Composition

A useful skill in Jazz improvisation is to recognise chord progressions quickly.

Many Jazz musicians can play a tune from memory after hearing it only a few
times and often improvise solos compatible with the tunes chord progression
after hearing it only once or twice. Mark Gridley divides the skills of reading and
writing music into four levels;
1) The ability to read music accurately if allowed to practice or look it over
ahead of time.
2) sight-reading - the ability to play a piece of music correctly the first time
it is seen.
3) The ability to make up an original tune and correctly notate it.
Composing is the making of a tune, Notation is more specialized.
There are composers who cannot read or write music. Many Pop
musicians write songs and pay a skilled musician to write them down for
copyright, sales and publications. Many rock musicians teach each other
by ear rather than placing sheet music in front of each other.
4) The highest level of music reading and writing is the ability to listen to
someone elses music and then correctly notate it.
It is common for jazz musicians to both compose and notate their own tunes.
Nearly all jazz improvises are also composers. Most jazz musicians occasionally
write down their improvisation in the form of tunes. Few of the tunes become
famous in jazz history, all serve as vehicles for improvisation. Some jazz players
have written every tune on every album they have recorded. It is not unusual to
find a jazz saxophonist or pianist who has written more than a hundred original
tunes. Some become so good at writing that they are more important as tune
writers or band arrangers than as improvising players.
Duke Ellington was the most important composer and arranger in jazz (18991974). He wrote more than 2000 compositions as well as many arrangements
and re-arrangements for them. He was a distinctive jazz pianist and leader of the
Ellington band. This band was the longest lived and most stable group in jazz
history. Many of the improvisations were so good from some of the
instrumentalists that they became permanent parts as if composed. Ellington
wrote to suit the musical personalities in the band. He played swing became
distinguished for his unusual harmonies and voicings which can be heard in his
Transbluency CD from the Jazz classics.
He was praised for the way his accompaniments were spare and complementary.
Comping was full of spirit and his timing and taste were near perfect.
Ellington wrote many tunes in collaboration with his side-men. Many became
popular when lyrics were added such as Im beginning to see the light,
Solitude, Moon Indigo and Dont get around much anymore.

Ellington also wrote hundreds of three minute instrumentals, and many longer
pieces and is widely acclaimed for having taken jazz into the format of extended
works such as Creole Rhapsody, Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue,
Black, Brown and Beige. He also wrote film scores one being Anatomy of a
Murder by Otto Preminger.
Often he incorporated a phrase or countermelody improvised by one of his
musicians. Many works were written in collaboration with them. Trombonist Juan
Tizol wrote Caravan Bakiff and Perdido.
Hard-Bop a style that appeared in the 1950s included jazz giants such as
Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and they played a type of funky
jazz. The improvised lines of hard-bop were simpler than bop lines, drummers
played with more activity, chord progressions were usually original rather than
being borrowed from pop tunes. The emphasis was on constant swinging. The
piano comping has more variety in rhythms and chord voicings. The most
prominent among this group were still active in the 1990s and remained models
for aspiring jazz musicians except John Coltrane who died in 1967. Tenor
Saxophonists Joe Henderson and Wayne Shorter, trumpeter Freddie Hubbard,
Pianists McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Keith Jarret, Drummers
Tony Williams, Elvin Jones. Herbie Hancock went on to create new styles in the
Jazz-rock fusion genres of the 70s and 80s.
Wayne Shorter was a key composer of the 60s and 70s, other than writing for
himself he contributed much to Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers (1959-1964), the
Miles Davis Quintet (1964 1969) and Weather Report (1971-1985). He has an
unusual way of making chords move within his compositions. Some of his tunes
place chords in sequences which had never been common to jazz. He is one of
the most respected of all post-bop composers. Shorter was notable for supplying
Weather Report with a style for one branch of its repertory, pieces that conveyed
a pastoral feeling by dreaming melodies containing many silences and sustained
tones performed at a slow tempo. Often resulted in a sense of perception.
Melodies are simple and floating, accompaniments are hard driving and complex
as in the Davis quintet recording of Shorters Nefertiti. Also in Weather Reports
recording of Nefertiti there is an extensive repetition of melodic lines withing a
single rendition while continuous variation of accompaniment figures occur.
Some listeners say that Shorter (when he plays sax) plays in a manner which is
graceful and ferocious at the same time. Some find a bittersweet quality in his
word.
His playing was free of clichs, he had high standards of originality and usually
managed to improvise solos that were free of patterns. He was influential in his
compositional use of the interval of a fourth, sustained tones and silences in
melody lines, melodic construction that suggests a dreamy, floating quality and
chord sequences previously unused in jazz.

