Lesson with Mark

I've returned - with music!

Here are my two most successful attempts. I wrote two more but when I got home and played them they were truly awful, so it seemed pointless keeping them I've also done a complete analysis of the Chambonnieres and d'Anglebert Sarabandes, looking at harmony, phrase structure, texture, rhythm, etc. I also had a good look at the Rameau and Bach Sarabandes.

You'll be pleased (I hope) to notice that both of my examples involve an N6 chord

After looking at these again I've identified a few problems:
1. There are parallel fifths in beat one of the third bar of the first example. These are so blindingly obvious I'm embarrassed I didn't notice them sooner.
2. The second example sounds quite 'bare' because the soprano and bass have mainly octaves and fifths between them, I should've focussed more on getting good two part counterpoint between the outer voices before filling in the harmony.

School has been very tough lately. I'm a senior and I have to make sure my grades don't plummet too far before graduation.... But the work seems to be winding down, so I finally have time to write more lessons. I am absolutely determined to discuss the last few sorts of chromaticism and teach further about the sarabande. You WILL write a fantastic sarabande before our lessons end . And unfortunately they will have to end sometime this summer as I begin to prepare for college. Until then, however, I will have plenty of free time.

I found both your examples fairly nice. They are awkward in some ways that we probably both recognize; for now I think we should leave them alone for a couple of lessons so that first we can review melody and keyboard textures meticulously. I will go back later and comment more specifically on your two phrases.

But I would like for you to post the other two attempts, even if they were "truly awful." They might help me understand what you struggle with the most.



So if my extended absence has not offended too much, allow me to present my thoughts on
MELODY

I won't preach again on the importance of melody . Admittedly the idea of working on thick counterpoint or chromatic harmonies sounds much more exciting, but we should remember both harmony and counterpoint depend on multiple melodies. Improving your ability with melody will later on greatly improve your ability with harmony and counterpoint.

As I may have mentioned in some previous lesson, I struggled with melody until very recently when I finally acknowledged that a detailed study of melody is essential to mastering Baroque styles. I found that with a heightened sense for characteristic Baroque melodic gestures, very idiomatic harmony and counterpoint appears almost spontaneously.

What I will discuss in this lesson deals with unaccompanied melody, or melody with a very simple chordal support. This will allow us to focus entirely on the melody without worries about harmony or counterpoint. Melodies with complex accompaniments or complex counterpoint require some differences in approach, but most of the underlying principles are the same. I will discuss those differences later.


Now a difficult question is, what melodies should I use as models for the next few lessons? My personal tendency would be towards the French style, since I've been playing lots of French music on the harpsichord lately, but I suspect that when you asked for instruction on Baroque style you wanted instruction on Bach's style. But Bach wrote very little simple homophony for the harpsichord, and I have a personal bias against him. I hope that you might be open to the ideas of using another German, Pachelbel's Hexachordum Apollinis, which I have also mentioned before.

You can hear the third air and all is variations on Track 7 at Janine Johnson: German Keyboard Masters. The entire collection Hexachordum Apollinis consists of six arias each with six variations. The name of the collection refers to Apollo's mythical lyre. It was fairly common to name collections of harpsichord music after classical myth; the most monumental example must be J C F Fischer's amazing collection Musikalischer Parnassus with suites named after each of the nine muses, a work unfortunately difficult to find today.

I only plan to use the airs as models, if you don't mind. I have attached a public domain version of the entire collection because the Werner Icking Archive seems to be down. So I guess my first assignment is to play through some of the arias taking careful notice of the melody.

I have also uploaded a terrible MIDI of the first aria and its variations. It might give you a vague idea of how the pieces should sound.

Here's the Sarabande I was talking about. I know it's not that 'Baroque' in sounding, especially the Dorian harmonies in the latter half of the A section, but I used a fair few secondary dominants, and modal mixture and I'm hoping the texture is successful.

Finale is awful, as we know, so I hope you can imagine the chords being rolled, and all the other nuances of performence that are sadly lacking.

Mark

Melodic Curve

All melodies have an underlying shape, a curve that directs the notes to certain goals. I assume you have already read in books on counterpoint about the various shapes, the importance of direction and climax, etc... I suspect that you thought these requirements to be so obvious that they did not require practice. But I have found that writing a good melody is just as difficult as voice leading harmonies or working out counterpoint.




The Arch Pattern

Open up the collection Hexachordum Apollinis that I attached in that previous lesson. On page 10 you will find the third aria.

Let's observe the upper voice of the first two bars. We see a very simple melody, some rhythmic variety. Apparently nothing too spectacular. But there is purpose to the notes.

