Lesson with Sawdust

Ok, in this lesson with Sawdust, we are going to work with the minuet.

First off, we're going to have a look through the form of the simple minuet, and learn that form. Then I will have you attempt your own little minuet.

We're going to work from there, and the ultimate goal of this lesson is to write a symphonic minuet.

This will cover many important elements of composition, including form, modulation, handling of themes and contrast, and finally orchestration, in order to make an effective orchestral minuet.

Ok, to start with, we're going to look at that perennial Baroque favourite, Bach's Minuet in G, from the Anna Magdalena notebook.

You can find a score of it here, or if you're having trouble getting it, I will attach it to this post.

The first thing to discuss is Minuet form.

Minuets are most commonly in 3/4 time. The basic minuet form is AB - that is a first section, and then a (somewhat) contrasting second section. Such is the case with this Bach minuet. Almost invariably, the First (A) section will be in the tonic (I) key, and the Second (B) section in the dominant (V). A modulation to the dominant usually happens in the latter half of the A section (but this is by no means always true), and a subsequent modulation back to the tonic would occur at some point during the B section.

The minuet you might find in a classical symphony is often rather more complicated than this, and follows a larger form - that of Minuet and Trio.

In this, the minuet is followed by a contrasting trio (which is usually in quite a different mood), and this is followed by a repeat of the original minuet.

We can discuss this later on.

Task:

• Analyse the harmonic structure of this whole minuet, paying special attention to when and how the piece modulates;
  
• Also try to discuss Bach's use of themes in this short minuet.
  

Post your analysis as a reply to this post.

In the next stage of the lesson, I will likely get you to write a minuet of your own, taking the Bach example as a model.

Ok, I'm not sure if I read it right, the numbers in the score confused me, I thought they might be the progression but from analyzing where the bass and treble notes acctually ring together I think not, then again I might be wrong.

Also I assumed notes with a major 2nd interval were sus2 chords and perfect 4th intervals were inverted fifths, so I might have screwed up there too.

Anyway.

The progression, if I'm not mistaken is

I III IV I II I V I III V III I IV I IV I II

III VI II III I VI (Modulate to V) V IV I VII I IV V I

(Modulate to I) III I IV VI IV III II I V VII III I VII

I V I

I was surprised to find so many movements in 3rds and minor 2nds (It certainly built up my confidence in both of them). The harmony is fairly tonic through most of the minuet, returning to "I" fairly often except in moments of high tension when the melody itself also builds up tension by repeating variations of the same theme. Similar to how when the harmony is especcially tonic the theme is followed by the counter theme.

The theme is expressed at the start of the minuet followed by a counter theme. Both of them only change in Contour, changing rythm only when it makes sense to do so. For example when the piece modulates the primary theme changes it's rythm completely, giving way to the countertheme. When it modulates back to I, the rythm in the theme is reversed and then played in the same rythm as before the piece modulated.

This makes sense, since rythm is the most distinguishable element to the human ear it's a clear indication that something is about to happen (Modulation and the ending), also because of this, the countertheme changes rythm more often than the primary one, to keep the melody stable.

I'm not sure if that's the right answer.... I'm not even sure if I got the progression right.

EDIT: Another interesting thing is that near the ending there's a departure from the tonic chord and then it's "returned to" in closing distances, ending in a cadence. Smoothing out the tension rather than destroying it. Very nice ending.

Ok, I don't have time today to go through this in detail, but I will point out some things I noticed straight away.

Ok, I'm not sure if I read it right, the numbers in the score confused me, I thought they might be the progression but from analyzing where the bass and treble notes acctually ring together I think not, then again I might be wrong.

Also I assumed notes with a major 2nd interval were sus2 chords and perfect 4th intervals were inverted fifths, so I might have screwed up there too.

Your harmonic analysis of the minuet was not too bad, however, you are making some mistakes repeatedly. You have written iii a lot of times (if not all) when it should in fact be I6 or Ib - i.e. the first inversion of the tonic chord. Are you familiar with inversions? I should go over them before we continue, if you're not.

