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I started an outline for a short piece (a Tarantella) several years ago, but I never finished it. So I decided to finish it now. It is written in 6(8 (as usual for Tarantella´s) but I also considered a 2/4-th meter. What is your opinion? I would appreciate your feedback. I wish everyone a nice Easter!

Greetings. It has been a while since I posted something on this forum. So, I want to present a composition of mine, which I started working on in December 2022. However, the piece was finished after a six-month hiatus because I severely lacked inspiration. This Humoresque is a short piece for violin and piano, and I named it "Acciaccatura Study" since the main theme features grace notes in the violin part. As you might know, I rarely write chamber music and do not play the violin, so I may need advice on some aspects of violin part writing, such as bowing, double stopping, and harmonics. Let me know what you think about this piece. For the violinists: are the bow directions comfortable? Also, are the double stops playable on the violin? How about other aspects, such as staccatos and harmonics? Carl Koh Wei Hao P.S. The audio was generated on MuseScore 2.3.2. Acciaccatura Study.mp3

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and as I dig into the music that's posted here, this question always pops up. How do you associate the relevance in your music compared to the world we live in in 2023? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for learning. I'll be doing it my whole life. But there comes a time when you (in my opinion) need to apply your studies of Beethoven/Bach/Mozart/whoeverfromthepast to our current musical escapades. How has musical language evolved? How has the technological implications of our time effected your music? Where and how do you see yourself in comparison with your peers? There are so many posts of neo-classical/baroque style music. It sounds great. But what does it accomplish? What are you going for with your style of composition? I'm so driven to have my own unique musical voice, using inspiration from my classical heroes and applying it to today's standards. What are your motivations when writing? I always try and voice my music through a megaphone of the world and time I live in. For instance, what if you wrote a baroque fugue with a synthesizer? Or what if you took your love of Beethoven's late string quartets and applied it to a more unique ensemble? I'm saying all of this because I want anyone who loves music composition as much as I do to not fall into irrelevancy. Why write what they did in the past so well that you fall into a pit of "I'd rather listen to Bach" versus having your own unique touch accompanied by the technology our current time has to offer? Are we as composers failing to grasp this? I just wrote 12 piano preludes, which centered around all the tonal centers (No.11 was unique as it was ominous until the last B-centered chord) . Was that good enough? Was it just an exercise to demonstrate my skill as a composer? I live near Denver, Colorado. I've seen the CSO numerous times. But it all seems so pompous, so elitist. What about all the great popular music that I go see my friends play in those grimey clubs in Denver? I've heard horrible music, but I've heard moments of genius. Why is it that I'm expected to like certain things from people with fancy music degrees, but the busker on the street plays something that I've never heard before strikes me emotionally deeper? I know I'm rambling a bit, but my overall question is this: with all that we've learned with music, no matter how much at an academic level, how can we stay relevant in our current time? I'm tired of hearing stories of well trained and exceptional composers dying and suffering in our streets because they don't know how to be relevant in today's world of music. So many people that post here have so much talent, but what is it? A hobby? A leisure activity? What is the purpose you're writing for? Are you trying to emulate the masters of the past? So what if you write like Mozart did. It's 2023... how can you apply that knowledge and skill to our world today? We've come so far in harmony, and melody, and rhythm...was does your imitation prove? Again, if you're posting something as a learning device, or a test of skill in that time period's realm of craft, then fine. But what do you aspire to? I know I sound like a tedious broken record, but I think we should all strive for some relevance today. I could list numerous examples of musicians/composers/bands that are striving for innovation into an unforeseen realm of music, I just wish that what's posted here reflected that same ambition that I strive for. I'm no hero...I'll always consider myself a noob and student. But... do you all feel as I do? Or is the latest post of a Mozart replica enough to garnish a comment here and there? I'm just questioning what all of our endgame is; like I said, post some pastiche copy of Bach if you will... we'll be here to let you know the technicality and relevance your music has to the studious mind. But I always question the motivation of a composer, and what they strive for in their own musical language. How is it relevant in competing with today's world? I'm a guitarist, and I have students bringing in 8 string guitars to show me the wonderful and brutal language of the metal world. Or what about the Asian students of music that took classical European music and made tonal gems of their own. Or what of the Spanish foundation of the fingerpicking of today's brilliant gypsy jazz music I hear so much. I'm rambling yet again. I just question the motive of the posts here, and what the end-goal is with what you're posting. Are you here to just promote you music? Are you looking for feedback to get better as a composer in 2023, and not seek some ego-feeding feedback of your music that only holds relevance 200 years ago? Are we all not trying to grow as composers in a world stricken by the threat of AI trying to replace us? Let me know your feedback if you're interested... this is something that has plagued my mind and soul and heart as a composer for a while being on this forum. Again, I'm all for imitation to get better at your craft...but where are all the Polyphia copies....where are all the relevant posts that demonstrate the knowledge of the past but the pursuit of innovation and creativity of the future? This is something that I always strive for, and even if the end product doesn't meet the demand, it's something that I'm going for in my own music. Hopefully this provokes some discussion, as it's a pervasive thought that lingers when I write music.

