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How I compose 3 – Chords
“A chord in music is any harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.” (Wikipedia, accessed August 7, 2013) To me, chords form the shell of a piece of music – the walls and roof of a house, so to speak. For me, this is the most difficult part of composing and always has been. Possibly because I’m a percussionist and therefore spent a lot of time focusing on rhythmic patterns and combinations rather than harmonic. Harmony? “Harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches (tones, notes), or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of…
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A little of this with a little of that…
Classical music online is abundant. Here for your entertainment and sheer wonder is a fabulous video by some bored piano store salesmen in Utah, in which the performers deftly amalgamate two completely separate and individually recognizable pieces of music (both representing a little piece of Mid-West USA, just for extra measure). Somewhere over the simple gifts. Go find another video by The Piano Guys and tell us in the comments below which one is your favorite. (Notice how their channel has almost as many views as Lady Gaga!) .
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The wise side of W.H.Auden
This quote is truly perceptive! “Aside from purely technical analysis, nothing can be said about music, except when it is bad; when it is good, one can only listen and be grateful.” W.H.Auden What do you think? There are times when this doesn’t just apply to orchestral or choral music – a good show tune (particularly from Marvin Hamlisch or Frank Wildhorn) can easily separate us from our troubles for a moment, and even a thumping solid tune from Lady Gaga makes us appreciate her remarkable musical skills, despite her disappointing marketing techniques. Actually, I really like the second part of that quote. Let’s tweet it together (click on the sentence…