Free jazz improvisation does not adhere to preset progressions of chords and
sometimes also dispenses with preset melody and steady timekeeping. It has a
reputation for wider variation in pitch and tone quality than bop, some free jazz
involves lengthy collective improvisations that are loud and frenzied. Prominent
free jazz saxophonists include Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.
Free jazz has a reputation for wider variation in pitch and tone quality than bop,
some free jazz involves lengthy collective improvisations that are loud and
frenzied.
Prominent free saxophonists include Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.
Free Jazz pianist Cecil Taylor is known for dense textures and much turbulence
in his improvisations. Bass players are Charlie Haden and Dave Holland. Free
Jazz drummers generate an everchanging undercurrent of activity instead of
standard timekeeping patterns. Trumpeter Don Cherry, Ornette Colemans
sideman in the late 50s and early 60s was one of the first to explore third world
music.
Charles Mingus innovative modern bassist and a bandleader, composer who
combined composition and improvisation while creatively altering
accompaniment patterns.
Sun-Ra and other avant-garde players from Chicago departed from bop practices
of melody, chord progressions and swing feeling in addition to incorporating
world music.
Chick Corea (b. 1941) pianist. He voiced chords in fourths quartal harmony
devised lines from five-note scales pentatonics. These voiced chords proved
effective for electric piano. The overtones produced by the instrument make
chords voiced in the manner of bop pianists sound muddy, whereas the open
quality achieved by voicing in fourths is less easily muddied by the electric
instrument. He was also inspired by Latin American music that double time
feeling. Good album Now he sings, Now he sobs is a good representation of his
best work.
Jazz-Rock Fusion, the Post 1968 music of Miles Davis differed from his 1963
1968 style. Instrumentation was altered.
1/ electric piano and organ replaced conventional piano
2/ electric bass replaced acoustic bass
3/electric guitars
4/ more soprano saxophone potential for penetrating and carrying sound over
drums and electric instruments.
5/ 2 or more drummers and the use of African and Indian instruments.

Rhythm section concept high level of activity beat easily detectable,

surrounded by a mass of constantly changing sounds. Sometimes gentle
sometimes turbulent. In a silent way and Bitches Brew textures were as much
in the forefront as melodies and solo lines generated by electric keyboards, guitar
basses and drummers.
Most post 68 Davis music centred in a few repeated chords, repeating bass
figure or a mode rather than a sequence of frequently changing chords. The
tunes reflected Wayne Shorters composing style. Complexity was in the rhythm
section rather than the melodies. Everyone took a turn soloing.
One piece would flow into the next without stopping. He would set up a new
mood by playing chords in a rhythmic fashion on a keyboard, dictating the tempo
and rhythm for the next passage.
Bass was the pivot in this music, bassists led the way by changing the patterns of
their repeating figures. Albums Live-Evil, Black Beauty, Agharta.
Ref; Fifth Edition Jazz Styles History and Analysis by Mark C Gridley
(P) 1978 Prentice-Hall Inc.
Pages 20, 106, 124, 199, 333,312,290,344,394
Ref The Book of Music
A Visual guide to Musical Appreciation
Edited by Gill Rowley
(P) Prentice Hall Inc. 1978
Middle Ages and Renaissance, from collapse of the Roman Empire 17thC the
start of modern times.
The foundation of Western Art music were laid in this long period.
The rise of Polyphony.
Beginning in the 9th C which reached its height in the Renaissance is vocal
polyphony music for many voices.
Musical interest is shared equally between the parts, which move independently
to produce interwoven texture.
The subtlety of polyphony can be missed by ears accustomed to the mainly
homophonic music of later periods in which a topline is supported by
subordinate parts moving in chordal blocks. Polyphone was not written in fixed
major or minor keys but in different sections or modes of one diatonic scale.
The technique of polyphony is counterpoint. Two parts were fitted together note
against note. The starting point was the church plainchant of the early Middle
Ages. Stemming form Greek and jewish sources unaccompanied single-line