Edit: I changed the structure of the piece a little bit after posting this on youtube and used the fast section as a sort of coda for the piece. The new final version is attached as an audio file.

Hi everyone! I am presenting the fourth movement of my Piano Sonata no.2 in A-flat major. The previous 3 movements are now all sorted in the post of the 1st movement one so if you are interested, go and check them out! This is my favourite movement of the entire sonata. First it's in C sharp minor, my favourite key. Second it really has something personal in it. The structure of it is very simple: 00:03 First Part, melody in right hand and octave accompaniment in LH 04:13 Second Part. original melody to the right with added Lamentoso in RH 07:34 Coda. Is that a dark reply to the first movement? The movement is named a "Lyrics" for me. Chinese poems are known to be lyrics, rather than long epics like those of Homer or Milton or Goethe. I'm trying to adapt the rhythm of Tang Poem, Lüshi here which contains five or seven words in each sentence with standard rhythm to recite it. It also contains many couplets. With reference to it I have a standard rhythm maintaining all over the movement and is having many couplets musically. In the first part the LH keeps having the octave accompaniment which can be boring but for me it helps create an unsettling feeling. In the second part, the original melody in the RH of the first part is transferred to the LH, while a lamentoso is added in the right hand. The coda returns to the first part version of the meldoy, but look at the ending. Is that a dark deeply or quotation to the con delore section of the first movement, b.82-98? The tragedy uncertain there is confirmed here. I myself feel like this movement is quite unrelated thematically to the rest of the sonata. But it's related in a different way. It represents the real hurdle in the subconscious finally emerges in front of you. The unsettling C# minor (Db minor) is hinted all over the first three movements: The con delore section (b.82-98) in first movement, that surprising Db minor cadence near the end of the second movement (which by the way is the answer of why there's agitation there), and the coda of the third movement tainted by Db minor. All prepares for this movement. I find this piece somewhat similar to the second movement of Schubert's D960, which is also in C sharp minor, but only after finishing this sonata. The movement for me is very dark hence very personal. I'm sure I have something dark personally and here it's expressed authentically. I literally get depressed every time after listening to this movement. How do you feel? Do you feel this movement boring or so with so slow a tempo and unchanging things? Let me know! As usual I'm going to attach the PDF and mp3 of the movement: Piano Sonata no.2 4th mov 26-04-2023.pdf Piano Sonata no.2 4th mov.mp3 (Please ignore the first three lines of p.1 as it's from 3rd movement!) And as usual I will attach the youtube video here of the scored version of the movement. There's some delay of the visual here though LoL... Please subscribe my channel! (Self advertising LoL!!!!!!!!!) Hope you all "enjoy" the movement! The fifth movement and the finale of the sonata will be a long way to go, as I don't start practicing it due to busy schedule and other accompanying stuff to do. See you soon! Henry

On the topic of 1st inversions/inversion is general ---Did some quick research: First inversion chords serve as good harmonic replacements for root position chords. As we will learn next week, second inversion chords do not because they are too harmonically unstable. This is the rule I use/am familiar with Also: There are two main reasons to use first inversion chords: Using any chord inversion in addition to root position gives more variety to a piece of music Using any chord inversion allows for a more melodic bassline So beyond this, my only question is WHY WOULDN'T WE use inversions when we can? After all variety is the spice of life. (And the source of many, many divorces, it must be said.)

