djsell

Thanks very much!

A try at something like a Fantasy. I don't know it it's totally a Fantasy (I was told no), but...close enough for me. Fantasy No. 1

This is my attempt at putting certain elements of von Goethe's Faust I to music. Romance

Thanks for reviewing! I gave it the title I did because it's free-form. I think that's what a fantasy is (in music), though for all I know I could be wrong. The fact that it is free-form is why the harmony is so inconsistent and lacking a definite direction. Your third line of advice is very helpful though—accompaniment has always been a weak point for me. Part of it is the fact I can't actually play piano (except for the right hand a little bit), and so I'm more than a little unsure sometimes of what to do as accompaniment. Thanks for all of the advice; I'm sure it'll be a great help.

Fantasy No. 1 in B Flat Minor. Technically it is my second, but I don't like my first, so I stripped it of its number and put this one in its place. It's free-form and goes through about seven different keys. The ending is somewhat abrupt, but I like it. It is about five and a half minutes in length. If anyone has any questions about it, feel free to ask. MP3 Download. Score Download.

I've been too afraid to post anything, so after I came back from a leave, I decided to just go ahead and post something. Plus, I really like this piece, which is odd because it isn't in minor (except for the end). Anyway, this piece isn't really truly a "romance" the whole way through, but instead loosely follows the story of Faust and his love for Gretchen. It ends in minor because I wanted to end early in the story. I can't actually play piano very much at all, so for all I know there's parts that aren't practical for piano. But whatever. Enjoy! MP3 Download. Score Download.

I have a question about the Ritardando expressions in Finale 2004. For some reason, they do not seem to work for me. Whether I create a new shape for it to use, or use an existing one, even if I tweak the Time and Level scales. I have Human Playback on and in the Playback Options it's set to "Play Recorded Tempo Changes." I don't know if it's ever been working, but it's really annoying and I don't feel like doing the tempo manually with the Tempo Tool. Does anyone know what might be causing this? Thanks.

Okay. I think I get it. I'm not sure how well I'd be able to execute it now, but this helps. And thanks for the lovely comment. :happy:

Thanks for explaining that. And I find that I rarely happen use major keys. Why? I don't know. It's not on purpose.

IV to I works because in a key 4 to 3 is also a leading tone, i.e. in C, IV-FAC->I-CEG. F->E = 4->3, a leading tone. It's just not as prominent as 7-8/1. Now, I actually have a question of my own: I've heard of "Circle-of-Fifths Modulation;" is that a technique or just the direction that an extended modulation follows?

Two other ways, if anyone's interested: Chromatic Mediant, which I just found out about. And Chromatic Alteration, which is somewhat like what Nikolas mentioned (I think), and is a good way to go from parallel major/minor to minor/major. The difference is that in Nikolas', the chromaticism is just in one voice, i.e. G-B-D->E-G#-B->A-C-E; G to G# to A. However, in Chromatic Alteration, two chords are used, one in the old key and one in the new, that are almost the same. The only difference is one is altered by a semitone. For example, from G Minor to G Major, the G Minor chord is G-Bb-D and the G Major chord is G-B-D; exactly the same, only the third of the chord is raised by a half step. Therefore, you can use that to modulate into the new key.

Neopolitan sixth chords and augmented sixth chords are also great ways of modulation. Wikipedia also has great stuff on modulation, and the first two links at the end are also great.

Wait, wait, wait...I don't see how you're proving my statement wrong. Okay, so you're just disappointed in what they've done...then aren't you disappointed that you've done the same thing? Also, you haven't seen my edited post, have you? You told us music is all from emotions and not knowledge:

I believe I followed the first bit of advice correctly and made other minor changes, but I'm not sure I understand what to do about the last bit. Are you saying to do something like change the oboe solo to a flute and clarinet soloist duet? Or should I put the flute an octave down? Exercise 5.MUS

You said you don't like it when instructors tell people how to write and how not to write music. Then, you told us not to use so much theory, and only to write through emotions. But wait! Aren't you just now telling us how to and how not to write music? Quit being hypocritical, sir! According to your post, just like we shouldn't listen to those professors, we shouldn't listen to you. Well. Nice argument there, genius.