Klarinet Archive - Posting 000158.txt from 2002/09

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Writing your own (was: [kl] Duke Ellington)
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 2002 20:24:57 -0400

At 08:38 AM 9/12/2002 -0700, William Wright wrote:
>I had written a duet in 3/4 time in which the bottom line was mostly a
>progression of triads that were spread out into individual 1/8-notes.
>But then, because of what the upper line was doing, I decided that the
>piece should be in 4/4 time instead.
>
>Rather than rewriting the bottom line to match, I thought it might be
>interesting if the first note of each 'triad' did not fall on the beat.
>That is, the emphasis on the beat of each 4/4 measure could not coincide
>with the first note of an otherwise obvious triad.... and then I added
>some inversions as well.
>
>The result was that, to the performer's eye, the 'triad nature' of the
>bottom line had disappeared and there were a number of unexpected leaps
>in the middle of measures, etc.
>
>I really liked the sound of the final result, and so I brought it to a
>lesson and asked my teacher to play it with me. Her eye leapt to the
>'triads' and she quickly pointed out that "As a courtesy to the
>performer, you should do something in order that the bottom line reads
>more easily. Unless your name is Stravinsky, most musicians will put
>this aside rather than trying to play it and actually listening to it."

Your teacher was probably only suggesting that you change how the note
stems and flags were set up, so that the groupings would be easier for the
eye to follow. I don't think the comment was directed at the sound of the
piece, only the difficulty of reading it as written.

Bill Hausmann bhausmann1@-----.net
451 Old Orchard Drive
Essexville, MI 48732 ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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