J.L.G... Thank you for the listen and comments! They mean a lot to me. You clearly know your business. As for the 1st inversions. That first chord really sets the character for the theme--a little whistful, indefinite. So the first reason, and the major reason for most of what ended up in this (where I had intention) was how it SOUNDED. I'm a Mendelssohn fan, and the 1st inversion just seemed in character. Henry has also been on me, and I did make a few changes early. But to be honest, I like it. Root position seems a little overly strident... So, am I to understand-- and I read this NOWHWERE--that composers use root postion chords?-- Period. If I were to review the literature, this is what I would find? Seems a waste of harmonic resources. Of course, it makes the mental work a heck of a lot easier. I'm just not understanding the whys. Are there exceptions? Ever? Even POP songs don't religiously hold to root position (outside of AC/DC and the heavy metal types...). The pauses at a approx 1:14 and 5:10 were for dramatic effect prior to the more elaborate closing cadence. I could eaisly fill it with notes/anacrusis but I think it would weaken the entry. Maybe wrong, but I do have a reason. Again, my ear likes it. Though I will admit, writing less choppy and more through-composed segments is on my list of priorities. I'm glad you like the return/transposition to the A theme! So did I. It came to me when I was going off to sleep, as some of these problem's solution do. And the first attempt held. The problem? The return is in D! The dominant! I liked it so much, and it seemed right, so I just went with it. The sonics came off different, giving the return a bit of a brighter feel. REAL string players would definitely give it a different feel! Henry brought up the idea of an attaca move ot the last movement (D). This would work fine and cover my faux pas. On the other hand, if it works? I wanted a light scherzo in A to follow... Anyhow. In my defense, this is my 3rd piece. I was honestly so pleased with the modulation IN/OUT of the minor that I didn't want to tempt fate. I DEFINTELY will pay more attention moving forward. All that said, maybe my personal preferences-- 1st inversions, dramatic pauses, weird modulations...begin to form my own style. I mean, short of things being flat out WRONG? If I write and harmonize melodies like everybody else, listeners can go listen to anybody else... Thank you for the compliments-- I played violin for some time and know it somewhat well, on top of listening, and string quartet collecting is a hobby within this hobby, so I'm sure both helped a good deal as far a making the string writing effect to the extent it is. I am very fond of the rocking, grinding triplets harmonizing the minor section.... Frankly, I am BURNT OUT on this piece right now. I am working up the ideas for the 1st movement: minor key intro, building up from a single voice (cello) fugato (Im thinking Harlod in Italy---LOVE the intro from Hector), then D major unison statement....all convention for the literature, but it will obviously be a first for me....Exciting, exhausting, fueling, consuming at the same time! I'm considering formal piano lessons with a side of theory/composiiton. My technique is a limit on compositional execution of ideas, and frankly I'd like to be a lot better at sight reading. I'm glad you characterize this piece as having potential! It started as a bit of a dog, but I worked through a lot of problems until it started to sound right. Also thinking it might be the experience of a lifetime if I got a few movements together and funded a workshop with actual musicians to play through them. Just a thought. I would like to revist this when the 1st movement is done and revise it in light of the 1st and the critiques I've received. Maybe consider it then? See if it is **literally** worth it. Cetainly an incentive to work hard! Thank you again for your time and comments! Trust me, I know it is a precious commodity...

