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first piece ever - never studied music theory before


Pns

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This is my first attempt to write a piece in a minimalistic manner. My piano experience is only 10 simple pieces and I have not studied music theory or harmony before.

Is this promising? I would be very happy to study and write some music more seriously but I don't know if I have the talent required (Writing isn't just about knowning the rules, right?)

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I think you have that talent. You short piece sounds beautiful to me. I personally tend to write long pieces. My shortest piece so far has been like 5 minutes long. My longest piece was easily 20 minutes long. Usually when I hear minimalism, I hear dissonance(or to put it more understandably for you, unpleasant sound). Not so with your piece.

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It's good. Not exactly minimalistic in the theoretical sense of the word. Minimalism in that sense normally expands upon one central process or idea (i.e. the music of Steve Reich). Your melody changes over what we call a basso ostinato, essentially a bass that repeats itself over and over again. 
In your first broken chord in the bass, the second note (the G-flat) will sometimes clash with a note in the melody, most notably F or A-flat. This isn't inherently a problem, but if it keeps happening without melodic unity or development, it'll start sounding a little unplanned.

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I agree with @caters and @Monarcheon. You chose your chords tastefully and didn't shy away from dissonance every now and then. The image I got from the music was a sad college student sitting alone in his dorm, staring out across a campus full of a thousand strangers and yet feeling more and more lonely. (Also, it's raining, so the students are carrying umbrellas or wearing ponchos.) This is definitely something I would listen to when I'm feeling that way!

So, in short, I do think you have talent. Not everybody can write music that invokes such strong feelings in others. I look forward to more of your works!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thank you for this pleasant piece in the morning sun while drinking my coffee 🙂.

One of the main pillars of composition is variation. This is learned by practice. So you have a motive over the bass ostinato. Do you know more ways to make variations on the motive? Think what you can do and try how it sounds! Try different things, as many as possible, and choose what you feel are the best.

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On 8/31/2019 at 11:01 AM, Jan-Peter de Jager said:

Thank you for this pleasant piece in the morning sun while drinking my coffee 🙂.

One of the main pillars of composition is variation. This is learned by practice. So you have a motive over the bass ostinato. Do you know more ways to make variations on the motive? Think what you can do and try how it sounds! Try different things, as many as possible, and choose what you feel are the best.

 

I agree but my musical vocabulary and piano skills are very much limited. Being this, I wonder how I came up with that piece

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On 9/6/2019 at 12:41 AM, .Em. said:

That was great! You have talent for sure. Naturally inclined to music. Some people just are. Once you learn more music and theory you'll soar in writing.

 

Thank you for sharing:)

 

thank you so much! your reply gave me the will to write this : 

 

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