Hello All,
This is my latest composition for solo piano, seeking advice on it. A little about the piece - it's in an unusual time signature, 6/4, which is mostly expressed as 5/8+5/8+1/4, plus a few other time changes. It's a mix of styles that have influenced me, latin, ragtime, movie music, and progressive rock. I'm working on creating more dynamic endings and tried with this piece to have more of a swell as the ending approaches and to create a sense of excitement and climax with the ending. Did I succeed? What would you do differently? Also, I spent a lot more time on the dynamics and accent marks than I usually do, any suggestions for improvement or comments to the positive if you think I succeeded in any particular spot would be appreciated. The soundfile is produced by Finale and is not super hi-fidelity, but I hope you'll get the gist of what I was shooting for.
Gav
Replies
Thanks Fred for commenting, any specific suggestions? Changes to the score? Dynamics?
Thanks Fredrick!
I like this one Gav. It has a nice flow throughout. I think you accomplished your goal regarding the ending. It has a nice finality to it.
To me, the score was very uncomfortable to read. The reason for this was in the way you beamed the notes. The piece is written with 5/8 5/8 1/4 as the time signature, yet the beaming pattern was still 6/4. This could be confusing to another person trying to play the piece.
I took a minute to rebeam the first section to show you what I mean. The pattern base on your time signature and rhythmic pulse in the piece was primarily 3-2, 3-2, 2. I also moved the dots as in measure 3, again to align with the beam pattern. Measure 6 really sounded more like 3-2, 2-2-3 to me so I beamed it accordingly and measure 8 I redid in 6/4.
To me, this seems a bit easier to follow the pulse that you created visually for the player. Let me know what you think.
Letting in the Wind (rebeam).pdf
Hello Tim and thanks!
I did the beaming based on ragtime beaming, but I see your general point about the beat being 3-2, 3-2, 2, I can adjust the score for that. As far as the 6/4 time signature, I thought about that too but didn't do it. Yes, there are some measures which are purely 6/4, I can make that adjustment as well. You're correct on measure 6 with your beaming, that does more naturally express the rhythm than what I did. The only comment you made which I couldn't quite understand was "I also moved the dots as in measure 3, again to align with the beam pattern," can you explain what you meant by that?
Gav
Gav,
Look at your measure 3. Your bass pattern continues the 32322 pattern. The right hand has 32232. By moving the dot to the first quarter in the tie (see my renotation), it visually reads 32322. The dotted quarter now lines up with the underlying 3 grouping. Hope that helps.
Tim, I see it now, makes sense. Thanks!
Tim, mods based on your suggestions. It's an improvement, I think, the score is more readable and consistent as you were aiming for. Thanks!
Litw3.pdf
Looks much better, Gav. Now the visual matches the audio. Another player can now see the pulse points you intended.
Tim, thanks for your score suggestions! I think you improved the readability of the piece! You rock!
The score is refusing to load here, so I'm just listening. I like the different rhythms in left and right hand in the beginning.
The passages where you work your way up or down the keyboard are also pretty cool. (Too much stuff here stays solidly in the middle of the piano range.)
Victor.
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