Assignment 1 week 2

This week, I presented the unfinished, rough draft of my first piece in composition seminar. I was glad that I got mostly positive feedback because I was rather unsure about how it would be received. Despite this however, there are some things I want to work on / some sections I would like to improve for next tuesday. I will now list some of the comments I received followed by my thoughts and interpretations.

1.) When one instrument, either piano or cello, has an idea or motive, the other instrument seems to fairly inactive/boring. (This is definitely true and is sort of what I was aiming for. My plan was to have these different "motives" in a call and answer style between the two instruments but then have moments where the two join together in unison. Mitchell suggested that maybe I add some variation instead of having just whole notes on one pitch. I agree with this and will give it a try, although I don't want to stray too far from my initial idea.)

2.) Difficult for the piano player to interpret whether a section requires one hand or two. (As Vanessa suggested, I will definitely use the "md" and "ms" for indication of which hand plays which line.)

3.) Too many running 16th note figures / no rhythmic variation (I like the idea Dr. Ross suggested which is to break up the sixteenth note pattern with eighth notes or rests. Wherever this occurs, add notes in the second instrument to add color and interaction between the instruments. I will definitely play around with this idea.)

4.) Very percussive (It's who I am :D   )

5.) Avoid repeating a section / using repeat signs. Instead, write out the section again but with variation and possibly elaboration / extensions. (I like this idea very much. I put in the repeat in in the first place because I felt the section needed to last longer. I found out that the way the section ends and the way it begins ties together nicely. Therefore, I felt that a repeat was necessary. If I had left it the way it originally was, including the repeat, the listener would latch on to the fact that there is an exact repeat happening and lose interest. Therefore, I like the idea of adding variation, extensions etc. in order to change things up a bit but still keep the basic idea of the repeat.)

Assignment 1 week 1

After hearing the other student's chord's today, I knew when it was my turn that I had not fully understood the assignment. I didn't pay much attention to the one guideline in bold print: "None of the chords should sound like an obvious sonority in functional harmony". Most of my chords were obviously functional in tonal harmony. Therefore, I definitely need to add more tension for next week. I will try out the suggested method of using both hands instead of just one and placing them anywhere on the keyboard until I find chords that I like. Although most of the chords I chose were simple and obvious sonorities in functional harmony, there were a few that I really did like and plan to keep. But besides the select few, I will take Dr. Ross' advice and re-do the assignment.

My main goal was to have a first chord somewhere in the lower register and build tension by moving into the higher register. After achieving a maximum tension at approximately 61.8% of the way through the progression, I would start moving backwards towards the first chord again. But as I learned today, it would take the exact opposite of this idea to achieve the effect I was looking for. As suggested to me, I think it is a good idea to try starting out in the middle C area and then work my way outwards to the extremes of the piano. After all, it seems that chords in the lower register have the most tension. And adding higher notes adds even more tension. After achieving the maximum tension, I will then move back towards the middle C area.

Evan Harte