The rest of what you wrote was fairly correct, and of every piece is open to different interpretations.

Anyway, you've made a good start. I want you to be thinking of where the modulations in this Bach minuet fit into the minuet form that we've looked at. I want you to try to get a feel for that.

I will try to continue this tomorrow.

I don't quite know what you mean here, but I'll check again when I have some time.

Well, for example, in measure 7, G and A are rung at the same time, they're a whole tone apart, so I assumed that G was the root note and it was a suspended second chord. And in measure 13, there's F# and B, a perfect forth, and I took it as B being the root, and it being an inverted fifth.

Thing is, I know the basics of inversion (I think), but I'm kind of confused when it comes to practical uses.

I'd really appreciate it if you went over them with me like I never even heard the word, just to make sure I get over all the wrong ideas I might have had.

And take your time man, no need to rush =)

Half way through this hectic week here... I can't really do much until it's over, sorry.

I would like you to read up on inversions of standard chords (including 7ths) and their figurings. I would also like you to just play about with them on the piano, or whatever you happen to play. Getting a feel for inversions, and their use in progressions is important.

I will continue when I can.. until then, start floating minuet melodies around in your head!

No worries man.

I'll try to get up to speed on inversions before you get back, maybe even write a theme/countertheme for the minuet.

How are the inversions going? If you want, you could re-examine the first line or two of that minuet, and post your Roman-numeral analysis, then I could see if you have the hang of it yet.

...I just noticed I missed a chord in the first line.

I think it makes more sense as..

I IV I II I

The reason I put a III in there instead of I in 1st Inversion was becase I regretfully didn't notice that G was present in the melody, completing the chord.

Want me to reanalyze the progression for the rest of the piece?

"Want me to reanalyze the progression for the rest of the piece?"

No, it's ok - as long as you understand it.

Now - you do not need to have all notes of a chord present to at least imply a chord.

Beethoven's Emperor concerto famously starts with only an Eb and a G - no Bb to complete the chord, yet we know it's of course Eb major.

In the same way, in a piece with such a small texture, such as this, a lot of times all the chords aren't going to be completed. So in G major, if we have a B with a D above, it could very well be a G maj first inversion. It doesn't need to have the G to complete it. The iii chord is much more rarely used that the I6 and it usually follows a I chord and precedes a vi chord.

Anyway, I would say it's this: I I6 IV I6 ii I etc.

Can you see why? (only taking 1 chord per bar here - there is a ii in the first bar)

Because in the second and fourth bars the third is in the bass making it an I in first inversion?

Yep exactly. And when the fifth is in the bass, it's a second inversion. Then with 7th (and 9th etc.) chords you can have more than just 2 inversions.

A quite common bass movement will lead to you using a couple of inversions in direct succession.

E.g.: In C major, the bass moves thus, C D E.

There are several ways of harmonizing this bass line. The common one involving some inversions would be: C (root), G (2nd inversion), C (1st inversion).

Second inversion chords aren't as common as first inversion chords. This is because the 4th between the bass note and the root note of the chord is a dissonance. In the example above, it is permissible, because it is a passing six-four (2nd inversion) chord. Fourths between the bass and an upper part are always dissonances, but not between any two upper parts.

Can you also use a major second (for seventh chords) as a passing chord?

Do you mean major second as in G dom.7th we have F against G?

That's really a 7th, because it's the root G against the 7th above, F.

I'm not quite sure what you mean with your question though.

In classical music and onwards, you can freely use the dissonance of the 7th etc. without preparation. (Preparing a dissonance is when the dissonant note is sounded in a previous harmony, where it is consonant, if you're getting what I'm saying).

So you can use a 7th chord freely, and it's not classified as passing. That really only counts for second inversion chords.

If you would like me to illustrate these points with music, then ask.

Thanks, but I think I get it, just wanted to know if you could put the seventh note below the root in the bass.

