Post by Mike Hewer on Jul 2, 2018 8:42:36 GMT
Hi Teoh,
I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner, busy editing.
John and Gregorio are spot on as far as I can tell. Gregorio mentions working out vertical combinations inherent in the scale and I agree completely with that. You yourself have recognised that the traditional way of working here is not necessarily the best and as a result you are spiralling in literally music of diminishing returns. ....sorry.
Augmenting or diminishing the themes intervallic structure could free you from dominant 7th/9th gravity in episodes as you develop motifs. This is not new of course, but just a reminder that the subject does not have to be literal at each iteration and certainly not in episodes.
As to the harmony, maybe it is time for you to build some chords based on more risky intervals, or at the very least pile on the thirds - the mode will yield some added spice due to its structure as Gregorio has suggested. To create even more harmonic variety for an entry or episode, one could go further into the spirit of the mode and perhaps create synthetic modes that extrapolate from the original mode. For example taking (say) the first 4 notes of the mode and repeating the intervallic structure of those 4 notes but starting either on a new (not part of the original mode) note or the 5th of the scale to finish off the mode. This immediately gives you modulation potential whilst retaining the flavour of the mode as it generates new notes (or in this case just one -a raised 7th) and also new harmony.
Also for modulation, one could utilise the modal structure with an overall piece-spanning plan for entries based on the key intervals in the mode. Don't forget too that any diminished verticals notes can be enharmonically changed and their function altered from say a 7th to a 9th, or to a leading note.
As your initial concern was about harmony, then why not try the new approach by manipulating first the mode with transformations based on its essential qualities and then building chords with different intervallic structures (see below) to see and hear what is possible. this in combination with a flexible attitude to the intervals in your theme will keep you busy for sometime with exploration and hunting for the moment that suddenly speaks to you. The trick is lateral thinking so maybe it is time to apply the spirit of fugue and not so much the technique! Remember too that melody is king and bearing that in mind, a pandiatonic approach to line might bear fruit - rather than fretting about the vertical, let the inevitability and impetus of the linear rule the roost, regardless of clashes, which if 'in the mode' (in key) can be easily justified anyway. (of course you can be even more adventurous and use bi-modal thinking alla bitonality for instance. Anything is possible and available. Imaginative manipulation of the basic material is a good way to search for the good stuff).
On the one hand then, one could think vertical and let the harmony function as the basis for the motivic/melodic work, or think linear, a way of writing that pays little heed to vertical consideration but is constrained by the mode in use at the time. Obviously a combo of both approaches and/or at different points in the piece is desirable and all subject to technical manipulation at your whim.
Time to forget what you know perhaps Teoh?
Just an afterthought.
One of the distinguishing intervals in the mode is the minor second (3 of them) so when building chords, don't be afraid to use that interval in the structure as that might help retain the modes qualities, same for any other defining interval (min3rd/aug2nd perhaps) then you might find some harmony you can work with that is different and exciting to manipulate.
I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner, busy editing.
John and Gregorio are spot on as far as I can tell. Gregorio mentions working out vertical combinations inherent in the scale and I agree completely with that. You yourself have recognised that the traditional way of working here is not necessarily the best and as a result you are spiralling in literally music of diminishing returns. ....sorry.
Augmenting or diminishing the themes intervallic structure could free you from dominant 7th/9th gravity in episodes as you develop motifs. This is not new of course, but just a reminder that the subject does not have to be literal at each iteration and certainly not in episodes.
As to the harmony, maybe it is time for you to build some chords based on more risky intervals, or at the very least pile on the thirds - the mode will yield some added spice due to its structure as Gregorio has suggested. To create even more harmonic variety for an entry or episode, one could go further into the spirit of the mode and perhaps create synthetic modes that extrapolate from the original mode. For example taking (say) the first 4 notes of the mode and repeating the intervallic structure of those 4 notes but starting either on a new (not part of the original mode) note or the 5th of the scale to finish off the mode. This immediately gives you modulation potential whilst retaining the flavour of the mode as it generates new notes (or in this case just one -a raised 7th) and also new harmony.
Also for modulation, one could utilise the modal structure with an overall piece-spanning plan for entries based on the key intervals in the mode. Don't forget too that any diminished verticals notes can be enharmonically changed and their function altered from say a 7th to a 9th, or to a leading note.
As your initial concern was about harmony, then why not try the new approach by manipulating first the mode with transformations based on its essential qualities and then building chords with different intervallic structures (see below) to see and hear what is possible. this in combination with a flexible attitude to the intervals in your theme will keep you busy for sometime with exploration and hunting for the moment that suddenly speaks to you. The trick is lateral thinking so maybe it is time to apply the spirit of fugue and not so much the technique! Remember too that melody is king and bearing that in mind, a pandiatonic approach to line might bear fruit - rather than fretting about the vertical, let the inevitability and impetus of the linear rule the roost, regardless of clashes, which if 'in the mode' (in key) can be easily justified anyway. (of course you can be even more adventurous and use bi-modal thinking alla bitonality for instance. Anything is possible and available. Imaginative manipulation of the basic material is a good way to search for the good stuff).
On the one hand then, one could think vertical and let the harmony function as the basis for the motivic/melodic work, or think linear, a way of writing that pays little heed to vertical consideration but is constrained by the mode in use at the time. Obviously a combo of both approaches and/or at different points in the piece is desirable and all subject to technical manipulation at your whim.
Time to forget what you know perhaps Teoh?
Just an afterthought.
One of the distinguishing intervals in the mode is the minor second (3 of them) so when building chords, don't be afraid to use that interval in the structure as that might help retain the modes qualities, same for any other defining interval (min3rd/aug2nd perhaps) then you might find some harmony you can work with that is different and exciting to manipulate.