The first bar is quite obviously centers around the tonic, F. All other notes are neighbor figures. Notice that I will not call them nonharmonic tones... in this lesson we will pretend there are no harmonic implications behind the melody. Admittedly Pachelbel was considering particular harmonies while writing this, but he had learned to write catchy tunes many years before!

1. Why is F the most important note of the melody in the first bar?

The question seems deceptively simple but I am interested in your opinion. Remember, we are pretending the harmony doesn't even exist.

In the second bar we finally see some basic motion. Here we begin on G and rise to the climax, C, finally returning to G on the fourth beat. A climax is essential to a strongly directed melody. Here the climax is a short, rhythmically weak note, but if you leave it out the entire first two bars become boring.

This overall design of the two bars, the arch, is the most common in melody, the curve that begins low, rises to a climax, and gently descend again. Like Pachelbel's aria, many Baroque melodies reserve the climax for the second half of the phrase; if the "goal" is too quickly reached it is more difficult to maintain interest. Bars 5 and 6 of the third aria also show this sort of curve.

Bars 5 and 6 of the fourth aria show a more finely developed example of this pattern. We see the melody briefly descend before beginning the climb upwards to that climax, C. The melody twists and turns upwards and downwards throughout while moving towards directed goals. This melody has a range of a 7th. A quick look through most music will reveal many melodic designs; the arch pattern is the most common and I would like for you to practice it in a variety of settings.

Exercises

In these exercises you should play or better yet sing each note before writing. Make sure you write exactly what you are hearing in your mind; put as much thought into every note as you can.

For now lets not think of harmonies, other than end on a cadence figure. The sort of melody you should be aiming for should be relatively calm and singable like Pachelbel's... no virtuosic runs of solid 16th notes, mostly diatonic. Aim for varied but balanced rhythm... a few quarters, a few eighths, a few dotted rhythms, etc... You can write for any solo instrument or keyboard, but without accompaniment. Some tasteful ornamentation would also go a long way, but don't worry about it too much.

Do not start sequences or write melodies based on repeated figures or a unifying motive. Try to fit in as much variety as possible while remaining balanced and logical.

Try to aim for long uninterrupted phrases in these exercises. Lots of my ideas on melody come from Walter Piston's Counterpoint; he notes that many students seem to be short winded in terms of melody; instead strive for long, carefully thought out lines.

2. Write an arch melody, three bars long, centered around middle C, with the range of a fifth; begin in b minor and end in D Major.

3. Write an arch melody, four bars long, in the bass register, with the range of an 8ve, beginning and ending in e minor.

4. Write a melody with a curve of your own design, six bars long, centered around the C an octave above middle C, with the range of a 12th; begin in g minor and end on a half cadence.



The Descending or Ascending Pattern

Another common melodic shape is the descent from high to low or ascent from low to high. The first two bars of the fifth aria are a good example of the descent. This sort of melody feels directed, but there is no true climax. While writing a slightly ornamented melody (and I am not talking about trills or other ornaments, rather written in embellishments) we must keep in mind what notes are important and what notes are simple flourishes around a more fundamental skeleton. If we look at bars 11 and 12 in the first variation of the fifth aria, we see that the climax tone G appears to be repeated twice. But because of its rhythmic prominence, I would say that in fact the F in beat four of bar 11 is the climax. The short notes are mostly flourishes adorning a simple underlying structure.

Exercises

5. Notate in mostly eighth and quarter notes the underlying structure of the melody in bars 11 and 12 in the first variation of the fifth aria.

6. Write a slow melody of your own, two bars long in mostly quarters and eighths (sorry, I never really learned what they call these in Europe). Use any curve or key you want.

7. Write an elaborate variation on that last melody. Remember, strive for rhythmic variety but stay balanced.



Clearly you have already been thinking lately in more melodic terms; your sarabande is great!! From a harmonic standpoint some things seem odd to me, but some of those secondary dominants are awesome, and most importantly I see directed movement in the melody. Tell me a bit more about the logic behind your choices in this piece!

By the way, speaking of string instruments, you might enjoy an example of what is actually may favorite style of music, the so-called stylus phantasticus from the early 17th century. This style is based on more variety than most music, rarely sticking to an idea for more than a few bars. The instrument is the theorbo and the composer is Girolamo Kapsberger: YouTube - Toccata Number 1 by Kapsberger for Theorbo

Like before I will be doing these exercises too. Have fun and explore the possibilities carefully.

