SergeOfArniVillage

@Thatguy v2.0 Thank you for taking the time to listen and comment on my preludes, especially with such thoughtful feedback! I really appreciate it. (And an award?!) On piece 4, you are correct, the scales and arpeggios are meant to be in both hands, actually all the way from the 1st bar up to the 20th bar, and mss. 17-20, the L.H. crosses over to hit the chords on the 3rd beats. I should have been clearer in my notation. On piece 5, that's a really great thought to add a "freely" direction at bar 27. This piece is meant to have a pseudo buttoned-up, but actually silly, free-form feel to it, and that kind of marking would fit well. I really appreciate your concern about uploading these separately, but it's ok! Even if they do get less attention as a result. It was very much my intention for this set to be listened to in its entirety, with one piece moving on to the next one, and I'm pleased that it made the set more fun and enjoyable for you to listen to. Your preludes were actually an inspiration for writing them, as well as Felix Blumenfeld's incredible set of 24 preludes. (I don't have it in me right now to write as many as the both of you have! Maybe in time that will change.) Again, thanks for taking time to listen and comment, it's much appreciated!

Thank you for taking the time to listen and comment 🙂

Cool piece! I love how your atonal technique makes these "glassy" sounding chords, thin and angular, and the juxtaposition with a more traditional tonal sound is neat. I really think you could absolutely take this idea farther. For example, you have the sections completely separated -- I wonder what would happen if the atonal sections had moments of consonance, and/or vice versa? This atonality is quite gentle and agreeable, and consequently, I think it would be relatively easy to mix the two. Thank you for sharing!

I'm just a random passerby, but I just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this! It's refreshing to hear a work that looks so complicated on paper, sound so simple and easily understood. And to be clear, that's a sign of masterful compositional skills. Honestly, inspiring, and this gives me a lot to think about. Thank you for sharing!

There's many different ways to analyze pieces, so really, that's entirely up to you. For example, find a piece of music that you absolutely love. One of your favorites. Listen along with a score of the music. You could ask yourself any of the following questions: "What is it about this piece I love so much? Why did the composer/song writer choose this chord, or voice the chord this way? Why did the composer develop their material this way? The composer changed direction here -- why, and to what effect? What kind of thing(s) is the composer trying to express?" My word here, "analyze," sounds like dissecting a frog in a lab to understand its biological function. And you can literally analyze a piece, and assign all the chords and progressions, "this is the tonic, the dominant, subdominant, here's a lydian scale, etc." But simply mindful listening and meditating on what you're hearing, along with experimentation to see what works and what doesn't, goes a long way.

I always feel smarter after I listen to your pieces, like I've learned something, or just feel inspired. What a gift! A prelude with all sorts of "gem" moments, some rather subtle. Measure 4 beats 3 and 4 are smooth as butter (props to Henry, of course). Ms. 14 2nd and 3rd beat are so clever. And it's so weird to hear a contrapuntal-heavy piece sound so ... homey and warmly nostalgic. The vibes are right. Thank you for sharing!

I like the sparse atmosphere, and I think you developed the material in a creative way on the 4th page, cranking up the dissonance a bit. This has an exotic flair to it. It's got a chill vibe, but a potent flavor. Cool! Thanks for sharing!

I think you have a lot of natural talent and creativity. Attending a class for something is nice, and can be really helpful, but there's really no substitute for just doing something and seeing and hearing for yourself what works, and what doesn't. Listening to and analyzing what other composers have done is an incredible education in and of itself. It's impressive that you wrote this in such a playable and natural way! I hope you hold on to this colorful whimsy, too. Thanks for sharing! This was a lot of fun to listen to.

I love this, particularly since I'm a sucker for heavy reverb, The harmonies are quirky, in a good way. The only thing that really sticks out to me is specifically ms. 10. I'm craving some kind of descending bass there, to offset the parallel motion, especially since that mirrors mss. 33-34. Maybe L.H. E-Eb-D-C#, and last chord is A/C#? Keeps the chromatic flavor. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing this, this is really lovely.

This is a project I have slowly worked on for about a year. Thoughts/comments/criticisms welcome. Edit: I have cleaned the scores up a lot. Prelude No 1.mp3Prelude No 2.mp3Prelude No 3.mp3Prelude No 4.mp3Prelude No 5.mp3Prelude No 6.mp3Prelude No 7.mp3Prelude No 8.mp3Prelude No 9.mp3Prelude No 10.mp3 Prelude No. 1.pdf Prelude No. 2.pdf Prelude No. 3.pdf Prelude No. 4.pdf Prelude No. 5.pdf Prelude No. 6.pdf Prelude No. 7.pdf Prelude No. 8.pdf Prelude No. 9.pdf Prelude No. 10.pdf

@Thatguy v2.0 Hey, thanks for dropping by and listening and commenting. I appreciate it! You’re right, a live performance would add a lot. I wrote this piece to be easy to play, with the exception of mss. 80-88: the L.H there does complicates things, but doing “piano drills” on 8 mss of music is super reasonable, imo. I do play the piano, personally! I’ve played off and on for years.

@Luis Hernández thank you for your thoughts! I actually thought it was going to be a nocturne at first, but it ended up going a different direction. @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu I agree, I love and appreciate short and sweet. Maybe one if these days, I’ll try my hand at writing a series if preludes, too 🤷🏻‍♂️ but no promises, LOL

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu Thanks for taking time to comment! I really like your idea of just trying to write easier pieces. I struggle a lot with, "Is this even good?", if you know what I mean. I'm trying to be balanced regarding what I write, because on the one hand, I don't want to be too picky about every little thing I write, because then, it's easy to lose enthusiasm. But on the other hand, I really hate the idea of wasting anybody's time with something that's really just not worth listening to. Maybe one day, I'll figure it out 🤷‍♂️ Again, thanks for your comment!

This is so quirky, and different! I like the sound effect additions more than I thought I would by the end. They're funny, and I do mean legitimately "LOL" funny (something about the scream sfx in particular cracks me up, and the car collision moving into a major chord is also really funny). I'm trying to decide if the extra effects add more than gimmick or shock value, or apparent absurdity, and ... I think, regardless of whether it does or not, looking at the piece from a more serious angle, it was actually the footsteps that were most evocative, and legitimately came across as rather creepy and engaging. But regardless, I appreciate this piece because it's different and provides a genuinely unique flavor, one I'm not sure I've ever heard before in this particular way. Thanks for sharing, this was a lot of fun to listen to!

Honestly, this is really incredible. If I was a teacher, and my student gave me this, I would be beyond proud. This piece is ... it's a classic! Infectious, and feels effortless. It reminds me of Le Festin from Ratatouille, in spirit. It has that same carefree, good-natured, "magical" vibe to it. Thanks for sharing, this was awesome.