Sonata Two: II - Scherzo in D-flat Major

Yes, you read that right, D-flat major. There's a reason for that: It's the only key in which the piece will fit on the guitars. Guitar I has a high B, and Guitar II has a low E during the course of the festivities. Uh huh, naturals, not flats... because there is only one modulation, and it's a tritone to G major. Cool, huh?

This jazz swing tune began as an assignment my second semester at Berklee: The assignment was to write a jazz piece with only one modulation (The first semester it was a non-modulating jazz tune, and I wrote a Bossa Nova for that). I was around a lot of horn players then, and they were always going on about Giant Steps, which I never cared for. To clarify, Coltrane's improvisations are fantastic, but the tune itself is kind of trite. So, I wanted to make only One Giant Leap and a prettier song. I think I succeeded.

I was also very much into the music of Larry Carlton back then, and I had learned two of his pieces: Room 335 and Mulberry Street. So, it is in that style, and it was originally for steel string guitar, and it had string bends in it as well.

Years later, two of my students wanted to play it as a duet for their jazz duo, so I did a second version with accompaniment and without the string bends. Finally, after writing the jazz counterpoint scherzo for Sonata One (Links in the sidebar), I decided to make it a, "classical" piece with the song - or menuetto - in two-part counterpoint, and the improvised section - or trio - with the accompaniment I wrote for the jazz duo. Of course, I also wrote out the pure swing as being in 12/8.

I have not written out the improvisation yet, so the trio is just the accompaniment, and I want you to hear that isolated so that I can make a few points.

Here is the MIDI to AAC version I did in iTunes: Scherzo in D-flat Major

This is a I, vi, ii, V tune, and it modulates at the end of the second cycle of that continuity. I'm using the duo as one big virtual guitar here, so it's what I would play solo if that were possible. The melody is just as I originally wrote it, sans string bends, and the bass line is a modified version of what was in the original accompaniment I wrote (Which we'll cover in a moment). I had to make some changes so as not to violate any contrapuntal laws, and I made the bass part more melodic and interesting in the process. Note how smooth and natural the tritone modulations are. They are not jarring in the least.

The form is A, A', B, A", and when that is trrough, the trio starts.

This accompaniment style is called, "guide tone comping," and it's what the old school guys like Herb Ellis and Joe Pass would do when the situation was right. You improvise the bass part using chromatic approaches to the roots, and in the upper part you have the guide tones, which are the third and seventh of the chord of the moment (Usually, but not always: Sometimes you might want the fifth if it is diminished, &c). Very cool and economical. I was never a great jazz improviser, but I got really good at this kind of accompaniment because it was fun to me.

The way I plan to compose the solo is to make it so that the melody and bass part make correct counterpoint with each other, and disregard the guide tones in those calculations. There are already a lot of parallel fifths among the guide tones - it's a major aspect of the jazz style, after all - but the bass line will be perfect to write counterpoint over. I think this hybridized approach will work well. When? I don't know. Things like this tend to sit percolating in the old bean until they finally manifest themselves.

The trio gets the full A, A', B, A" treatment, and then we are back to the top.

Since the finale is going to be the same fugue that is the finale of Sonata One arranged for two guitars - an arrangement I will be able to actually learn and record - Sonata Two will be done whenever the solo comes to me.

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Sonata Zero: III - Fugue in A Minor

Finally!

Eighteen years after coming up with this fugue subject, I've, at long last, arrived at the perfect two-voice arrangement. If you remember the Fugal Science posts, I started out with this subject in a two-part invention format - I just call them octave fugues, or subject-only fugues, since there is no answer (Or, the subject is the answer) - and went on to develop it through a two-voce fugue with the answer at the fifth above, and finally a three-voice fugue. Well, by taking it back to the beginning and using the octave fugue exposition and some of the material discovered and developed in the two and three-voice versions, I got it all to make absolutely perfect sense. This is what a composer strives for: Beautiful music that makes perfect sense.

The key, remember, was the two-voice fugal texture for solo guitar I invented with Imitation Study #1, and I've continued that here.

