New answers tagged classical-music
1
The final sentence of your OP seems to imply that you are considering the flute as the top part and the cello as the bass.
That in itself seems very restrictive. Obviously the piano can play below the cello part even if the cello is in its lowest register, and don't forget that a conservative top range of the cello is A5 (one leger line above the treble ...
3
You used the "classical music" tag and within that style I think you will find an overwhelming tendency to include the third in the keyboard part even when the third is supplied by another instrument.
A rule of thumb I learned a while back is to reserve the use of open fifths or octaves (open meaning no third present) only at cadence points. That is ...
3
In a well-written duet involving a piano and another instrument (at least IMO), the piano part should sound like it has something missing. Don't worry about the ability of the piano part of a trio to stand alone.
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I wouldn't worry about the sound of the piano alone -- what matters is the sound of all three instruments playing together.
Open fifths in the piano, for example, are fine. Mind you, if you wanted the sound of a complete triad, and only one instrument is playing the third, and it's relatively quiet compared to the other instruments, then perhaps you need to ...
0
It is a way more complex question. Important question though! The short answer is yes of course. I'm currently working on my doctoral research on this topic.
9
First, I would note that any proficient classical composer likely knew the basics of how to play all the instruments being written for. The composer may not have any great ability to perform on all instruments, but any good composer needs to understand how different instruments produce sound, where difficulties in execution arise (e.g., difficult fingerings,...
15
The more you listen to and work with music the more you "hear it in your head". After you become proficient at transcribing, it's perfectly possible to see a melody written out and "hear" it in your internal ear.
Doing the same for 2, 3 ... n voices is basically the same thing, just more of it (and of course requiring more practice and experience).
In fact,...
22
Not all composers nowadays write using computers. Many still write by hand using ink or pencil.
Multi-instrument works (chamber, orchestra, etc) were written as either what's known as "piano-score" or "short-score". Many, many composers are / were pianists and so were able to check their music by playing through the piano score. Once they are satisfied with ...
9
Some write with a piano to test out rhythms and chord progressions. Some just hold all the sonorities in their heads.
But to your point about orchestral works, I've had the pleasure of playing pre-publication pieces at summer music camps or other venues, often conducted by the composer. The composer often modifies the final version after such "test ...
1
Another resource is IMSLP. IMSLP hosts only music which is in the public domain. Its strength is music which is in the public domain because the composer died so long ago that copyright has expired. But there are also a few modern musical works whose composers have put them into the public domain.
IMSLP enables you to do detailed searches. For example, here ...
1
CPDL is your friend. Hit the "Multi-category sheet music search" on the front page. That will take you to a quite detailed search dialog where you can filter by several criteria, like period, voices, language, etc. etc. You will find tons of pieces, especially if you don't mind singing Renaissance songs (which CPDL seems to be particularly well stocked with)....
1
In fourth-related chords (V-I and I-IV) the 8va and 5th in the upper voices are interchanged; also compare the leading tone 3rd <=> 8va and 5th <=> 3rd.
I don’t understand why Hindemith didn’t demonstrate the progression just in the cadence of C-F-C-G-C.
In this basic progression - when the bass plays the root tone and the root is doubled - it is ...
4
The doubled tone in these exercises will always be the root of the chord. For now, since you're only using root-position chords, this pitch will always be in the bass.
But as you progress, you'll need to learn the distinction between the root and the bass. The bass is simply the lowest sounding note, and it can be any member of the chord (root, third, fifth,...
3
There's a long history to both of these forms. And I'm going to assume you're talking about the standard forms of the late classical and early romantic periods (around the year 1800). Before and after that time, things called "symphonies" and "concertos" might have a varying number of movements, not just four or three.
Briefly, the tradition of ...
3
yes it happens. I once "wrote" the theme from Rocky as a 3/4 ballad. It was a long time before I found out ...
3
This is just a question of technique really.
I assume that you have listened to the piece being played by an accomplished pianist so you know what it is supposed to sound like, yes? If not then do that (you'll find many on YouTube), so at least you know what to aim for and also the fact that it can be done.
So what is the issue: some notes (the melody) ...
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