Invention No. 1

Hey everyone,

I wrote this song for solo and ensemble festival, but I later found out that you can't write your own music :( which is stupid because (IMO) I would consider that an original piece of music...

Nevertheless, I did write it, and I sorta stopped it after I found out that I couldn't do it anyway, so I might continue it on or leave it as the same.

I entitled this piece "Invention No. 1" sorta going after Bach's Inventions, some of my favorite songs( i did a sax duet of invention no. 8 last year [my all time favorite invention] and also did it on piano) And I wrote it to somewhat reflect how his songs went, where one voice starts and the second voice does the same thing just a measure later.

This is my third complete song, so it won't exactly be as good as one might expect.. so...

I hope ya'll enjoy Invention No. 1 for two saxophones.

Inventionno1.mid

invention1.pdf

Ooh, a Lilypond user, eh? Cool beans. XD

Hehe, this sounds like my first experiments in a sequencer, just runs of notes in harmonies. Makes sense, if it's your third complete work. I don't mean to be a scallop about it, but you called this a song, when it's really a piece. ('Songs' have lyrics, generally... ) Anyways, this is not the greatest invention I've seen, but it's a nice start, I noticed some Bach influence, in a cadence or two, a few patterns, etc. Other things were way out of style. If you are trying to write an authentic Bach invention-like work, you have a lot to learn. Most important of all I think - watch your parallel intervals. Bach is all about counterpoint and follows very strict rules. It might help to study his inventions very closely and see how the elements slide together. Parallel intervals (such as Measure 9, 13, 16, 23, and other places as well where both voices (left hand and right hand) are doing the same exact thing only on different notes) are pretty much sins in counterpoint and should be avoided at all costs when writing authenticate counterpoint. The reason we use counterpoint like Bach did is that because if you do not follow the rules, the work can wind up sounding very immature and cheap, sorta like what happened to your piece here. But believe me when I say you will get better at this over time, because you will.

A few other things that stick out to me are lack of articulations. You are a wind player, go ahead and throw articulations in there, slurs, tonguing, etc. Helps make phrases more clear. Repeated notes... rather boring in this context. We try to avoid those unless they are the premise of a whole piece in baroque music. Measures 9 and 27 are the offenders here, they sound rather cheap and elementary. Also, fragmentation. You appear to suffer a great deal of this, you end one idea, pause, then pick up another. If you look at Bach's works, except in some chorales you'll rarely find pauses such as these, they impede the flow of the piece. Consider putting segues from one idea to the next and keep ideas flowing. Also, vary your cadences, modulate from time to time and don't stick on the same tone center throughout the piece.

Good luck with your next endeavor, and keep working, you'll get much better with each completed work. ;)

Ooh, a Lilypond user, eh? Cool beans. XD

A few other things that stick out to me are lack of articulations.

yeah I wrote those in there but the computer crashed on my when I tried saving it so I said "forget it!" and haven't re-entered them in

And thanks so much for your critisism! I will take all your advice when writing my next piece (not song) which.. I want to arrange Greensleeves, in spirit of the holidays, since that is my favorite christmas song.

thanks again!

Mathieu

Greensleeves is a very nice tune, best of luck with it. ;)

Ooh, a Lilypond user, eh? Cool beans. XD

Hehe, this sounds like my first experiments in a sequencer, just runs of notes in harmonies. Makes sense, if it's your third complete work. I don't mean to be a scallop about it, but you called this a song, when it's really a piece. ('Songs' have lyrics, generally... ) Anyways, this is not the greatest invention I've seen, but it's a nice start, I noticed some Bach influence, in a cadence or two, a few patterns, etc. Other things were way out of style. If you are trying to write an authentic Bach invention-like work, you have a lot to learn. Most important of all I think - watch your parallel intervals. Bach is all about counterpoint and follows very strict rules. It might help to study his inventions very closely and see how the elements slide together. Parallel intervals (such as Measure 9, 13, 16, 23, and other places as well where both voices (left hand and right hand) are doing the same exact thing only on different notes) are pretty much sins in counterpoint and should be avoided at all costs when writing authenticate counterpoint. The reason we use counterpoint like Bach did is that because if you do not follow the rules, the work can wind up sounding very immature and cheap, sorta like what happened to your piece here. But believe me when I say you will get better at this over time, because you will.

A few other things that stick out to me are lack of articulations. You are a wind player, go ahead and throw articulations in there, slurs, tonguing, etc. Helps make phrases more clear. Repeated notes... rather boring in this context. We try to avoid those unless they are the premise of a whole piece in baroque music. Measures 9 and 27 are the offenders here, they sound rather cheap and elementary. Also, fragmentation. You appear to suffer a great deal of this, you end one idea, pause, then pick up another. If you look at Bach's works, except in some chorales you'll rarely find pauses such as these, they impede the flow of the piece. Consider putting segues from one idea to the next and keep ideas flowing. Also, vary your cadences, modulate from time to time and don't stick on the same tone center throughout the piece.

Good luck with your next endeavor, and keep working, you'll get much better with each completed work. ;)

Parallel intervals are not a sin in counterpoint... at all. They are all over the place in Bach's inventions.

EDIT: This was a bit of an exaggeration. They aren't quite "all over the place" heh.

just out of curiosity, since I'm still in the beginnings of my composing career.. Would the best approach the the road of success be to start with duets, trios and quartets; then eventually progress my way up to the full band? To me (at least at this very point in time) writing for full band seems like a daunting task. Or should writing for a band (or orchestra for that matter) be something like a novel where you work on it bite by bite, and be totally in my reach right now?

I can hear the music in my head, but right now it seems like there is no possible way I could ever write it down.. or should I write to down, just the way I hear it, but bite by bite, little by little (pocco et pocco? XD)

*poco a poco

*petit

Greensleeves is a very nice tune, best of luck with it. ;)

Since when? :O