Lesson with Oboehazzard

This is the start of our lessons, so let's see where it goes.

We will cover some ways of making musc that do not involve traditional analysis of harmony.

however, before getting off the ground, let's try a very simple exercise:

Write a simple phrase for piano, in tonal harmony, no more than eight measures long. It can have a very simple repetitive left hand part, and very simple melody in the right hand part.

What I would like to see you do is create a simple theme, but using repetitive melodic fragments that develop. For example, if your theme starts with a rising 3rd, then the next repetition could go on to a 4th, then a 5th, etc..

If the theme starts with a descending scale from the 4th degree, then the next repetition could start from the 5th scale degree, and then the 6th, and so on.

I am not looking for "originality", I am looking for effective use of material.

Use only simple chords, unless you feel particularly inspired. I will, however, be just as happy if you use only I - IV - V.

We are looking for a sense of linear development with this particular exercise, not harmonic complexity.

As we move on to other forms of musical expression, we will be relying heavily on this horizontal aspect rather than on harmonic analysis.

I think this is what you meant. I wrote an 8 measure phrase using tonal harmony. Did you want me to write that phrase over again, but starting on a different degree of the scale? At that part I was confused. But, I just wrote the 8 measure phrase in C major.

Exersize 1.MUS

ok, close.

I want you to do it again, using ONLY the very first six beats as your thematic material.

what can you DO to those six beats to create a whole theme?

I'd like you to indicate with text what you did in the score. Don't worry if it gets messy.

Ok, I used the theme from the first six beats and used the rhythm of the theme and changed the chords accompanying it.

Exersize 1 part 2.MUS

I would like you now to write a monophonic (ie: no accompaniment) theme for any instrument (ie: no instrument in particular) that uses ONLY certain intervals.

Think carefully on this.

For this first try I want you to write a theme that has only 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, and 6ths (in other words, no 2nds or 7ths). Your theme may not cover more than an octave and a half.

It must not sound "random".

It MUST have repeated elements - either rhythmical or in the musical outline.

It must go "from point A to point B"... in other words, I want it to sound as though it has direction.

Around 16 measures long.

Ok, I am having some trouble with what you mean. Do you mean that I should base the melody on chords that are 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths? Or that the intervals in the melody should only consist of 3rds, etc.? And if it is the latter, then do you mean 3rds, 4ths, etc. in relation to the tonic, or in relation to the previous note?

do not think in terms of chords.

think in terms of linearity... you are composing a melody.

you can use only 3rds, 4ths, 5ths and 6ths melodically.

let's say you start on C, then you are NOT allowed to use D, or B as the next note. (regardless of accidentals - no 2nds, no 7ths, in either direction, major, minor, augmented or diminished. and no cheating with diminished 3rds).

If you choose to use F as the next note, then the subsequant note can not be either G nor E.

get where this is going?

I am going to add another wrinkle to the rules - you may not use two 3rds in a row in the same direction.

Hehe. It came out sounding like Copland. And that exersize was extremely difficult! I never realized how much I depended on seconds and sevenths before. It was scary not having them to work with!

Exersize 2.MUS

ok, you have demonstrated that you are fully capable of using the white keys of the piano....

now, let's see some accidentals.

I would like you to choose "zones" of notes.

do the same exercise (with a "C" btw, not an "S"), this time, I want you to shift the tonal frame at every two measures.

if for example you start with a basic C major tonal area, then the next two measures should add a sharp or a flat.

Don't think of this as "modulation". It's creating tonal zones, within which you will play around.

Remember that you should create a noticable motif to work with as well. It should come back at least once every 4 measures.

We are not looking for a "classically" structured phrase here. We are trying to break free a bit and explore new avenues of melodic creativity.

so again, monophonic line, no harmony, same rules - no 2nds, no 7ths, never play two 3rds in a row, and also, no melodic fragments that make up a "chord/arpeggio" (ie: a 3rd and a 4th make up a 1st inversion chord - so avoid at all costs). We are looking to avoid strong ties to traditional tonality.