Yes, you can, that's the 3rd inversion of the 7th chord. And then I see what you mean about the major 2nd. It should resolve to a consonance, but like I say, after the baroque period, the use of the 7th chord etc. is rather free.

the 7th in the bass would often go to the third of the tonic chord.

I think I get it now, I was always under the impression that you could only put the root or the third in the bass, and that you always had to include the root in the chord.

I'd like you to now come up with a short melody for use in a little keyboard minuet you're going to write for me.

I think we can come back to harmonic analysis later; I'd much rather see you compose something and then work with it.

I want you to have a strong sense of implied harmony in this minuet, perhaps even write the intended chords of the harmony out alongside the melody. I only want up until the first repeat for now - and it is up to you where to modulate, but I would like you to modulate to the dominant before you reach the first repeat.

If you're not 100% sure on modulations, just write some sketches for a melody, and then I will discuss it with you.

No deadline, so please take your time :)

Sorry it took me so long to answer, I've been away for a few days. Here's the first draft, I like it but I think there's room for improvement.

Minuet Draft One.pdf

Minuet Draft One.mid

That's a nice start, full of ideas which we can build from.

There are some problems with it though, so I'm going to suggest how to work with this material, and build from it our minuet.

First of all, I'm going to want you to condense this. It stands at 16 bars, and I would like it to be 8 bars. Sorry about this, but I feel that the condensing will allow you to have much more of a sense of purpose and direction in the music.

There are also some places where the harmony sticks out a bit, against the melody, but seeing as I only asked you to apply very general "chord per measure" style harmony, I can't really comment on this.

When reworking what you have here, I would like you to think not just in terms of "1 chord per measure", because while that may be an ok approach for broadly sketching it out, it is not sufficient for the finished thing... so harmonies should change within a bar, whenever they need to.

For example, look at that Bach minuet we started with - the harmony changes already within the first measure.

In a minuet, you might expect the harmony to change more in a bar, when dealing with a cadence - watch for examples of this, and try to emulate this in your own. ( a place where you could/should change the harmony in the bar is the last beat of measure 2)

The modulation, out of necessity, will be much shorter in your reworked version, and it does not have to be long, in a minuet. It does not have to be a strong modulation, because as soon as we reach V, we often repeat straight back into I territory, in a minuet's opening.

The last comment I'm going to make is about the form of your melody. Consider it carefully, so that the melody flows, and doesn't seem to end up on a note unnaturally. An example of where this happens is going from bars 2 to 3. The E from bar 2 wants to resolve to the F, and yet it is thwarted, by having to go to G. It further feels unnatural, because it is moving by leap.

I find it hard to put into words how one "feels" out a melody. An important part of it, though, is knowing when to have shorter note values on the strong beats of the bar. (your semiquavers and quavers for example).

To me, this is a matter of taste, and also one which the rules of counterpoint help with, but your sense of melody should develop with time.

I think, speaking very, very generally, it is better to have the faster note values on the last beat (or last 2 beats) of the bars, in 3/4. This "rule" can be contradicted to make contrasts.. but don't follow it strictly anyway.

Summary: You have a nice start to a minuet here. You have actually provided me with too much material (!) and so I would like you to condense it, to 8 bars (or thereabouts).

Watch for harmonic progression, and the shape of the melody, ensuring that they both are logical, and "flow" well.

I will provide my own suggestions to these 2 aspects, when I see your condensed version.

You have some interesting rhythmic, and melodic ideas, so I will be looking forward to seeing what can be done with them.

Remember, take your time! I would rather wait 2 weeks, and get a well turned out melody, than have something rushed in by tomorrow.

In fact, I don't want to see anything for at least half a week! So you must carefully plan out your harmonic structure, and have ample time to work with the melody et cetera.

P.s. Sorry for rambling!

Sorry for rambling!

Acctually, thanks for pointing everything out =). The melody did feel kinda "funny" overall, so I appreciate knowing why now. And to be perfectly honest, the harmony was ad hoced while writing the melody, which was done in 3 hours give or take. A very nasty habit of mine...

But I'll do things differently when reworking it.