Composition Challenge
These videos and resources will enable you to compose an entire section (8 bars) relatively quickly.
Download Musescore, a free notation program: https://musescore.org/en
These videos and resources will enable you to compose an entire section (8 bars) relatively quickly.
Download Musescore, a free notation program: https://musescore.org/en
The simpl ified version could already be a lovely piece as it is, but we can enhance it further. Let’s look at the texture used in ‘Adelita’ first. The first few bars provide an illustration for what happens throughout - the chords are spread across each measure.
By deleting notes from the chords, we can make a much simpler and playable version of the piece. You can go as simple as you like, right down to just melody and bass line if you want - the choice is yours. A before and after of the first four bars are given below and then the whole piece simplified using a similar process.
Tip: Try to keep the same number of notes for each chord. So if your first chord contains three notes, then it would generally work well to keep the remaining chords at three notes also. Three can certainly be exceptions, especially at high points or places where you want extra emphasis.
This is a kind of melody where the motion outlines a the notes of a chord. In Adelita, this occurs in bar 4 over an E minor chord. That means you’ll want to use the notes of an E minor triad: E-G-B. You can use these notes in any order.
Compose a parallel period, which will make up your A section.
A parallel period is a type of phrase structure, that consists of a 4 bar question and 4 bar answer that mirror each other. Typically the first 2 bars of the question will be repeated for the first 2 bars of the answer. In this particular parallel period, the first 3 bars of the question are repeated in the answer.
Tip: Take your sequence and repeat it again in bars 5-8: simple!
A sequence is a melodic idea that's repeated up or down by step.
Take your melody from bar 1 and repeat it up or down a step in bar 2. Repeat the process again for bar 3. End the sequence in bar 4 with a long note, or with rests to give the melody a sense of breath.
Tip: Try using chord tones (notes of the chord) in each bar, especially on the 1st beat. For more on this, go to Outlining.
A good way to start the process of composing around this plan is to simply play through the chords as indicated by the diagrams at the top of the plan.
Do this in sequence with all repeats, which gives you a feel for the form and chord structure.