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oh i didnt know it had to be in 3/4. also i was also thinking about getting rid of the suspended chords. the reharsal markings are just for how it is split up, i'm not gonna include them in the final product. tysm for the feedback :D

Hey @Markus Boyd ! I thought I would just add my 2¢ with regards to the question of how to end your piece. There are lots of options! I don't recommend a fadeout since it would be the cheapest and easiest. I personally also don't hear your current ending as a mistake. The only thing that's a bit out of character for the rest of the piece is the picardy third itself. It you simply changed that E natural to an Eb at the end, it would go a long way towards remedying the problem. I have taken the liberty of making my own version of your ending based on @Luis Hernández 's suggestion of using a kind of Phrygian cadence: AncientRuinMB.mp3

OK. They’re different things. I don’t think these systems can be compared because their foundations are very different. That doesn’t prevent them from being used in combination or simultaneously. What I said in my previous message applies to anything in music. If you introduce something completely unrelated to what’s playing—suddenly—and it doesn’t reappear… it will be perceived as a mistake. That’s why, if I were to do something like that (and I know I’ve done it many times—after all, modal exchange in tonal harmony is based on this very principle), I would combine both systems as the piece unfolds, so that it doesn’t sound strange. Repetition in music gives a piece familiarity, coherence, and memorability. Another way to do this—though I think it goes beyond what you’re aiming for, since it sounds much more radical—is what was common in Bartók’s music: polymodal chromaticism. That is, writing simultaneously in two modes. One can be tonal and functional, and the other can be non-tonal. Here: BARTÓK: CROMATICISMO POLIMODAL

You have created a guide on harmony! Awesome! So many of us are prepared to impart knowledge and experience without a single penny. I think such things are a wonderful testament to the commitment and passion of this community.

Allow me to offer my interpretation: When it comes to the basics of music composition, there are two fundamental concepts/ vocabulary: Melody and Harmony. Melody describes the side-to-side motion of music. Harmony is the up-and-down motion of music, aka chords. Think of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or of your favorite movie theme; what you might notice is that you can sing or hum the tune pretty close, however can you also sing the chords? Most likely, the answer should be no, as chords contain multiple notes played together/ at the same time, which is something the average person cannot do. Thus, when it comes to creating a melody or adding harmony, we tell our brain to think in one or two ways. As Markus was describing, the entire ensemble plays the same note/ pitch a lot. Straight away, looking at beat one of measures (mm.) one and two, both Violins and Viola play the same pitches: Bar 1 = F4 (F above middle C), Bar 2 = D4 (D right next to middle C). When played live by a quartet, you'll immediately hear that the music doesn't sound "full" or "rich," instead, it will just sound like the same note distinctly louder than the cello. If you want the ensemble to sound full, you need the instruments to occupy the other pitches of a chord. Since you say this work is in D-minor, then immediately in the opening chord, we expect to see D-F-A. However, your chord is missing an A-natural and the result is a thin sound. To give body and foundation to the opening bar, add an A-natural in the Viola, and move Violin 2 down to D-natural. By making a change such as this, you will make the opening chord strong and resonant; to add, with F-natural being in Violin 1, it will naturally stand out and draw attention to the instrument versus having three instruments do the same thing. Now apply this thinking to other measures in the work. Instead of doubling pitches and repeating things, try to fill out the instruments by making them sustain different pitches of a chord; allow them to be unique and enjoyable. Attached on this comment is my educational PDF, and mp3 for the examples, on understanding Melody and Harmony. It was made for a different user, so please excuse the pronouns or context in the latter half of the document. (Which I need to update). PDF-Undstanding Melody.pdfPDF-Undstanding Melody.mp3