recordersmith ([info]recordersmith) wrote,
@ 2008-05-09 08:52:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend!  Next Entry
Composing
So, um, I appear to suck as a composer.

Possibly just because I haven't done any before now, really.

Anyhow, anyone enjoy composing, have some free time, and feel like writing simple music for beginning recorder players for no fee? :-)

What I want is a soprano/alto duet where they're not playing together, but rather taking turns. Maybe two bars or four bars each time? Simple rhythms. Range on the sopranos from low E through high G, only accidentals are C# and F#. Range on the alti from low A through high B, only accidentals are F#. So G major is a win :-)

And for that matter, any fun simple duets for those ranges, or quartets with a simple line and a more complex line for each instrument (I have varying levels of ability in the class).



(Post a new comment)


[info]siderea
2008-05-09 06:45 pm UTC (link)
What I want is a soprano/alto duet where they're not playing together, but rather taking turns.

Strictly? How long a piece? Also, presumably it needs to be rhythmically simple, yes? What are acceptible note values and time signatures? And how fast do you need this thing to be available to you? [ETA: does the alto get a B natural?]

Edited at 2008-05-09 06:46 pm UTC

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]recordersmith
2008-05-09 07:04 pm UTC (link)
Strictly isnt necessary, but I do want them to be listening and responding to each other. I want this to work on ensemble and listening and they do much better at listening when they're not also playing ;-)

Rhythmically simple, yes. They know quarters, halves, wholes. Eighths and dotted notes are still a bit of a challenge, so those would be good but not much beyond that.

Yes, altos know the B natural (and not the flat--basically we haven't done the forked fingerings yet and the half-thumb for the octave is still scary but they're doing it).

How fast? Well, for the current students, yesterday. But I'm teaching this course over and over, so any timeframe will be useful.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]siderea
2008-05-10 05:28 am UTC (link)
http://pics.livejournal.com/siderea/pic/0001a78t

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]recordersmith
2008-05-12 12:35 am UTC (link)
Cool! Thanks!

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]siderea
2008-05-12 12:42 am UTC (link)
I started working on another, but it's not done.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]siderea
2008-05-12 06:20 am UTC (link)
PDF of Etude 1
PDF of Etude 2

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]recordersmith
2008-05-16 01:44 pm UTC (link)
I tried these out in class today, and they had fun with them. They especially like the drone--wasn't something they'd run into before so we got to talk a little about that.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)


[info]siderea
2008-05-16 10:36 pm UTC (link)
Oh, good! Do you have any specific feedback about what worked or didn't work, or how you might have wanted them to be different? One thing I was thinking about is how I use repetition (or didn't). There wasn't a lot of structure to the pieces, over all, and I wasn't sure if that was a good thing, a bad thing, or a thing thing. Left to my own devices I tend to write Spagna-like, never-look-back-never-repeat fantasias, but of course I am deeply acculturated to 16th and 17th cen dance music, in which if the last four or so bars were good enough to play once, they're good enough to place twice. Or three times. Or hey, go back and do them again a bunch. Or maybe just put them on infinite repeat.

(Reply to this) (Parent)


[info]jmkelly
2008-05-10 03:54 am UTC (link)
Back in college my roommate's composition teacher used to say, "To become a composer you have to write a lot of bad music, and throw it all away."

(Reply to this) (Thread)


[info]recordersmith
2008-05-12 12:35 am UTC (link)
Hehe. Yeah, I imaging that's true. Not sure I want to spend the time doing that in order to come up with music for my students, though!

(Reply to this) (Parent)


Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…