TheLordistheLord

Hmm... what does everyone think of this? I haven't heard anything bad about it, though I'm not sure how original-sounding it is. Please reply, thanks. LesAulnesNation.MUS

This is a piano piece I recently started composing. It is what I believed the final product would be, but I have been told that it kind of rambles and that it's also the same thing over and over, AND that it has some good variation. That's three somewhat contradictory statements. Yet, people even contradict themselves, so it must be true. Please listen and does anyone have any advice for how I could make it flow better or whatever is necessary? Thanks. kahkohwee.MUS

C#m, Abm, A, C#m, B, E, Abm, C, C#m, Abm, F#m7, A, D Tee hee... i love it.

Hehe.. funny... this might be slightly off-topic, but partially on... First of all... I never considered Tchaikovsky to be from the Romantic Era. Whether he was alive during that time or not, I honestly don't know (i think he was), but something about his music... i just love it. His harmonies and counter-melodies, spread through a wide variation of parts, are used in a way that I find to be more interesting and entertaining as well as skillful than other Romantic Era compositions. I, personally, do not dislike the Romantic Era, but I also believe it is where composers "took a bad turn." It seems that in the 1920s jazz started heading in a direction that led away from this... temporary chaos. There were many aspects that seemed to lead to, well, overexaggerated nonsense that led to bizarre ideals. Fugues were common in the Baroque period, and Tchaikovsky tends to use a lot of these methods, which are wonderfully skillful and energetic. The Romantic Era introduced multiple instruments to a part, which really clouds the true essence of the composers' projection. Music is our way of seeing the composer... who he really is. To compose music for smaller bands allows for a necessity in precision, and it reveals more than is concealed by larger groups. Also, I believe chromaticism, although eventually turned to be good after it was *cough* adapted to, was very overlyexpressed in the Romantic Era. It was just too much, and again clouds the vision. I just said a bunch of randomly weird stuff... but... it can't be that random... it shows why i don't write much Romantic Era based stuff... although I do listen to Tchaikovsky, Mendelssohn, Liszt, and others. If Vivaldi fits in that category, then put him down as number one, lol. But yeah,hope that helps. Peace.

There are also classical guitars, which have nylon strings. Steel guitars too... but you don't hold those like a regular guitar, lol. They're cool though. I used to want to play that in a band of some sort. Umm... no... lol... not anymore. It's cool though, how electric guitars not only have many options available on the amp. My faves are tremolo and flange. Tremolo makes it sound kind of like you're turning the sound on and off way faster than is possible, I suppose. Flange is really pretty and sweet, but not in a classical sense. If I remember correctly, it also wavers the pitch in an interesting style. I have other effects too. On top of that, most electric guitars have a switch on them that has multiple options for tonal quality. My cheap Fender Strat imitation (the squire) has 5, and my other guitars have more. Guitars are customizable too, you can change the tone by changing the pickups, or even just the strings. I love elixir strings. Extra lights... whether acoustic or electric. Just gotta be careful with tuning... especially that high E string. I've only broken one string in the entire 14 years I've played, and it was that one. K, don't forget pedals, but that was all sort of unrelated, sorry, I jsut felt like saying it.

Hmm... and did you stop by just because this is where I said I was? lol. Lost control? Since when is that losing control? No other choice is wise, so either there is no wise choice, or this IS the wisest choice. Lol... If I were still a trumpet player who plays euphonium in one of the bands, I'd tell you right now that I'm gonna get better than you and be the one euphonium playing the 'one baritone' parts of the 'solis.' I am not a trumpet player anymore (by choice), however, and my actual view is that I'd want the part assuming I could play it, but I don't honestly think I could get better than you by the end of the year. Sadly, I don't think my tone could ever compare. I might learn the fingerings of unusual key signatures better, but even that would be surprising. Yoda's so awesome. D'ya know I have an electronic one? He talks to me when I fight my cat with my lightsaber. Of course, I never touch him, I just let him grab it and occasionally hit the floor beside him if he lays down, lol. Dueling is better with people (like my cousin and I, and occasionally my dad used to), well, except for the young kids around here, who can barely hold even a plastic lightsaber. Sheesh, I was a a stronger kid than that! Okay... and I'm getting carried away with my obsession of lightsabers. It's a good thing you didn't remind me of swords. GAH! and then.. the gun argument... which i won't get into. k, i'm done, lol.

