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Class note 20100121

A. Keyboard skill and Ear trainingPlay the following patterns in all major keys by memory. LH plays the bass as the Roman numeralshows; RH plays the chords with each top note moves to the closest note.

The following is only one of many possible examples.

Taking the last four measures from above as an example, the following example shows the howthe chord progression I-IV-ii-V can be transformed into keyboard writing style.

B. SATB writing and composi tion1. study how Schumann create the theme melody from his Op.1 variation on ABEGG2. study how rhythm shift in a SATB texture generate a great looking piano score3. play every beat (only the downbeat), take note how the rhythm pattern (exx) changes

the SATB context into a piano context;

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Novelletten op.21

26

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C. Writing in SATBQ: writing SATB requires 4 notes: which note to repeat?

A: double steps 1, 4, 5 only; in extreme case, step 2 may be doubled

Q: Why // octaves are not allowed?

A: When we talk about writing SATB, we are talking about writing 4 independent melodic linessuch that when they sound together, they would sound consonant and harmonically logical.// octaves take away the independence of lines.

Q: Why // octaves and // perfect 5ths are not allowed?A: // 5ths would create an organum sonority (medieval practice), which is irrelevant to the music

practice from baroque to romantic period.

D. General rules for SATB writing Soprano and bass go in contrary motion; this would minimize unwanted parallel movements

between S and B meanwhile also regulating the A and T movement.

All added notes move to nearest available note (the nearest is to keep the same notebetween chords); this is especially useful when adding the inner voices (A and T)

2-1(3); 4-3; 6-5; 7-8see Percy Goetschius: On the Relationship of Tones

Double steps 1, 4, 5 only; in extreme cases, step 2 may be doubled

E. Others A melody usually begins with tonic or dominant; other notes are less frequent

Be careful with accidentals in minor keys

The way you are learning SATB writing belongs to the voice-leading school practice, it isbenefit latter learning in advanced theory such as counterpoint, figured bass and evenorchestral writing.

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?44

I IV

V I

IV V

wI

?

I IV

V I

IV V

wwI

?

I IV

V I

IV V

wwI

Procedure in working out SATB when a bass is given.

Hindemith: Exercise 11 no. 1:

(1) a melody usually begins with the tonic or dominant (and end in the tonic);

it is a helpful point, but not a must-follow-rule that if you don't abide with, you are wrong.

(2) after you added the first not.e in the soprano, check if there is any room left for the alto and tenor. Move to the nearest available note, consider composing a easy-to-sing melody. S&B in contrary

motion.

(3) before going any further, i.e. adding A & T, check if there is any parallel interval between S&B.

Write out the bass line according to the given Roman numerals. Don't leave out the chord label

after you write the notes for the chords.

Compose soprano first. Several things you have to take note:

Add alto second

(1) select the right note to begin will reduce a lot of corrections. Try to make the alto go in 3rds or

6ths with the soprano as much as when it is possible. For this example, if we begin use B in the

alto, there is no room left for the tenor, so we write D (because T cannot be higher than the A).

(2) All other notes to follow would follow the rule: move to the nearest available note

in IV - V progression, to avoid //5th or 8ve,

make all added voices go in contrary motion with the B.

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?

I IV

V I

IV V

wwI

Add tenor last

(1) Even it does not happen in this example, the tenor may contain more skips.

(2) Add the missing notes based on what the chords required. Keep in mind that we only repeat

steps 1, 4, and 5 in the key.

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