Ah, relevance. Here's a question for you: why is it even important to be "relevant" as a composer? I've never understood this. It certainly doesn't matter to me, though it does to a great many others who worry about it unduly. I for one want nothing about this crazy modern world to have even the slightest influence on my art. I'm very happy indeed being relevant to an earlier time and place, namely 18th Century Europe. In the last few years, I have had a two motets, an anthem (admittedly in a more modern style), three chamber works, a Sinfonia Concertante, and a symphony of mine premiered by professional and competent amateur ensembles - the Sinfonia Concertante was even performed by an historically informed performance (HIP) ensemble on period instruments - and those are just the performances I know of (thank you IMSLP). The fact that my music isn't in the slightest "relevant" to our times doesn't seem to be hurting me any. Why should I worry about relevance? I'd rather beautify the world in my own way. I'm so fortunate that attitudes toward historicist composers are changing rapidly for the better. I fought long and hard to get where I am. It was as if I knew someday there would be a turnaround of values. If some of y'all want to spend your creative time beating the dead horse of "relevance," racking your brains trying to achieve that goal instead of just concentrating on making beautiful music, go ahead, I won't stop you. But I submit that your time and energy could be better spent just expressing yourself as best you can. Whatever you do, I wish you the best of luck.

Hello Quinn St. Mark, Welcome to the forum! This is a well-written étude, and you must have an excellent harmonic vocabulary! Modulations are smooth, and the harmonic progressions are cleverly employed. However, the transition to the main theme from 1:16 to 1:25 may be unnecessarily long, making the piece a little bland. I suggest shortening this passage to four bars (I assume this piece is written in 2/4 time) unless it is intended to strengthen certain piano playing skills. Overall, this étude is well-structured, and I find this piece engaging and enjoyable. I look forward to listening to more of your compositions! Carl Koh Wei Hao

very philosophical, and more unfitting for me given the type of work I work, but anyway I could share some thoughts as well The bases of most music foundations are the human voice, even for instrumental music. Perhaps we can also extrapolate to the imitation of the worldly sounds as well. So how well had the different periods of music fare? That's not for me alone to decide, but I'd say the music throughout the ages had accomplished a lot. That is why I have a strong resistance to atonal music if it is written just for the sake of atonality. You don't just stick a banana on a wall and call it art. That being said, I think we can also look at other forms of art as reference. Not that I am well versed in any of those, but I suppose water colour, oil painting or manga styles all represent different techniques and cultures but can still be utilised today, and they were coming from different time points in the human history. So in general I don't think pieces wrote in supposedly older styles are any less relevant by virtue of their style alone. Not every new piece should sound like Berg or Schoenberg or something idk. (That being said I strongly think >90% of music composed this age should not use alberti bass -_-, that is the one thing I think everyone should actively avoid >_<) I think Henry's point that we are all human has a point. Originality is perhaps most important, but just how many composers can you possibly avoid sounding like? Past the first Viennese school you still have Clementi, Dussek, Hummel, Czerny, Field, past Elgar and Grieg you still have Popper and Britten, and then you have film music and game music composers who made a lot of great music as well, you cannot just sound like nobody else imo. EDIT: Music being composed should serve a purpose, like an occasion or a narrative. But I think even just to serve the composer's introspects alone is a well valid purpose. So for example, if you post your works here I assume you wouldn't try to make a living out of it? I guess the question becomes "Why do you post your own works?" I won't name any particular user, for I might be guilty of this too, but if you are just posting pieces back to back without actually performing them live or in recording, or interact with other users, then the next question we must ask is "Why bother?". Because frankly time is short.

