Character Piece #2

Last week myself and Kim played the my second character piece for composition class. The piece went quite well, though we did play it under tempo as it is supposed to go quite fast and this will require more practice on both our behalves . Some of the feedback I received about it included that it was light and playful, with nice interactions between the piano and saxophone. It was also noted that piece had an air of tonality to it but was clearly not tonal. Also the final chord in the piece is actually a tonal chord (Ab7) which I had not picked up on because of the mixture of sharps and flats in the chord. I'm not yet finished writing this piece and feel that it could go almost double the length There are some thematic ideas in the beginning and middle that I plan on reusing and expanding upon, which will hopefully add greatly to the music. I'm also planning on adding more to the piano, I had underestimated Kim's capabilities, and knowing now that she can play music more difficult then I wrote will allow me to add more depth to my music, which is exciting.

That's it for now, Thanks for reading!

NB

For lack of a better name (Character piece #1)

Yesterday myself and Kim played the first of three character pieces that I have written based on the chord progression I came up with last week. I wrote it for alto sax and piano and I focused on using a lot musical space to help create the requested feeling of rhythmic timelessness. I was successful in doing so, and the effective use of space was noted by classmates and Dr. Ross (class instructor). I was asked what the character I had intended for my piece was and I drew a blank, completely forgetting that the point of the assignment was to write a "character piece." That being said when I was writing the music I focused on the lower range of the alto sax, and this in combination with my use of space gave the piece a character my colleagues described as sneaky and mysterious/mischievous. The use of varying texture between the piano and sax, as well as the balance of the two parts was noted, and it was recommended that in my next variation I try adding more the piano part, so that each hand is playing more then just one or two notes at a time. This would make better use the capabilities of the piano.

I surprisingly am really happy with what I wrote, what comes next should be interesting.
NB

A work in progress - my chord progression

Hearing the chord progression I wrote with played in class this week I heard something very different then when I had played it for myself at home. As my piano skills are somewhat underwhelming it was interesting to hear the chords played by someone who knew what they were doing (thanks Mike) and was able to play them evenly. It turns out that my progression has multiple high points in tension, however this is accompanied by a notable decrease in tension in the last few chords. It was also brought to my attention by both my own ears and the feedback from fellow classmates that I used many high tension chords and have room to explore chords of a much lower tension level. In revising my progression I'm planning on moving some chords around and maybe adding a few to take my progression from 12 chords to 13 or 14.

Thats it for now.
NB

Exploring Atonality

First impressions of this class, composition 3100, left me a little unsure. I've never spent much time with atonal music as I honestly never saw much interest in it. However after spending some time making up a chord progression, and while I am starting to come around to it I think it will take some time before I can decide whether or not it is an idiom I will continue with after this course, time will tell. I am looking forward to seeing what I can create with it and to listening to what the others in the class create.

That's all for now,
Neil B.