Here's the MIDI to AAC audio: Fugue in A Minor

The five-measure subject starts out in the bass, and is answered at the octave above in two-part invention fashion. This really is the best solution for two-voice fugues with these types of subjects, as the addition of an answer begs for a third statement with the subject: Tonal answers really belong in fugues of three or more voices.

Under the subject is a countersubject that is every bit as perfect as the subject. In fact, it could be a subject.

Starting at 11 is the episode, and I mean THE episode: It is used, in different forms, for all of the episodes. Here, it does not modulate.

At the top here are the first middle entries, and the subject makes a stretto with itself with one measure of overlap. This stretto would be trivial except for the fact that it is a perfect dovetail between the subject and countersubject, which is here modified with an ascending diminished scale lick in the second measure. I did this because it sounds cool and it makes the dovetail easier to perceive when that lick appears in the bass at 22.

From 23 on, everything is as it was in the original exposition, and that leads to a seeming repeat of the first episode. That repeat is cut short by a measure as the music modulates dramatically to the dominant region, however.

Note the seemingly minor rhythmic variation in the bass at 29-30: This makes the descent more adamant, and it syncs up with the sextuplet better. There is still a tasty - but hard to pull off - cross rhythm with the triplet, though. This is also a preparation for the third and final time you'll hear this episode on the tonic level before the recapitulation.

That spicy little cross-rhythm comes upon an augmented sixth, which makes the modulation to the dominant particularly dramatic. Then, the soaring variant of the countersubject ads to that, and at 33 a closer stretto with two measures of overlap appears (I composed this subject as a four-part canon, so it is really destined for a string quartet or a symphony).

The third episode must be different, so I present the subject over the bass line of the episode. This hilariously comes to a dramatic pause on a diminished twelfth in 42, at which point everything suddenly modulates to the relative region.

The subject sounds beautiful in the major mode, and here we get another closer stretto with three measures of overlap. The original episode formula then reappears, but this time coming out of the major, it has a very different effect. The B-flat introduced in the bass at 53 was hinting all this time at a modulation to the subdominant, but I didn't see it until I got way, way into the Fugal Science series of posts. Well, it ended up being THE THING that makes this piece not just good, but a real work of art: The first episode was six measures, the second was five, the third was the bridge, so this is the true third episode, and it's now whittled down to four. Concurrently, the ever close stretti have been shortening the middle entries as well, so the pace is ever quickening. This creates a subtle but awesome effect.

With the subdominant begins another dovetail section, but this one modulates back to the tonic by using the answer form of the head - relative to the subdominant - in 59. Since it's another dovetail, I bring the diminished scale lick back to bring it out again.

This is great, and the listener isn't positive the piece has modulated until the confirmation into 64, where the original episode formula appears in the tonic for the third time. This time, however, it isn't shortened, it is lengthened with the addition of a pedal section. here is where that subtle rhythmic variation in the bass gets its full say, and to great effect.

The recapitulation is the closest stretto, a canon at one measure of delay.

By splicing the final measure of the countersubject onto the subject, I was able to extend the canon slightly to 6.5 measures. When that concludes in a false and unsatisfying ending, the coda is then introduced. This is a two-part hyper-stretto wherein the subject and the subject in augmentation start simultaneously. Yes, it's epic.

So, if you set out to master fugue writing, plan on working for years and years to get to perfect arrangements of your materials. When you end up with something like this, it's all worth it.

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Sonata Two: I - Sonata in E Minor

After taking some needed time off from thinking about compositions, I quite suddenly have had a nearly complete sonata for two guitars appear in my head. As of now, it is a three movement sonata da chiesa - or Church Sonata (As opposed to the four movement sonata da camera - or Chamber Sonata) - with the movements being Sonata, Scherzo and Ricercare. Three movement sonatas are common in chamber music and especially concertos. The Ricercare here is exactly the same piece as the finale of Sonata One for Solo Guitar (Links in the right sidebar), but arranged for two (The solo guitar version is an epic virtuoso piece, but for two guitars it will be pretty easy). So, Sonata One for Solo Guitar and Sonata Two for Guitar Duo: I like the symmetry of that. A lot.

