Classical Technique in Composition (preview) by Nels Drue Daily

CLASSICAL

Composition TECHNIQUE in

Image courtesy of Thomas Eagle, 2005.

NELS DRUE DAILY, DMA.

ND MUSIC EDITION

NELS DRUE DAILY, DMA.

ND MUSIC EDITION

www.ndmusicedition.wordpress.com ÂŠ 2014, by Nels Drue Daily. All rights reserved. This book was typeset in the LilyPond notation system with Pablo Impallari's Libre Baskerville and Monotype's Baskerville typeface. ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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PREFACE his is a text of exercises in composition. Composers should be taught and demonstrate Classical technique before they develop their own style and begin to experiment. Having this technique as a base strengthens a composer's sense of what is successful in commonpractice music and lends perspective and awareness to anything they might write that is purposefully to the contrary. This book guides composers in learning the techniques of melodic structure, counterpoint, harmony, form, and economy. This workbook is to be used with a composition instructor. It is designed for beginning composers or practicum students and assumes a previous knowledge of music theory, up to and including Functional Harmony, 4-Part Voice Leading, Modulation, and Form. The purpose of the exercises is to lead composers sequentially through diferent compositional approaches and produce four compositions: a Canon, a Chorale, a piece in Binary Form, and an Invention. With the successful completion of this course in the fundamentals of composition, composers gain seeds of technique that will continue to grow as they see similar situations in future compositions. They produce compositions with greater melodic expression and better means to manage multiple melodies. They understand harmony and its relationship to musical texture. They demonstrate a knowledge of form and its organizational implications in longer movements. They have wrestled with the challenge of “economy” in composition. This is what should be understood as being “formally trained” in composition: students absorb the techniques of masters from the past and repurpose them into contemporary music. Through this method young composers have a better perspective of composition as they pursue new directions. To execute those new directions, young composers need technique. This method of instruction takes composers through the steps necessary to gain it.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Clendinning, Jane Piper, and Elizabeth West Marvin. The Musician's Guide to Theory and Analysis. NewYork: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Fux, Johann Joseph; Alfred Mann, ed. The Study of Counterpoint. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1965. Gauldin, Robert. “Fux to Bach: Bridging the Gap.” Indiana Theory Review 14, No. 2 (1993): 45-72. Kennan, Kent Wheeler. Counterpoint. Englewood Clifs: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972. Lester, Joel. Compositional Theory in the Eighteenth Century. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992. Mann, Alfred. Theory and Practice. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1987. Owen, Harold. Modal and Tonal Counterpoint; From Josquin to Stravinsky. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992. Schoenberg, Arnold, Gerald Strang, and Leonard Stein ed. Fundamentals of Musical Composition. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1967. Verrall, John W. Fugue and Invention. Palo Alto: Pacifc Books, Publishers, 1966.

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CONTENTS MELODY Melody

COUNTERPOINT 1:1 Exercises 2:1 Exercises 4:1 Exercises Syncopated Exercises Canon

9 11 16 20 22

HARMONY Bass Line Chorale Harmony Galant Harmony Accompaniment

27 29 31 33

FORM Binary Form Ternary Form

39 44

INVENTION Transformation Sequence Exposition Invention

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49 52 57 59

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ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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MELODY

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melody MELODY

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COMPOSING A MELODY These exercises will guide you in creating melodies that have formal structure, and tonal trajectory. They demonstrate the amount of variety that can be achieved by economical means. You can then judge which forms of repetition and variety appeal to you. Subsequent exercises will draw upon these melodies, so keep them simple (only quarter and half notes). 1. Maintain mostly conjunct motion. 2. Create an interesting shape. 3. Should have one focal point (high point). 4. Maintain an awareness of tendency tones.

LEAPS 1. Leaps are often approached and left by step in the opposite direction, unless they are outlining a triad. 2. Avoid augmented leaps (diminished okay).

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EXERCISE 1 Compose a melody with two phrases (a a ) 1. (4 measures): begin on the the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase, but modify it to end on the tonic. (a )

! ! EXERCISE 2 Compose a melody with two phrases (a b) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (b)

! ! EXERCISE 3 Compose a melody that has three phrases (a a b) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase. (a) 3. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (b)

! ! !

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EXERCISE 4 Compose a melody that has three phrases (a b b) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (b) 3. (4 mm.): repeat the 2nd phrase. (b)

! ! ! EXERCISE 5 Compose a melody that has four phrases (a a b b) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase. (a) 3. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (b) 4. (4 mm.): repeat the 3rd phrase. (b)

! ! ! !

ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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EXERCISE 6 Compose a melody that has three phrases (a b a) 1. (4 mm.): begin and end on the tonic. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the dominant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase. (a)

! ! ! EXERCISE 7 Compose a melody that has three phrases (a b a ) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the dominant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase, but modify it to end on the tonic. (a)

! ! !

ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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EXERCISE 8 Compose a melody that has three phrases (a b c) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the dominant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (c)

! ! ! EXERCISE 9 Compose a melody that has four phrases (a b a c) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the domminant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase. (a) 4. (4 mm.): end on the tonic. (c)

! ! ! !

ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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EXERCISE 10 Compose a melody that has four phrases (a b c a ) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the domminant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): end on the domminant. (c) 4. (4 mm.): repeat the 1st phrase, but modify it to end on the tonic. (a )

! ! ! ! EXERCISE 11 Compose a melody that has four phrases (a b c b ) 1. (4 mm.): begin on the tonic, and end on the dominant. (a) 2. (4 mm.): end on the domminant. (b) 3. (4 mm.): end on the domminant. (c) 4. (4 mm.): repeat the 2nd phrase, but modify it to end on the tonic. (b )

! ! ! ! ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition

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COUNTERPOINT

ÂŠ2014. Classical Technique in Composition