I will be reading through this lesson in detail and starting on the exercises soon

In response to your comments about my Sarabande - I'm extremely pleased you liked it. I've been having big problems recently with my music and some serious confidence issues, wondering whether I'm actually getting anywhere, or should I just give up - and so on - so hearing from you that there's a visible improvement is a massive booster.

As for the logic behind my choices; I wrote the A section originally as an exercise sentence, then once I'd harmonised it I thought that this might be suited to a Sarabande, and thought I'd try and continue it. The main motifs I developed were the initial rhythmic figure (1/4, 1/8 1/8, 1/4) and the bass pattern from the sequence in the A section. The form thus far of the devlopment was a breif recap of the main motif, before going into a two bar sequence involving seconday dominants. Again, I use the dorian idea of Major IV and Minor v, continuing that theme from the sequence in the A section. What I have concludes with a 2 bar cadential idea (utilising both motifs) and a perfect cadence on V.

From here I am unsure as to where to go, and any suggestions would be most appreciated. I'd be interested to hear what you found 'odd' about that harmony? If it was odd as in unpleasent then perhaps you could tell me a bit more? If odd as in unexpected then I'm very happy indeed.

Expect my exercises soon I'm on study leave for exams so have lots of time to kill.

Mark

I was wondering how the melody writing has been going. If you run into any trouble or have any concerns or complaints, feel free to tell! And don't feel obliged to post all at once. If you want you could begin a simple one and we could walk through it step by step with my suggestions. It naturally sounds strange, talking about walking you though something as simple and easy as melody.. but I understand that it might be difficult to appreciate right away the aspects of melody I intend these exercises to develop.

After all, its a fine attention to detail that I am looking for. And short melodies are the only way to refine melody free from distractions. After all, when writing a four voice fugue you will have more than enough trouble working out themes and motives and textures; your melody will need to be smooth and refined already. Not that it isn't yet, but I think we all have room for improvement.

So I guess you should strive for melody that makes sense aurally as well as theoretically. In a way I am asking you to really rely on instinct in choosing little details, like whether to leap by fourth or fifth, or whether to use a lower neighbor or upper, etc... It is because of that that I recommend singing, so that you get immediate feedback on every single note you write; writing at an instrument is totally appropriate too, and is another way to make sure you are perfectly transcribing what you hear in your mind.


Now what botheres me about the guitar sarabande is not the Dorian harmonies but the way you handle dissonance. The D on the third beat of the first bar could be an unaccented lower appoggiatura approached by leap from below.... but thats really pushing the idea since it is natural and feels more like descending (and I won't even mention that the E it leads to is an appoggiatura itself). Then it clashes with the D# in the next measure.

Also I was disturbed by the D (natural) in the last measure of the first half. Now don't think that it's breaking "rules" that I'm worried about, but in the Baroque style some of these elements don't fit in. So if you are experimenting with elements from other styles, know that I encourage but cannot be of much help since I know little about modern music; my only other influences are the Renaissance and the avant-garde of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. I could teach about the Renaissance and Baroque idea of modality, which is not quite what you are doing with the Dorian mode in this piece.


But otherwise, I was very pleased by the secondary dominants in the second half and the dissonant appoggiaturas on the dominants in bars 4 and 16. Overall it is a nice piece.


As for continuing it, for now I think you should just follow your ear until we finish this brief study of melody so that I can teach in more detail about the textures of the sarabande. I notice, however, that you could conveniently and logically end the piece with almost the exact same four bars it began with.

I have had some pops at melody writing, but unfortunately not enough time to have a good focussed attack at it, write everything down and complete your assignments, sorry about that The exams aren't affording me as much free time as I'd hoped. I shall hopefully have some spare time tomorrow to work at it, though I have an exam on Monday - so whether or not my parents will let me on the computer is a completely different matter! However, following my exam on Monday I have a whole week before my next one - which should hopefully be time enough to get some proper work done.

You comments on my Sarabande are interesting. Is your objection to the 7th in the first bar stylistic or musical? If the former then it's just because I treat 7ths and 9ths much more liberally than anyone in the Baroque era - to me, the only dissonances that need resolution are fourths and tritones. This is more of a personal issue, the treatmeant of dissonance, and to me the sound of a 7th that doesn't necessary resolve is quite beautiful - but I know this is a definite no no in Baroque style, and so I shall stick to being stylistically faithful as far as possible in exercises - this was just a bit of music I wanted to write, and as we'd been looking at Sarabandes I chose that idiom to work in, but with more elements of my own style. If, however, the latter - you think it's a musical problem then I should perhaps use a few more, so it doesn't stick out so much As for the Dnat -> D# - I don't feel that's that much of a problem in this case, but I understand how it could be slightly jarring, I shall avoid that sort of thing in exercises in the future.