Today's post is about the first movement, which is a sonata with Mozartian and Beethovian overtones.

Here is the MIDI to AAC conversion I made in iTunes using the Realfont 2.1 guitar soundfont: Sonata Two: I - Sonata in E Minor

I usually create a separate tab to listen and read the score.

This sonata uses an unusual rhythmic augmentation curiosity: If you augment a theme - in this case, a fugato subject - that is in 6/8 time, it comes out in 3/4 time, with a constant eighth note. So, the modulation here is going to be both harmonic and metric.

As you can see, the fugato subject is a model of simplicity, but it has a very bouncy and infectious rhythmic aspect to it. Guitar I starts out with the subject and answer, and then Guitar II takes the subject in the lower octave, but the answer is on the same level as before: This was the only way to fit it on two guitars, and it worked out pluperfectly.

During the second statement of the answer, the texture transforms from polyphonic to homophonic, and the modulatory episode begins at measure nine. It is just a vii(d7) in the 4/2 inversion to V(m7) cycle, which has connotations of turmoil.

At measure thirteen, I start the metric modulation by putting the acCENT on the wrong syllABLE, so to speak, and it takes two full measures to get the effect to work out perfectly. Probably needless to say, this looks simple now, but it took a LOT of experimentation to get to it.

The second theme, which, as I mentioned, is the fugato subject in augmentation, starts at fifteen, and I varied the rhythm of the tail section a bit to make it more effective. The modulation, such as it is, is just a regular deceptive movement, but I accented the humorousness of the move by making the major triad on V move in parallel up a minor second to the bVI. Mozart used this fairly often, both up and down. They are usually called side slips, and parallel fifths and octaves are fine in this instance.

I would describe the effect here as slightly jarring and even humorous: Here you are, all dressed up for a serious minor key statement, and it all goes sideways - literally - to a happy sounding major statement in a different time signature. It is a sonata process piece, but it still has many elements of a scherzo.

While it took two full measures to introduce 3/4 from the native 6/8, to get back only requires a single measure - twenty-two - and really, only the second half of that, even.

Putting the second theme in C major versus E minor digs the piece into a hole, so to speak, so to get out of it, I used a series of parallel first inversion triads adorned with linear passages. Beethoven used this to good effect several times, most notably for the closing theme of the first movement of The Ninth Symphony. I needed six full measures, which seems like too much and overly dramatic, but the effect of over-the-top tension is quite beautiful and funny; a tough combination to pull off. Once it gets to the i(6/4) to V(m7) half-cadence, everything is back to, "normal" and the final flourish sets up the repeat.

I would note that the MIDI to AAC conversion does not bring out the fact that the two guitars are trading off, which is a pity, because this back and forth will be awesome in live stereo.

Simple and direct is good, and I guess I'd cite Haydn as a proponent for this kind of tightness in a sonata exposition. Many of his sonata process pieces were just a few minutes in duration.

To get the piece to the relative of G major, I used another octave lick at thirty-three, and then the development starts off with a fugato of the augmented version of the theme. Cool, huh?

Obviously, this is a broader and more stately fugal exposition.

Here too the texture transforms from contrapuntal to chordal, and I again used the major key version of the vii(d5) to V(m7) oscillation for the modulatory episode.

Here, though, I don't actually modulate - key or time - but simply change modes for the second theme, which is presented as a canon. It's an amazing effect, I think.

As the canon concludes in sixty-four, I introduce a written-out trill, which metrically modulates the piece to 9/8 for the new version of the closing theme. I was on a roll by this point, and that is when composing is fun.

The half cadence reverts us back to the major mode, and here there will be an interjection of some type - a bridge, episode or something - in 9/8 and G major. I'm thinking of a Gigue-like feel, but I haven't come up with anything yet. As a result, this is sort of a de minimus version, with the crowning section yet to come.

It works perfectly as-is, however, and if I didn't tell you I was planning a climactic 9/8 section, you wouldn't miss it. Here is the final four-part canon, which is three subjects and an answer of the second theme in 9/8. See how cool this is?

At eighty-three we get the half-cadence back in the home key, and after the concluding lick, everything is set up for the recap.

