Ballad

I don't need to listen to any more than the MIDI to get a good idea of this piece... it's very simple. Nice calming, soothing solo, goes great with your chord structure, but the chord structure itself is a little boring... maybe try for a modulation upwards, it has an uplifting and deeply emotional effect if you do it right. Some of your chords can be substituted fine with different chords, and these different chords would then require that the next chord be changed to suit them, and alas, you find yourself going in a new direction. This would be especially effective in the beginning, where to me it seems like it goes on for a very long time, but doesn't really seem to be going anywhere musically.

Cheers, lovely mood you set here.

I know what you mean about the 'long beginning'. However, the idea was to go through the first verse and the 'first' chorus quietly. Add more instruments for the second time through... (more drums, strings, and the sax), and the third time build the sound up even more... (dueting sax and lead guitar, added background dist. guitar, louder strings, and stronger drums). So, it builds up each time through.

The chord structure, hmm... well, I don't really know any complex chord structures. Well, really, I don't know how to use any chord structures other than the ones I used here. Perhaps I should work on this.... I know what the problem is. I wrote this piece (and all my other pieces) by improvising on my keyboard. I tend to stick to the chord progressions that I know how to play well (limiting I know, but i know the chords so...). Remember that when I wrote this piece, I didn't look at a staff at all. I just wrote it from my keyboard. i did not score it until much later. So, I was limited to the chords that I knew how to improvise with.

I'm out of my league, technically, here...because I'm the one who's been calling myself the "Pop-Culture/Music Illiterate" in the forum lately . Still, I do enjoy hearing the ways you chose to vary the melodic interest over the bass. For my taste (which, obviously, might be irrelevant, since it's classically driven), I would love even more lyrical lines with slightly more motion (seemed like 2 or 3 melody notes per note of bass were as fast as it got)--but maybe you're going for the laid-back feel in a "ballad."
Brooks

Thanks for posting! Yes. You are absolutely right. The melody is slow on purpose. I didn't want a fast and energetic melody (though I wouldn't necessarily call it laid-back either). I wanted to convey raw emotion through a smooth soaring melody.

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