As far as continuing it is going, I may have my 16 bar B section finished in the next few days - this would constitute my longest (and in my opinion best) composition to date

Mark

Originally Posted by Mark

You comments on my Sarabande are interesting. Is your objection to the 7th in the first bar stylistic or musical? If the former then it's just because I treat 7ths and 9ths much more liberally than anyone in the Baroque era - to me, the only dissonances that need resolution are fourths and tritones. This is more of a personal issue, the treatmeant of dissonance, and to me the sound of a 7th that doesn't necessary resolve is quite beautiful - but I know this is a definite no no in Baroque style, and so I shall stick to being stylistically faithful as far as possible in exercises - this was just a bit of music I wanted to write, and as we'd been looking at Sarabandes I chose that idiom to work in, but with more elements of my own style. If, however, the latter - you think it's a musical problem then I should perhaps use a few more, so it doesn't stick out so much As for the Dnat -> D# - I don't feel that's that much of a problem in this case, but I understand how it could be slightly jarring, I shall avoid that sort of thing in exercises in the future.

As far as continuing it is going, I may have my 16 bar B section finished in the next few days - this would constitute my longest (and in my opinion best) composition to date

Mark

Not to worry; it's like I said, I certainly encourage you to develop your own harmonic ideas, and after all, you are writing the piece for yourself. You already know that in the Baroque sevenths and ninths are usually prepared and resolved (and ninths were always suspensions, oftentimes sevenths too). Really then my objection is your second point; perhaps you should use more of these unresolved sevenths and ninths so that the two I noticed become less unexpected.



I hope that our previous lessons on harmony not only taught you the specifics of secondary dominants but also a general method to study new harmonic ideas. For example, if you want to explore tall, unresolved chords, but in a tonal context, you could write progressions using each of the diatonic ninth chords in different exercises. The difference is that you would be writing to learn rather than to practice; after playing each on the piano or Finale you can consciously decide which new effects you like the most and which are not so great.

Also I recommend you formally practice voice leading sevenths and ninths the normal way and with various sorts of preparation and resolution. Try, for example, using a chord like iv7 in various exercises: the seventh treated as a suspension, the seventh treated as a passing tone, the seventh treated as a border tone, the seventh treated as an appoggiatura, the seventh resolved up by step, the seventh resolved down by leap, etc..., carefully listening to the effect of each.




Oddly enough my own tendencies go in the opposite direction, towards increased consonsance... you may have noticed I rarely use seventh chords or even diminished chords in my music. My boldest harmonic experiments are with a chromatic and consonant style; look at

Chromatic Chorale - eSnips, share anything

and parts of

Das Alte Jahr vergangen ist - Partita Prima - eSnips, share anything,

not to mention my interest in microtonality.




I have two questions for you to carefully consider:

1. What effect, if any, do unresolved sevenths and ninths have on the tonal system? Do they strengthen tonality or weaken it, or do they affect tonality in an entirely different way?

2. What effect, if any, do unresolved sevenths and ninths have on counterpoint? The major difference to consider is that in the old system dissonances are not in the chord (whether a passing tone or 7th, the dissonances are treated as embellishing an essentially consonant base); with unresolved sevenths and ninths, dissonances are chord members rather than melodic embellishment. Do those sevenths and ninths strengthen or weaken counterpoint?

Your points are interesting: I think I will now get some more practice at using 7ths and 9ths, resolving them in different ways, not resolving them, and trying to become more familier with their sounds and effect. I always think that, when unresolved, 7ths (besides dominant and diminished 7ths) make things sound more relaxed, and add a 'peaceful' colour to the music. 9ths have a similar effect (though minor 9ths are horrible in my opinion ).

I'm don't think they strengthen the tonal system, as the tonal system is based on tension and realease, and 7ths create (though very very mild) tension, and not resolving them is robbing the listener of the 'release' that resolving them would give. Thus, I think they weaken the tonal system - and I'm all for it

As for counterpoint - I think counterpoint applies to all music, whatever harmonic rules apply. Counterpoint (to me) is more about the way the parts interact than what the notes are. For example - counterpoint is equally important in the works of Bach, and of Bartok - Bartok certainly doesn't follow the same rules when it comes to treatment of dissonance, and harmony in general -but counterpoint is there and is jsut as important as it is in the Bach. So, I think counterpoint is not affected by unresolved 7ths and 9ths. unless of course you were refering only to Counterpoint as it was used in the Baroque, in which cae all of what I've said is utter crap