Everything is unchanged here from the original exposition.

And so it continues unchanged until the second theme appears - the fugato subject in augmentation, remember - now properly in the home key, but still metrically modulated to 3/4. It sounds positively triumphant.

Now that the piece is coming out of E minor instead of C major, the closing theme only needs the proper four reps to reach the half-cadence, and I was able to eschew the overly-dark natural and flat inflections.

The final topper is the linking lick from before the development, now to reaffirm the home key for The End.

I love this little ditty. It's a model of perfection, and the device of having the 6/8 theme transmogrify into 3/4 through augmentation is a tasty one. I've never seen this done before either, so it's at least rare, if not unique.

Next time I show you the Scherzo, which is a swing tune in two part counterpoint, like in Sonata One, but even cooler.

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Back to the Synclavier

I've decided to get another Synclavier. Even after all these years, nothing can touch the Synclavier's voice architecture of additive synthesis with frequency modulation. Fortunately, I know a guy who configures and sells refurbished Synclavier systems. Now I'll be able to record my traditional music as I've always wanted to: With a digital orchestra entirely of my own creation.

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The Hooktheory Article

Several people have brought this article, "I analyzed the chords of 1300 popular songs for patterns. This is what I found." to my attention.

While the methodology is well thought out, I don't think simple frequency statistics with regard to key and chord occurrence will tell anything particularly meaningful about composing popular songs with effective hooks.

Keeping in mind that this is only the first post in a promised series, there are several further avenues of inquiry that the author may intend. So, perhaps he will do more than simply scratch the surface.

With regard to proceeding, an additional level of frequency statistics could be applied to the present data by simply labeling the chords already ID'd with their Roman Numeral degree symbols: I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii(d).

That metric would allow the research to proceed to identifying harmonic succession patterns, and their frequency, which would begin to hone in on what an effective pop song hook looks like in terms of harmonic structure. Here's where details begin to become important: The root motions have to be labelled first in order to get a handle on recognizing the harmonic succession patterns. I have no time to get into that in detail, but what I call Progressive (+4th), Regressive (-4th), Half-Progressive (-3rd), Half-Regressive (+3rd), Super-Progressive (+2nd), Super-Regressive (-2nd), and Tri-Tone motions have to be labelled and added to the database.

The next step would be identifying all of the groups of two types of root motion, then three types, &c. THEN, and only then, could the composer begin to draw some concrete conclusions about what kinds of root progression patterns create harmonic continuities that are catchy.

I'm not going to pursue that myself, as I'm simply not personally interested, but it could be a genuinely scholarly inquiry if it is followed as I suggest.

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Went to New Mexico to View the Eclipse

I'm actually ramping up my practice routine, believe it or not, but I thought the annular eclipse of May the 20th would be a great reason to take my f-car on an overnighter.

The best place in the US to view the eclipse was Roswell, New Mexico: The weather was to be perfect and the maximum coverage of the sun by the moon would happen near sunset, when the sun was low.

Well, it was spectacular.

The Ferrari looks underexposed because the sun was about 80% covered by the moon when I snapped the shot. It was a very eerie atmosphere. The folks in the background were at the rest area west of Roswell with a telescope to view the eclipse. The scope was only a 6" reflector, but the sun looked the size of a pie plate through the eyepiece. Sunspots were easily visible, as was the jagged edge of the moon.

I took this with my camera through the eyepiece. It is very slightly clipped on the left, but pretty amazing nonetheless. This was about 10 minutes before the, "ring of fire" effect, which was goosebump inducing.

All in all, a great trip and the Ferrari is amazing for touring like that.

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Decompressing Nicely

Still have my practice routine going, but I'm otherwise taking some time off from music, and especially composing.

Drove the Ferrari out to the Texas Hill Country a couple of weeks ago, and the wildflowers were amazing.

Spent a week detailing the car for a show - detailing is a zen-like therapeutic endeavor for me - and a friend got a good pic he sent me.

There were some truly amazing cars there, like this Ford GT.

Not sure when I'll get back to music blogging, but I must say my mood is improving every time I take this car out... so it might be a while.

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