fugue #3

I did this contrapuntal tune today. It's unfinished, please find flaws and advise me to fix them. Thank you

fugue3.MID

please find flaws and advise me to fix them. Thank you

ok, I found flaws, I would advise you to fix them.

(just joking)

avoid unisons in contrapuntal material, as much as you can.

also, don't STOP your theme before bringing in the 2nd voice. it's much nicer when the material flows one into the other. "fugue" literally means "to run", so it's good when there aren't these constant stops at voice entries.

speaking of the entry of your second voice: the 1st part suddenly becomes incredibly boring when the 2nd voice enters. why?

thank you, Cowboy. You are convincing.

Quote: "the 1st part suddenly becomes incredibly boring when the 2nd voice enters."

Yes, I suddenly love the "chord progression" :D and it entered with the 2nd & 3rd voices, this is bad, though. Further, I am afraid the 1st part is itself boring too but I guess I should complete the episode first and see what to do with that subject later.

first of all, your subject is rather long for a fugue. it cadences at least 3 times before reaching the entrance of the answer (the 1st iteration of the theme is called the "subject", the 2nd iteration is called the "answer").

your subject is made up of a repeated 2-beat motif followed by a whole bar of non-repeated material. Which is ok, except you then repeat the whole 2-bar head of the theme almost verbatim. that's not interesting for a fugue, particularly that each 2-bar section actually cadences strongly in the tonic (in F).

the real problem you start to encounter is in the next four and a half measures (you really shouldn't use a half measure in a fugue, not unless you REALLY know what you're doing).

The next part starts with a very problematic parallel harmonic motion (G minor, then F major... first of all, it's dull, but being parallel means it will also invite more parallel motion when you start adding voices).

Add to that the fact that the next part modulates into the relative minor rather suddenly, and you're off to a bad start.

And of course, that little 2-beat measure before the entrance of the answer... a definite no-no.

Notice how at the end of measure 2, and again at the end of measure 4 and the end of measure 6 and "8" (I include those 2 extra beats as part of measure 8) the movement of 16ths notes comes to a sudden end with those plunked quarter notes? not good. that alone makes this not a very promising subject for a fugue.

My suggestion to you is to not try and fix what cannot really be fixed.

Write a new subject - a SHORT one - and start over from scratch.

And avoid that parallel harmony (C - D - E - D - C) you appear to be so fond of. Use the circle of 5ths (relationships of "dominant to tonic") and establish your tonic strongly before modulating.

The point of a fugue is not to write a theme that is the coolest melody you can think of. The whole idea isn't that the theme would have been really nice with an accompaniment. The point is to make something that will give you LOTS of freedom to develop WITHIN THE FUGUE.

Most fugue themes are relatively simple.

And the complicated ones? well, they weren't written by someone who is new to writing fugues.

Dear QcCowboy,

Thank you very much for your detail analysis and helpful advice !

The point of a fugue is not to write a theme that is the coolest melody you can think of. The whole idea isn't that the theme would have been really nice with an accompaniment. The point is to make something that will give you LOTS of freedom to develop WITHIN THE FUGUE.

The golden rule !

My suggestion to you is to not try and fix what cannot really be fixed.

Write a new subject - a SHORT one - and start over from scratch.

Yeah surely, I will be doing a SHORT subject for my next fugue. Notwithstanding, I do not give up hope and, at least make an attempt at repairing those flaws.