caters Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 The piece I am writing is a representation of rain falling, thus the staccato accompaniment and the minor key and even the name of the piece being Tears of the Sky. I have 3 sections so far in my piece, though there will be more. One thing I have in common in all the sections so far is a pedal note. Here are the sections: A - Staccato accompaniment + Flute melody - E minor - Bars 1-12 B - Octave and chord accompaniment + Counterpoint between the cello, violin, and flute over lament bass - E minor later modulating to G major - Bars 13-23 C - Staccato comes back + Violin melody - G major later taking the circle of fifths route back towards E minor - Bars 24-32 The C section is what I'm asking about here, particularly starting at Bar 30 where the modulation back towards E minor begins. That said, I wouldn't mind getting feedback on my A and B sections as well. You see, this is what starts the circle of fifths modulation: A D7 chord, which is moved to from a G major chord so I -> V7. From there I moved to A major, which then just continued the circle of fifths motion. By the time that the sequence has been played 4 times, I end on A minor. I know, I could have gone straight from A major to A minor, but I thought I needed to balance the short modulation to G major with a longer modulation back to E minor if you get what I'm saying. I'm wondering though if I need to adjust the harmony, because, I am hearing a bit of unexpected crunch there in the circle of fifths progression that started with a simple chord relation. It all feels resolved to me at the A minor harmony that ends the circle of fifths progression. Perhaps this is a sign that I should continue in A minor for a while before landing back in E minor. But anyway, does my harmony there need adjustment or is it fine the way it is? Here are the MP3 and PDF of what I have so far. MP3 Play / pause JavaScript is required. 0:00 0:00 volume > next menu Tears of the Sky > next PDF Tears of the Sky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean Szulc Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Your compositions are sounding a lot more purposeful, which is great. Congratulations on your imporvement. I do think the modulation is quite "crunchy", as you called it. I think that in this case, you could go way simpler than that. G - D7 - Am - Em - Bm - E7 - A Major or Minor, you decide. If this is used with good voice leading, it will make up for a really smooth modulation. Other paths are surely possible, I was just sujesting something for you to try. Good luck! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caters Posted March 24, 2020 Author Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Jean Szulc said: Your compositions are sounding a lot more purposeful, which is great. Congratulations on your imporvement. Thanks, I'm glad that it isn't just me seeing improvement but others too. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: I do think the modulation is quite "crunchy", as you called it. I think that in this case, you could go way simpler than that. Yeah, I did notice that crunch which is why I asked if I needed to adjust the harmony. Knowing that I could go way simpler than the circle of fifths that I initially used is nice to hear. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: G - D7 - Am - Em - Bm - E7 - A Major or Minor, you decide. Thanks for the suggestion, I will try that and see if this gets rid of that crunch. I'm thinking that possibly it's the staccato that is bringing that crunch, so maybe I should try to get a smooth legato between each of these chords and then see what that implies for the staccato. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: If this is used with good voice leading, it will make up for a really smooth modulation. That's good to know. I'm not aiming for a sudden motion to another key here. 2 hours ago, Jean Szulc said: Other paths are surely possible, I was just sujesting something for you to try. Good luck! And thank you again for the suggestion, I will try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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