So tonight I just farted around with music. I opened up a string quartet document, threw in some whole notes, played with chord progressions, and limited myself to eight measures. I played with crescendos, with articulations, and then moved on.
I changed tempo, key, and time signature. I threw in the main theme from the symphony and played with that as a string quartet theme, adding a lilting viola accompaniment.
Most of it sucked, and I’m leaving it where it lies. Next!
So if the academic approach leaves you cold…
Try working by paradox and start by writing a line which leaves you cold…
Speaking of academic, I’ve come around to thinking that harmonic progessions do not necessarily support or explain a music of polyphonic voices. So often it is the passing notes in a line, the notes not found in the “chord” of the moment, which bestow true interest to the music. Hindemith’s system always seemed a nice compromise; less focus on chords and more on intervals and their relative strenghts, etc. In jazz it’s especially easy to get stuck in a chord progression mentality. But having said that, if you are still learning (as I am), thinking about use of the V7 of V7 or the V7 of IV can certainly make you feel like your opening it all up and “learning the language.”