Hi! I downloaded the score first and was immediately offput by the 1st inversion in the bass in the first chord, and some other inversion issues I found a little later, including one involving parallel octaves with the top voice. I decided to just listen to the piece for effect without reading along with the score - maybe you're not trying for what I'm expecting - and I'm kind of glad I did. I'm still not happy with a lot of what you're doing in the bass line - you seem to have an aversion to root position chords, but I'll get over it. All that said, it's a lovely melody. The sudden empty space around 1:14 didn't make sense to me. Love the shift to minor around 2:45. The piano filigree at 3:25 is nice. Nice return to the A theme. Again, the empty space at around 5:10 - not sure what that's about so suddenly. Your treatment of the strings is idiomatically good, so kudos there. If the movement is in G, why did you end it in D? Doesn't make sense to me, but no doubt you had a reason. Overall a very pretty piece! There is a great deal of potential here, and you're obviously not afraid to revise. Keep at it!

Hi @Carl Koh Wei Hao, I think this is a really delightful and graceful little rondo piece, It's very elegant and I really have nothing to say except enjoy it! Sad I'm not a violinist, but I think they should be fine. I just hope there will be more melodic importance for piano as a pianist haha (except in b.72 when the melody goes to piano)! But this is absolutely fine for a piece featuring violin and I'm just fulfilling my selfish wish here! Thanks for sharing Carl! Henry

I felt a bit miserable, I hit record and improvised around a theme that suited my mood. Listening back, my ears wanted to hear the rising staccato motif played in counterpoint which would have sounded cool i think. The second improv is short and sweet, it sounds familiar somehow and it got me thinking about where in my mind the music comes from. Just as our personalities are a mixing pot of every person we've interacted with, our speech is like a kaleidoscope of all the conversations we've had, our music when played on the fly must be like the twisting of a kaleidoscope where all the colourful pieces are just getting mixed about.

Hi, Henry I am really impressed with your compositions and artistically your seem to be going through a black phase where you want to express the depths of grief? I found the piece relaxing to listen to and not as dark as your perception of it. Nothing exists, except in contrast to its opposite, and when you try to grasp anything outside of that dichotomy there's just emptiness. That sounds like some deep philosophical thought but it's not. Light without darkness won't impress anything on consciousness like the way a fish doesn't see the water. Mozart used dissonance in one of his string quartets in a striking way so that the bright melodies that follow gleamed brighter still. It was clever AF because if you take the dark beginning away, the movement seems trivial. The idea of a contrasting intro wasn't anything new but here it is at the extreme opposite of the emotional spectrum. Your movement is certainly dark but it's not hitting with the pathos that it could be and at times feels lost in its sadness. The repetitive bass adds an element of reassurance and stability and has an almost funeral march quality. I've never been a fan of cluster notes so low down, they ought to be used for effect rather than sustenance. The romantics enjoyed using them following beethoven but without contrast the effect is lost for me. I enjoyed the contrast of the quicker higher notes and they came with some relief. I then thought, that may be the effect you wanted to achieve, to give contrast to the finale which may be beautifully bright. What effect do you want the listener to have? How do you want us to feel when listening? The bass line is relaxing in it's reassuring repetitiveness and doesn't hit any anxiety buttons for me. The weight of the bass can be tiring for the listener if silence isn't introduced strategically so that the return of the bass catches your attention. One thing in music I've noticed is that the landscape introduced to the listener has its effect depending on what's happened before. For example, even a piece of really simple music can be striking when reaching a climax that takes one of its elements to its extreme, whether that maybe the dynamics, register, dissonance amongst consonance. If you play pp for a minute and then play f, that will impress the listener more than playing ff throughout. I never quite understood why romantics want to dazzle with brilliance sustained for so long, or a heavy bass that's unrelenting. It doesn't create the effect desired and just de-sensitises the listener. Although it can be fun to dazzle. There are happier moments in your piece, major chords to break the minor for a while but not enough to affirm a dichotomy. The piece for me, while very clever harmonically!! Is missing direction and it may be me but there wasn't quite the harmonic sign posting that the classical era used. You know where you are in a piece because for example a pedal bass with harmony relating to the, I forgot the word, basically if you were in C major you first go to G and near the end you can play with F, if it's over a pedal it has an effect of sign posting you to the end. I hope I'm making sense with what I've been saying. I think your music is very clever and your playing is at a professional level, very impressive for us on a mostly amateur site like this. We are lucky to have you with your broad knowledge of music and kind encouragement. It doesn't go unnoticed. I haven't studied music theory yet, I mostly play and compose by ear so I know I have much to learn from you and others like you on here. I can only speak from a listeners perspective really. I look forward to the last movement. I hope it ends in major! Have you heard Mozarts E minor violin sonata, the way it reaches E major after those heavy sighs, I literally cried for two days after hearing that! I felt his grief, I lost my mother too and it hit me so hard, I kept replaying it over and over. I hope you'll use light to really hit the listener after hearing minor chords for so long, you can plan it to reach a point where the music feels defeated and then God pulls you in close like comforting a child. Music can be so powerful.

