harmonic geometry

[jancivil]

Now, modulating up a whole step has a distinctly different feel to modulating a minor third, or a major third, modulating a fifth or fourth has a smooth round feel to me... and I've learned to link THESE feelings to these shapes described, does that clarify a little bit? It may be completely arbitrary, but, hell, a lot of people have trouble comprehending modulations, and this idea might help.

sure, I get it but 'up a fourth' might be a square or rectangle, if anything, to me. I couldn't reasonably say why. why do we agree on a triangle for a M3? Is a minor sixth a triangle? seems reasonable but not as instantly clickable for me. At this point, language or reason seems insufficient. My brain shifts gears...

there was a guy I lived with, a composer, during very formative years for both of us. He could suss the Rubik's Cube in no time at all, every time. I never once got it to happen. I did actually show him things I was working on on occastion, and that capacity would out over my... guesses. I got better and developed a kind of logic, 'arguments' to fill that void... had to.

it's good to collaborate with people that bring stuff to the table you don't have, though. We always endeavored to create a composition in real-time and after some years we could nail a lot of things, while developing a language.

We will have the facility to compose according to how well we can improvise. Improvising, coming up with viable material on the spot, does not allow time for wondering or second-guessing, or a lot of thought.

[shankfiddle]

I make a decision by ear, really. I remember when I used to think and plan and write. I got better.

now, teaching someone part-writing, I'd rely on formulation of whys and wherefores. Or if I was trying to write something that had to be good stylistic writing I can fall back on tools out of this or that discipline (where I have it). But I'm not worried about a pivot point, or like that, in my own creation.

well as i said a couple posts above, I don't consciously think about any of this, I found these patterns and modulation tricks for a paper for my post-tonal composition class (ironic, eh?). But once you have pivot chords in your standard repertoire (as one of your fall back tools) THEN you can go on to just feeling it...

just like with all theory as you described. you don't think of individual notes in a chord, but you had to learn them at one point.

similarly thanks to these geometric patterns I no longer have to think about how to get to any key, if my ear wants to go here, we can, rotate the circle and it locks into place like a gear, and i have tools to fall back on so I have multiple options to prepare the modulation without trial/error or conscious thought. But I can only do that now because I consciously thought about it at one point... writing my paper. Then I got better

[jancivil]

the useful point out of this is, you want to learn the mechanics to the point you do not need to think about it.

[jancivil]

'comprehension' of a modulation or similar advanced device is going to be more facile if one has worked with music that modulated or what-have-you. Another reason playing music makes a musician.




If one never played music, at least the voice as an instrument, one is not a musician. "Music made by musicians will tend to be superior to music made by people that never were" is just not a real baffling concept.