caters Posted March 23, 2020 Posted March 23, 2020 The piece I am writing is a representation of rain falling, thus the staccato accompaniment and the minor key and even the name of the piece being Tears of the Sky. I have 3 sections so far in my piece, though there will be more. One thing I have in common in all the sections so far is a pedal note. Here are the sections: A - Staccato accompaniment + Flute melody - E minor - Bars 1-12 B - Octave and chord accompaniment + Counterpoint between the cello, violin, and flute over lament bass - E minor later modulating to G major - Bars 13-23 C - Staccato comes back + Violin melody - G major later taking the circle of fifths route back towards E minor - Bars 24-32 The C section is what I'm asking about here, particularly starting at Bar 30 where the modulation back towards E minor begins. That said, I wouldn't mind getting feedback on my A and B sections as well. You see, this is what starts the circle of fifths modulation: A D7 chord, which is moved to from a G major chord so I -> V7. From there I moved to A major, which then just continued the circle of fifths motion. By the time that the sequence has been played 4 times, I end on A minor. I know, I could have gone straight from A major to A minor, but I thought I needed to balance the short modulation to G major with a longer modulation back to E minor if you get what I'm saying. I'm wondering though if I need to adjust the harmony, because, I am hearing a bit of unexpected crunch there in the circle of fifths progression that started with a simple chord relation. It all feels resolved to me at the A minor harmony that ends the circle of fifths progression. Perhaps this is a sign that I should continue in A minor for a while before landing back in E minor. But anyway, does my harmony there need adjustment or is it fine the way it is? Here are the MP3 and PDF of what I have so far. MP3 Play / pause JavaScript is required. 0:00 0:00 volume > next menu Tears of the Sky > next PDF Tears of the Sky Quote
Jean Szulc Posted March 24, 2020 Posted March 24, 2020 Your compositions are sounding a lot more purposeful, which is great. Congratulations on your imporvement. I do think the modulation is quite "crunchy", as you called it. I think that in this case, you could go way simpler than that. G - D7 - Am - Em - Bm - E7 - A Major or Minor, you decide. If this is used with good voice leading, it will make up for a really smooth modulation. Other paths are surely possible, I was just sujesting something for you to try. Good luck! 1 Quote
caters Posted March 24, 2020 Author Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Jean Szulc said: Your compositions are sounding a lot more purposeful, which is great. Congratulations on your imporvement. Thanks, I'm glad that it isn't just me seeing improvement but others too. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: I do think the modulation is quite "crunchy", as you called it. I think that in this case, you could go way simpler than that. Yeah, I did notice that crunch which is why I asked if I needed to adjust the harmony. Knowing that I could go way simpler than the circle of fifths that I initially used is nice to hear. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: G - D7 - Am - Em - Bm - E7 - A Major or Minor, you decide. Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that and see if this gets rid of that crunch. I'm thinking that possibly it's the staccato that is bringing that crunch, so maybe I should try to get a smooth legato between each of these chords and then see what that implies for the staccato. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: If this is used with good voice leading, it will make up for a really smooth modulation. That's good to know. I'm not aiming for a sudden motion to another key here. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: Other paths are surely possible, I was just sujesting something for you to try. Good luck! And thank you again for the suggestion, I will try it. Quote
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