Sunset Reverie

Hey guys. First post, wanted to drop this in here before I start officially (attempting) to contribute to the forum.

I've been composing for a few years now; self-taught, with inspiration from composers like Debussy and Satie, even though it may not sound like it as much as I try to emulate portions of their music in mine. They have a sound that's kind of hard to pin down, especially considering my somewhat limited knowledge of theory and my incapability of writing anything longer than a simple theme.

So the problem is that I don't have issues with writing out sections, but moreso that I have trouble connecting them, or structuring them in a way that doesn't sound... I guess in a way that doesn't sound too disjunct. The flow of the music, I suppose, is what I'm getting at. Or sometimes it all just blends together a little too much and begins to sound bland. It may just be me though. 

Any tips? Also, sorry for the sort of messy sheets, I don't really pay much attention to the layout of certain things while I'm writing.

@Coeus

I have problems with transitions too

but I'll give it a listen and see if there's anything helpful I can say.

It's wonderful,

something about the bright way it sounds reminds me of some jazz songs.

My only problem is your use of pedal,

which is funny because most of the time people tell me I use my pedal for too long.

I think that you should lift it whenever you change your chord and see if it sounds better.

Unless you like this blendy sound, and I doubt it because this piece sounds so bright.

I'll now give it another listen and see if I have anything more to say.

You should change the upper hand to bass clef here:

Ok that's it.

Other than the wrong use of pedal at some places,

it's a wonderful bright piece and you should try and expand it.

Add another theme maybe.

Good luck.

Hi.

You've chosen a "difficult" tonality... Just my taste, accostumed to Db in the piano instead of C#.

I think your iece is very nice. Harmony is very interesting just from the very first chord. Transitions sound OK in m. 5-6, 13-14.

The main problem I see is the pedal, as it appears in the score it has no sense.

The end is totally "open".

@Rabbival507 Yeah, the pedaling for Noteflight isn't exactly the best, or it may just be me because often times when the pedal lifts and then the next note or chord is played, it's such an abrupt change that it has never sounded too good for me. Then again, it may just be me. 😛 I'll have that fixed the next time I post an updated version of this! And I've fixed the upper hand to bass. 

Thank you!

@Luis Hernández The end is open at the moment because I do plan on adding more, but it was late when I posted this and only had about 4 hours of sleep last night (yay!) so I forgot to add in another measure to resolve it.

And what about C# makes it difficult exactly? I'm not as good at playing piano, so there are still some things I don't understand about the difficulty of playing in certain keys.

The pedaling will usually always be a little off until I have a finished piece and fix everything up. Generally, I focus more on the sound of the playback than the way the sheets are written until it's finished, so sorry for the weirdness of the sheets. I'll see what I can do about fixing it. 😁

@Coeus Nothing wrong with C# tonality. But Db is much more frequent with the piano.

@Luis Hernández

I may have set the key wrong, since it sounds like everything is resolving to B so it's probably just B major, actually. My bad. 😁I don't normally pay much attention to that when I first start writing for some reason... Just focused on the sound.

Not sure. 6 sharps corresponds to F# tonality. However you start with a C#9 chord (with no third). There are some odd chromatisms: in m. 6 the first chors has a b9 interval (D# - E).

The cadence in .13 seems to rest in F#. Is quite ambiguous, but beautiful. If you put some order in the score it would be a nice piece.

Very nice! If you want to avoid excess ledger lines use 8va/vb. Maybe in the 5/4 after the ritardando and after the bass chord gliss. Maybe a Diddy in the right hand before you start what I thought was a entrance of a theme. Option 2 is to continue the ritardando until the bass chord gliss and then have beat three be the entrance, that 5/4 caught me of guard and little bit (unless that is what you were trying to do).