getting stuck in a tonality

gms5287...i'm having trouble understanding what you meant in your second sentence, the wording is confusing me, sorry...and fyi I wouldn't go so far to call my first part 'atonal', but rather 'chromatic'...again, thanks for your help

Originally Posted by gms5287

Then don't use straight forward triads. You can put in non-harmonic tones to keep the overall color consistent, transition more easily have better voice leading. You have to develop a language that's consistent otherwise you'll sound all over the shop. Nothing sounds worse than a piece using an "atonal" approach and then it ends with a major triad, boooo! So yeah, don't do that.

Pffh, nothing sounds worse than someone giving off axiomatic rules of what music should sound like! We're no longer living in the fifties. You can end an atonal piece on a major triad.

Which also reminds me: I'm just using Stravinsky's "L'histoire du soldat" as a an exercise for playing from the score, and while it certainly isn't atonal in the sense of the second Vienna school, the dissonant harmonies don't follow a tonal progression for the most part, yet all phrases still tend to end on a minor or major triad, especially in the last piece, the "Grand Chorale". I think this would be a good example to study for entering and leaving different "tonalities". It's absolutely gorgeous too.

thanks gardener for the suggestion, works out for me because i have the score somewhere on my computer

dofts: i understand the metaphysical values of composition and its difficulties haha, but was looking more for techniques when moving into different tonalities

I don't think you are going to get a straight forward simple technique answer. You might be given ideas, but as a composer, you should be able to think out these ideas yourself.

A really great sax player at my school said during a performance that any wrong note is a leading tone for something awesome