Yeah, well, I can easily play notes on the french horn, but I like the euphonium a lot more. As for numbers, I'm in a lot of bands, and there are 5 french horn players and six euphonium players, including myself in each. I always keep up every instrument that I play, and that's my problem. I'm planning on just focusing on euphonium, because I know that, despite that I'm better at trumpet, I just can't play trumpet for 9 more years or more. I love playing euphonium right now, though, and we are playing a song that has at least three baritone solis in it, so it's awesome. I'm also a guitar player who chooses not to associate themself with the instrument for the same reason. Funny thing, I've been playing guitar for 14 years. Since I'm only 17, that would, of course, be my first instrument. I still play horn in one band, but it's frustrating. I don't want to be playing it, although I made it to honor band on it so am stuck in that band as well, so I just get all frustrated. Then we go to play and I get so annoyed to myself that I start singing stuff in my head. Lately I've been listening to Kamelot more than anything, and my third favorite song is the haunting, which has horn parts in the beginning, and so I end up playing, lol. It's pretty sad when a synthesizer is the only thing that keeps you playing in a band. Euphonium's been good to me though, always.

You know, that's what I thought at fist too. I realize now, though, that it seems better to take a risk and go with what is truly enjoyable when nobody else is judging me than to play what has the most options along with it. The euphonium just fits me somehow. I love it because it's more uncommon than most band instruments, it plays low but not too low, and it has this sort of power that isn't overbearing. I love that the piston valves allow for faster movement than rotary valves, and I find it much easier to read bass clef notes (despite that my first ten years or so of music was all played on treble). I'm also one of those girls that try to sing alto in choir year after year, only to find, less than a week later, that I need to sing tenor. It just seems like a more suitable range both vocally and instrumentally, and, although the french horn can play any note the euphonium can, the euphonium doesn't go higher than I can sing (unless you're a freak who can squeak unusually high notes). When the right songs are played, like the one we just got in symphonic band today, there are super cool euphonium solis and solos. That was a lot of rambling that wasn't even divided into paragraphs, sorry. More opinions would gladly be accepted though.

I'm already 17, and I'm stuck in a position I should have gotten past by now. I play almost every instrument well, but not quite well enough to get into a conservatory of music. I'd most likely be good anough at any if I focused on just one for a year. I'm not sure which one to go with though. I was to major in music education so that I'll have a much easier time getting a steady income, and I was hoping I could get in by submitting a composition, however, I found out that it is necessary for me to play an instrument as well. As of right now, I'm torn between euphonium and french horn being my favorite, although since I mentioned euphonium first, that's probably my real preference. The problem is, there aren't nearly as many gigs available for euphonium players. French horn is also more difficult to master and would present more of a challenge (which is something I always look for), and is more varied in style capabilities. I've already gotten paid to play trumpet, but I don't enjoy it so much. I've played guitar the longest, but I don't really like to associate myself with the other guitarists (mainly if they do drugs or smoke), and I'm not really sure what kind of stuff I'd have to learn for a guitar audition yet. I realize that this is a decision that nobody can make for me, but I was just wondering if anyone had any advice, or their own opinions to share. I play many other instruments that I could possibly get in on, too, but those are the ones that are most likely to be my choice. Thanks.

I've actually played the "tenor tuba" part in a performance of an easier version of The Planets. I didn't get to play any solos though, because I was new at it. As for french horn composers, I wish more people would realize just how amazing Max Pottag is. He's more recent than the classical composers, but his works are very impressive. Most of his compositions were put into method books and duet books. I actually had never heard of him until I was playing Mozart's 3rd horn concerto and noticed he had written the cadenzas. After studying out of his 2nd method book for just a couple days (although I practice a lot) I was much more accurate in playing the correct notes with good, clean attacks. Though not much is recorded about him, he's pretty impressive with his compositions, attempting to write difficult melodies that I have always been too afraid to compose, out of fear that it couldn't be played. I've learned to expand my expectations of modern musicians, and it's just wonderful.