A small section from a Beethoven sonata comes to mind - let me see if I can hunt down the reference for you. All in all - wonderful piece! I just wanted to let you know that I've really enjoyed it. And good luck with the contest!

Hi there! Newbie composer here. Oh - let's be honest: utterly newbie composer, that is.It's such a pleasure to have discovered this site!I had some free time yesterday morning, so I decided to write myself a birthday present. It's a short minuet for the piano (performed by Sibelius). I would love to hear your thoughts on it!The more I think about it, the more I feel I should follow up with a trio (ie: minuet - trio - minuet). Maybe something a little more light-hearted - say in D-major? What I find a little odd is that I started the minuet in F-major and ended up in g-minor... Umm... I've tried a couple of F-major codas but I keep hearing the ending in g-minor - as if the piece wants to continue. Maybe the g-minor coda could lead to the trio?Thanks again for your time!Be well,Alp Minuet