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This is a follow-up of a previous thread, "Studying composition". I'm a self-taught amateur piano player and composer, and as such, fully aware of my shortcomings.

I hope, however, that it is possible to make at least a small step further and seek advice about how to proceed.

Now I have added links to my hand-written notes of two pieces as well as a recording of one of them. I guess they give a fair representation of my present level.

My ambition level is not high, but I'm a curious person and always find it interesting to learn new things.

Here is the sheets of Intermezzo 1. I have difficulties playing it the way I would like myself. I would, of course, be delighted if a better pianist would do it for me.

Intermezzo 1

Then I have a second Intermezzo where I also have a recording. There may be small discrepancies between the sheet music and the recording. Nothing of great importance.

Sheets:

Intermezzo 2

Recording:

Intermezzo2 (recording)

You... kinda messed up the links. You gave both times the link to Intermezzo 1 PDF and the recording of the second.

On the audio it sounds very nice... It's exploring various directions in the harmony, the form is very clear (ABA) and in all it's a complete piece!

The score is also clean, even though it's hand written.

Not sure what else to tell you, to be honest... I think they are fine pieces!

Oops... Always some trouble with my links. I'll fix it tomorrow.

I consider both the pieces to be "just ok" and without any serious formal errors. But I'm keen to explore more modern styles of music. I think some of the pieces I have found here are really great (Nikolas and others) and I'm trying to unveil some of your secrets. I could very well continue producing more or less nice-sounding compositions in old-fashioned style, but in the long run this is boring. Is the trick just to analyse what others do, or are there any techniques that can be learned?

I could add that I'm a big fan of Prokofieff and Shostakovich. Being able to write something neo-classical would be a dream. My ambition is not to compose a follow-up of Prokofieff's 5th symphony, but just short piano pieces....

One technique is deconstruction. It is widely used by those looking at prose or verse. Deconstruct the piece to smaller and smaller elements, see how they fit together to form the blocks, and how the blocks fit into the larger whole. Music appreciation material will highlight the key elements of a certain composer's style.

This can be done by studying the scores, and for those with decent ears by listening. A powerful exercise is to write derivative works. Listen to something not so familiar, or at least a variation, and then try to write something in that style after one listen.

Do not listen again. Write some prose notes after the one listen, paying particular attention to rhythm, mood, and changes. The goal isn't to transcribe the piece, but rather to write in that style. Try to match the rhythm and mood, and the changes in mood. Work on the derivative piece for several days or weeks if it seems rewarding. Scrap it after a few days if nothing is coming, and start the exercise again with a different piece, a different variation. Record and/or notate every day, and start from the best of the previous day.

One more thing, outer approval isn't important when starting out. Process and spending time on writing is more important. Just like beginners learning to play piano, beginner composers usually don't sound so good. While it is interesting to see the development, the early stuff isn't going to be very good, and a person should not expect it to be. Yes, there are occasional exceptions, but far more common for those beginners asking for advice are those that need to spend a lot more time on the task before anything they write will be near their potential.

Hello Ganddalf,

I played your first 'Intermezzo' and I like it....it has a pastoral sound...to my ear.

rada

Hi Ganddalf. Nice work and I see Nikolas already pointed out Intermezzo 1 on both PDF.

I do want to address the fact that there are empty measures without any rests or notes for that matter, on the left hand throughout the piece.

Whole rests can be used to fill those empty measures even though your piece is in 3/8 time.

Cheers!

Thank you! Glad you liked it. Are you able to play the middle part as well?I want it more "Agitato" than the rest which has the pastoral character as you say. For me it is nearly unplayable because I have been running the two middle voices as parallel sixths throughout the whole piece.

Thanks for the comment. I'm lazy, but I'll update this in a later version.

It is nice to get so much positive feedback on my pieces. But I think you will agree when I say that I have a too narrow range of expression. I feel that anybody can make a sweet melody and add nice harmonies. But the skilled composers are able to express so much more. Humor, joy, sorrow, anger.... Certainly nobody can be good at everything, but.....

And here are the sheets of Intermezzo 2:

Intermezzo 2

This time I have double checked to make sure it is the right one.

The empty bars, without rests, are permissable and correct when the lower "voice" moves into the upper stave.