This page was last edited on 26/12/08
This page was last edited on 26/12/08
Composing Whole Tone music
This is a short composition I did in the days when we used to do the old OCR GCSE music. We used to look at different sorts of scales and students would try to write a whole tone piece. Writing with just a whole tone scale is hard and it is easy to out stay one's welcome. In this piece I have tried to used rhythmic counterpoint, for example. The questions about the music try to make students think like composers.
It's tempting, in class, to tell students what they could have done in their compositions. Whilst I believe students learn from making mistakes, to point out their 'mistakes' in front of others can be soul destroying. I therefore often make up example pieces of my own which include serious drawbacks. These can then be use as the basis for a discussion. That's the plan anyway.
Hear the music Go to the discussion questions
1 Listen to the music and select a tempo marking for the piece. Choose from Adagio, Andante, Allegretto, Presto. 2 Is the music played at a suitable speed in the MIDI file?
Give reasons for your answer.3 Would you vary the tempo at all? If so, where? 4 How would you use dynamics? 5 The piece has a 2-part texture throughout. Should more rests have been used? 6 What contrapuntal device is used at the beginning? 7 What do you notice about the bassoon part in bar 13 to 19? 8 Is the music coherent and unified? 9 Has the music got a recognizable structure? 10 How many motifs are ideas are there in the music?
