August 31, 20169 yr This was the first nocturne I wrote, some tiem ago. It's in Emin, tonal but with some unusual progressions. In some parts I used an artificial scale (nor major, nor minor).
August 31, 20169 yr Very interesting to hear your early works; it's noticeably different. I can see you were already experimenting with polyrhythms at this point (2 vs. 3). I've always admired your sense of harmony and this time is no different. Your chords are very interesting and suit your tonal melody line quite well. 35-37 were the only measures that stood out to me as a little awkward. Combining G5 with F7 (F13) with that rhythm was just weird to me, that's all. Great piece!
August 31, 20169 yr Author About the issue you mention in 35-37... That's because the scale in this section m. 21-37 is not major nor minor. It's a modal scale: G - A - B - C - D - Eb - F.... Building chords from this scale, the tonic is G, and the tonic chord G, of course, but there are no dominants here, there are cadential chords which, usually, are a step from the tonic chord. So, F7 is cadential because it's a tone away from G and includes the characteristic note: Eb. This particular scale is 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - b7, and we can call it mixolydian b6, but it is also called hindu scale. I use exotic scales many times in different ways. Here, all the chords (harmony) are built only with notes from the scale. This is the way to make a scale sound as a harmonic system. Â
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.