Hi @ComposedBySam, This indeed is a great consolation! Your music is always sensitive and emotional for me and this one is no exception. The beginning is really warm and I love your 7th notes and suspension. That modulation to C Aeolian in b.16 is beautiful. The second section in b. 28 is lovely! B.34 definitely reminds me Chopin's mazurka. I love your final version by having the initial part back before getting into the thunderstorm. For me the part lead to the agitated b.80 is a little bit abrupt but that's personal. For the ending I love your first version more (that is the YT section) since you have the initial section back and for me this will create a rondo form with the centre on consolation. Here I feel like the ending is a little bit sudden and I would like to have this agitation consoled as well! But overall this is a lovely piece and thanks for sharing Sambuddha! Henry

It's been a while, Sam! But as always, your work is always great to listen to. I liked it!

I was inspired listening to Henry's C minor piece from 2012. It's brilliant. And you wrote that at school? How old were you? It's virtuosic and mature in its expression.

It starts off quite strong.... Perhaps with a reminder of Carmina Burana. The central part is a good contrast, but I think the intensity of the piece is very homogeneous.

Hey, Panta Rei Im feeling a bit hypermanic so i apologise if this turns into a short book! Thank you for taking the time to listen to my music and your encouraging feedback, it means the world to me to share my passion for such a niche musical interest and to know there are others out there just like me! I do have a bit of an odd memory for music. It's not as helpful as it might seem at first because it gets in the way of learning to sight read, once I've played something a couple of times I can't see the notes anymore and my fingers do the work while my mind relaxes. I find that exposing myself to many works at once is kind of helpful to prevent me from memorising instead of sight reading but my brain then adapts so I give up! Lol I have about 10 compositions to write down, they are in the ether of my mind but when I sit down to write them I just get more ideas and my attention deficit gets in the way and before I know it I'm down a tangent. I don't know if there is an upward limit to what my memory can hold and I'm sure they will degrade in time if I don't write them down. I forgot the ending of a minuet I was composing in another recording on here, although to be fair there were months of not playing at all between composition and me returning to it, so I just got distracted with a fantasy and posted it on here. When I was a kid I used to see if I could play an entire mozart piano concerto in my head and try not to get distracted. I have a juke box of a brain and I can listen to music even when I have no ear phones in. My wife sometimes would ask me, what are you doing when I'm staring into space. I'd reply, I'm listening to music! Or, I'm composing the rest of my minuet. I'll upload a piece I composed in my minds ear while in the shower. It's not great to be honest but maybe it'll be of interest in the context of this discussion. I've got the same problem with my eyes too. My mind collects pictures all day and they can get overwhelming especially when I've been outside and I have to transition from noisy outside environment to a quiet indoor environment. I can see so many pictures of the pavements ive walked on, peoples faces, weird details that are unnecessary and just overwhelm my senses. Also sometimes I can't shake off scary things ive seen which I wish I could because its exasperated my ptsd. My 4 year old son is even weirder than me! He didn't speak at all until he was 2 and a half and we discovered he taught himself to read at the level of an 8 year old! He learned through watching educational YouTube videos that I put on for him. He now has a strong American accent which is embarrassing because it shows that he watches too much TV. I had no idea he was soaking it all up. He approached me one morning while I was relaxing on the sofa and recited the planets to me in the correct order. I never mentioned them before, I then taught him 'and pluto' at the end lol. He memorised hours of TV and would speak along to episodes while not even looking at the screen. He would just stare at me while speaking all the words. It could go on for an hour. It was spooky. He's autistic like me but his memory is phenomenal. I wish I recorded it back when he first showed me that he could actually talk if you showed him the written words. He's hyperlexic like me but on another level. I'm separated from his mum now but