In this sort of approach, the repetition of motifs and the return to grounding notes (a sort of tonal centre) is what creates the "tonality". Not the use of specific chord progressions.

How is this?

I spelled exercise correctly now! But being dyslexic without using spell check, you've got to give me some credit, eh?

Anyways, I used a different motif in this next exercise. I didn't think you wanted me to use the same motif as the last one.

Exercise no. 3.MUS

tsk tsk tsk... there are two 2nds in there.... ;)

Is this better? I could only find one second. But were you referring to the repeated E? I changed that too.

Exercise no. 3.MUS

Is this better? I could only find one second. But were you referring to the repeated E? I changed that too.

not, not the repeated notes...

look at the end of measure 3.

and again at the end of measure 8 (look carefully at this one).

Missed those. Woops. :happy:

Exercise no. 3 - 2.MUS

I would like you to compose a phrase, 12-16 measures long, that has a "high point". I want to sense that the phrase is LEADING to that high point, through the use of motifs.

Think of using some long notes in your theme as well! I noticed that your other themes were rather unrelentingly 1/4 and 1/8th note driven. How about a few half notes here and there? and not just at the end of a phrase! how about a triplet of 1/4 notes? how about incorporating some rests INTO the the theme?

Take your time on this.

You should not be able to write this exercise out in one sitting.

You should take the time to go over the thematic material, note by note, interval by interval.

I hate using my music as an example, but if you go over the opening theme of my Symphony in C you'll get an idea of what I mean. there are notes that are stretched, motifs that are repeated, intervals that gradually widen with repetition, longer notes, breathes, runs of shorter notes, all leading to a climax, then back down. When I wrote that theme I wrote it monophonically... one single line.

Do the rules of exercise 3 apply to this as well?

Also, is there any way you could post an excerpt of the theme? A Finale File, or an IMG file?

I would say yes, continue for now with the no 2nds rule.. but you may add 7ths.

I'd like you to create a theme that is not "classical" in form. I don't want you imitating my music or that of anyone else, necessarily, but I want to see you start looking for notes, colours, rythmes, that break from a strictly classical-era mold.

I'm including an annotated version of the main theme of my symphony so you can see how and where intervals are prominant, and how and where elements are repeated.

Obviously, this doesn't follow the "no 2nds, no 7ths" rule I've given for your exercise.

You'll notice that a hefty chunk of "theme 1" is actually an integral part of "theme 2". It is "time shifted" so that the emphasis falls on different notes than the first time you hear the theme, but it's still there. This creates a sense of unity.

Obviously, the music continues, after what's on this page, so you're not getting any sort of "final cadence" to the theme.

annotated main theme of Symphony in C.pdf

I actually went over the 16 measures and it came out to be 18 measures. I led up to the high point, and then released the tension and ended it pianissimo like the beginning, so it comes full-circle.

Melody.MUS

ok, pretty good.

Now let's discuss "climax".

I notice that your climax was dynamic only.

You actually return to the same note as the climax in the final part of the melody. Why?

A side-note: measure 4, there is a rather important shift of register, and that makes it sound like a separate entity, a "countermelody" rather than an integral part of the melody. While motivically it IS related (and well-done, BTW), the register change is still an important effect. To me, it breaks the linearity of the melody you are building.

Also at measures 5 and 8 you repeat those high Cs, the effect is a bit static.

Remember that repeating a note or "note area" within a very short span (a few beats) gives the ear an "echo effect", but repeating the same material, even in different dynamics, at a longer interval creates insteead an effect of staticism - of not having left the area in question..

In strict tonal counterpoint, you learn to avoid returning to the same notes within short periods of time for this very reason. By this I don't mean a repeated note, but rather that a phrase returns to the same note within a few beats. or a measure or two.

Sometimes, the best thing when constructing a theme is to draw it graphically, to get a sense of where the highpoint will be and where the low points will be.