I created this messy wip string quartet pls give feedback and what i can improve on

just what the title says

also pls give rating out of 10

Edited August 24Aug 24 by Woofi_9
to add audio

audio?

On 8/22/2026 at 2:32 PM, Some Guy That writes Music said:

audio?

i edited it

On 8/24/2026 at 5:30 PM, Woofi_9 said:

i edited it

Hi! Welcome to the forum. May I ask what your experience is with music?
Aka how much you know about music theory, maybe what instrument you play, etc.

In efforts for us to give the best feedback, it'll be great to gain an understanding of your background. Thx in advance!

Without going into detail, there are a few things to consider:

1. Consecutives: If your intention is to maintain independence between the parts (which seems to be the case) then you should note the parallel octaves. I saw several between the outer and inner parts. My pointing this out is less to say your part writing is ‘wrong’ than there are missed opportunities to enrich the voice leading/harmony, especially when two voices move in the same direction to the same note without apparent justification. In on instance where there are parallels, for example (bar 7) the A7 chord initially lacks the third which is not great.

2. Your choice of harmony, combined with melodic writing could be improved. Bar 8, for example, which contains only the tonic chord then proceeds to another tonic chord on the first beat of bar 9. I would personally look for opportunities for contrary motion where the upper voice is ascending. For example, with the ascent to the D in the first violin, perhaps the bass could descend to a B flat instead leading to a VI chord.

I haven’t checked to see if my suggestion works, but try to think in that way. Allow your melodic writing to flow naturally while considering the range of voice leading opportunities (that is, the movement of the other parts) your writing permits.

Edited Thursday at 09:53 AM3 days by Markus Boyd

Couldn't resist giving it a go

I have taken your outer parts only, which I suggest be your focus at first before attempting 4 part harmony.

My suggestion is not perfect by any means, but be instructive on how you might better approach voice leading in the outer parts. Composers of past tended to write the outer parts first before adding the inner ones. This makes sense, because the outer parts will form the skeleton that you will be working with. If you have nailed the outer parts, in that it sounds interesting and coherent, then the rest should follow suit. Inversely, you will be working with a shaky foundation...

Example.pdf

Edited Thursday at 10:35 AM3 days by Markus Boyd

On 8/22/2026 at 1:11 AM, Woofi_9 said:

just what the title says

also pls give rating out of 10

1. It is good to use triad make full if possible.

2. Note that continuously from start to end for phrase, make characteristique for rhythm and line. Every VOCI(Deutschen) is good to be independant and irregular or having variaty. Don't use same rhythm too continuously in same VOCI. It makes sounds very poor.

Edited Thursday at 10:47 AM3 days by Scriabinian

On 9/3/2026 at 12:41 AM, MK_Piano said:

Hi! Welcome to the forum. May I ask what your experience is with music?
Aka how much you know about music theory, maybe what instrument you play, etc.

In efforts for us to give the best feedback, it'll be great to gain an understanding of your background. Thx in advance!

i know a tiny bit of music theory

i also play violin and played viola for a little bit and its been a week since i got my flute

On 9/3/2026 at 5:48 AM, Markus Boyd said:

Without going into detail, there are a few things to consider:

1. Consecutives: If your intention is to maintain independence between the parts (which seems to be the case) then you should note the parallel octaves. I saw several between the outer and inner parts. My pointing this out is less to say your part writing is ‘wrong’ than there are missed opportunities to enrich the voice leading/harmony, especially when two voices move in the same direction to the same note without apparent justification. In on instance where there are parallels, for example (bar 7) the A7 chord initially lacks the third which is not great.

2. Your choice of harmony, combined with melodic writing could be improved. Bar 8, for example, which contains only the tonic chord then proceeds to another tonic chord on the first beat of bar 9. I would personally look for opportunities for contrary motion where the upper voice is ascending. For example, with the ascent to the D in the first violin, perhaps the bass could descend to a B flat instead leading to a VI chord.

I haven’t checked to see if my suggestion works, but try to think in that way. Allow your melodic writing to flow naturally while considering the range of voice leading opportunities (that is, the movement of the other parts) your writing permits.

could u explain that as if u were explaining it to a music theory noob?

also in bars 1-8 violin 2 has the melody

55 minutes ago, Woofi_9 said:

could u explain that as if u were explaining it to a music theory noob?

also in bars 1-8 violin 2 has the melody

Allow me to offer my interpretation:

When it comes to the basics of music composition, there are two fundamental concepts/ vocabulary: Melody and Harmony. Melody describes the side-to-side motion of music. Harmony is the up-and-down motion of music, aka chords. Think of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or of your favorite movie theme; what you might notice is that you can sing or hum the tune pretty close, however can you also sing the chords? Most likely, the answer should be no, as chords contain multiple notes played together/ at the same time, which is something the average person cannot do.

Thus, when it comes to creating a melody or adding harmony, we tell our brain to think in one or two ways. As Markus was describing, the entire ensemble plays the same note/ pitch a lot. Straight away, looking at beat one of measures (mm.) one and two, both Violins and Viola play the same pitches: Bar 1 = F4 (F above middle C), Bar 2 = D4 (D right next to middle C). When played live by a quartet, you'll immediately hear that the music doesn't sound "full" or "rich," instead, it will just sound like the same note distinctly louder than the cello. If you want the ensemble to sound full, you need the instruments to occupy the other pitches of a chord.

Since you say this work is in D-minor, then immediately in the opening chord, we expect to see D-F-A. However, your chord is missing an A-natural and the result is a thin sound. To give body and foundation to the opening bar, add an A-natural in the Viola, and move Violin 2 down to D-natural. By making a change such as this, you will make the opening chord strong and resonant; to add, with F-natural being in Violin 1, it will naturally stand out and draw attention to the instrument versus having three instruments do the same thing. Now apply this thinking to other measures in the work. Instead of doubling pitches and repeating things, try to fill out the instruments by making them sustain different pitches of a chord; allow them to be unique and enjoyable.

Attached on this comment is my educational PDF, and mp3 for the examples, on understanding Melody and Harmony. It was made for a different user, so please excuse the pronouns or context in the latter half of the document.

PDF-Undstanding Melody.pdf