I know if I gave him piano lessons he would really shine musically. My improvisations are generally second runs, meaning the first run I search for a theme and my playing is less coherent where I'm experimenting and looking for a new sound. Once I've found something I get excited and inspired and hit record to see what happens. When I sit at the piano for the second run I don't know what will come out, I lose myself in the patterns. These patterns are mostly learned chord sequences and melodic filler words (kind of like common ways of saying things that we all use, such as 'would you pass the salt' rather than coming up with a new way of saying it like, 'may i interupt your dining experience briefly so that you may facilitate me seasoning my food with the salt that is slightly out of reach of my hand'). We learn these common ways of saying things and its true of music too. When I learn a new piece I pay attention to what the composer is doing and if I see something new and cool I will play with it to see how it works and then it becomes another learned pattern. I'm aware of two approaches to learning to compose. The first is what you will learn in college. You'll learn music theory and it's very helpful in solving musical problems but it won't teach you how to express yourself musically. Music is a language and it can be spoken or written just like English. Imagine if your first encounter with English was a grammar book and dictionary; It wouldn't be that useful. The second approach is to sit at a piano, learn patterns and sequences that your fingers, eyes and ears can understand and then you play with those patterns and bit by bit musical thoughts appear not unlike how we learn language as children. We often correct children when they over apply patterns gleaned from generalisations such as putting -ed on the end of every verb to denote a past action. Exceptions to the rules have to be learned and constructions such the, 'ship sink-ed to the bottom of the ocean' is normal for kids developing their first language. This way of learning language, to look for patterns, generalisations and apply them is true of music I believe. Learning to play the music of others, improvising, and composing are all important parts in learning music as a language I believe. If you ommit any in favour of another you will not fully grasp the language in my opinion. Sure, theory is important just as grammar in English is important but sitting at the piano and playing with patterns is the way Mozart learned to compose as a child and it was the way that the Italians taught music through illucidating the common patterns. Beethoven when receiving theory lessons remarked that he wasn't learning anything new that he hadn't already discovered himself through playing the music of others. Except for more complex theory of course such as counterpoint and higher SATB theory. I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's not as impressive as it seems that I improvise, and I encourage everyone that enjoys composing in the galant style to spend as much time playing with the patterns you learn in theory books and discover the patterns for yourself when you sit down and learn a sonata for example. I hope I've made sense. Also, thank you for recommending the Beethoven piece. I knew I had heard something similar but couldn't put my finger on it. The descending octave played staccato is probably taken from that piece but I don't often listen to Beethoven so I don't know for sure. I'm a Mozart fan but I will admit begrudginly the Eroica symphony is better than the Jupiter symphony but the 4th movement of the Jupiter still gives me goosebumps so I still prefer it. I also prefer Mozart's restraint and orderliness, Beethoven was looking for a new sound because he was bored by the enlightenment and wanted passion to guide the way. My personality prefers the balance and poise of the pre-romantic era but I do like a bit of noise sometimes. I'll upload my really old composition that I composed in the shower. It's only short.

Hi, this is a pice I wrote some time ago (I think I uploaded it here) but I have made many corrections. I love the sound of this "classical" keyboards, but they sound a bit "dirty" by themselves. In my first version (I was unaware of many things) there were chords too thick in the lower register and the result was no good. Now it's fixed. On the other hand, as I always try when writing tonal modern music, I don't like to stick to usual progressions. I believe harmony is a rich universe to explore. I used tensions, unexpected resolutions chords that are major an minor at the same time, rootless chords, linear harmony, etc...