music, sung in unison, Gregorian chant, the boyd of plainsong codified by Pope
Gregory in the 6th C AD is still the standard chant of the Catholic Church.
The 1st elaboration was to parallel the plainsong melody in bare intervals of
octaves, fifths and fourths. This was called organum. The next step was to
enrich the spare harmony of organum with parallel thirds and sixths. Then a
free-moving sometimes improvised part called discantas (descant) was added
above the melody (cantus).
Polyphonic composition
Notre Dame school Leonin (12th C) and Perotin (1183 1236).
The main polyphonic forms were motet and conductus Motet based in
plainchant melody was sung in long notes by the tenor voice and other faster
moving parts were added. The Greeks used letter names for the notes if the
scale, this was passed in to Medieval Europe by Boethus (470 525AD)
11th C Benedictine Monk Guido of Arezzo invented syllable names for the notes
of the scale as an aid to sight-singing (sol-fa) Staff notation gradually evolved
together with a system of proportional notation for time-values.
Music was of general as well as particular significance. The ancient association
of music, number and cosmology was retained in the Renaissance quadrivium of
the liberal arts. The key to understanding music was a knowledge of the
proportions of simple intervals as shown on a divided string. The perfection of
these intervals was thought to depend on their simple number ratios and was
taken as a proof of Gods existence.
For these Reasons, Renaissance artists applied musical proportions in many
fields particularly architecture. Alberti and Palladio made the dimensions of their
buildings conform to musical proportions.
In 16th C the schism of the churches, The Reformation, had important side effects
in music. Lutheranism in Northern Germany. In southern Europe the Catholic
church went on the offensive and launched the counter reformation. At the
Council of Trent (1545 63) it was decreed that music in which anything impious
or lasvious finds a part should be excluded from the church. Some demanded
that harmonized music should be banned. A group of High Renaissance
composers led by Palestrina, showed that harmony was not incompatible with
purity of line and clarity of text.
Classical Composers Wendy Thompson
P) Anness Publishing 2002
Hildegard of Bingen born in Germany 1098 died 1179

Hildegards melodies are not drawn from monastic plainsong but are strikingly
original and sometimes highly complex and decorative. Album A feather on the
Breath of God 1984
Her major work was Ordo virtutum; symphona armonie celestum revelationum
She was a visionary, a prophetess, she recorded her mystical experiences 11411170 she wrote 2 works on natural history and medicine, lyric and dramatical
poetry.
When she was 8 she was sent as a novice to the Benedictine Monastery of
Disibodenberg. She became an abbess. She founded a nunnery.
The Book of Rock Phillip Dodd
(p) 2001 Hardie Grant Books
88 Songwriting Wrongs and How to right them
Pat and Pete Luboff
(p) 1992 Writers Digest Books
They suggest when you are writing a song you need to think about tomorrow, not
yesterday. Its the job of a songwriter to express whats on everybodys minds
before they are aware of it. Students of society, its a media jungle so you dont
need to look far.
Step back and think about where all the present madness is leading. Musically,
melodies can be updated but lyrically if the concept is old fashioned it wont work.
The Cambridge Companion to Jazz
Edited by Mervyn Cooke and David Horne
(p) Cambridge University Press 2002
Free jazz and the Avant Garde
The nucleus of all jazz is creative improvisation expression, a process that brings
into the music the joy of discovery, the magic of communication and the
uniqueness of both the moment and the individual. Yet it introduces the tension
which planted the seeds for the ultimate blossoming of free jazz.
Tension between the freedom of expression of the individual and the need to
form coherent relations with other performers in the group. Role playing each
instrument takes its nominal part in the play, the bass provides chord foundations
and time, the comping instrument feeds chordal colourations, drums set up the
rhythmic matrix, and drive, and the soloist plays a main melody.
Other instruments as far as they are used, have well defined roles of rhythmic or
motivic support, as in call and response designs or early jazz polyphony. In this

way there is both a functional framework promoting coherence and latitude for
creativity.
Another tension is between freedom of expression and the song form. The
recurring song cycle (most commonly the 12 bar blues or the 32 bar AABA form)
provides harmonic propulsion and a time frame for phrasing yet it can also act as
a straightjacket, with too slavish a following of it yielding a vapid and predictable
outcome. Experienced jazz performers and listeners handle this tension by using
or recognising characteristic form-marking gestures providing an extra level of
surety for the imaginative introduction of form threatening motivic processes,
rhythmic overlays and accents.
A third tension is between FOE and the conventional musical materials of African
American traditions, including styles and rules of the game. These materials
include technical resources such as scales, blues riffs, vamps etc. and also
aesthetic building blocks such as swing, sound and feel. Such familiar materials
and processes act psychologically, forming and invoking cultural and personal
references that can bring forth powerful emotional associations in listeners. The
common handling of this tension is to balance traditional materials with
innovation, building a personal language that extends tradition but keeps the
connection to them apparent.
Opera
Composers Works Performers
Editor Andras Batta
1999 Sigrid Neef Konemann Verlagsgellschaft
Jazz John Fordham 1993 RD Press
Jazz is always composed but often on the wing and if the spontaneous
composition is not recorded, it may never be heard again. The relationship
between improvisation and pre-meditated compositions is a thorny one. In the
20s Paul Whiteman was called King of Jazz for jazz flavoured pieces that
downplay improvisation borrowed from classical music an cleaned up New
Orleans musicians expressive quirks.
In the 80s the most hardline free improvisers saw composition as incompatible
with the spirit of jazz. Between the extremes lies a rich body of music that
balances improvisation and composition in ways that enchance both.
Thenolonius Monk used Jazz material only whereas other jazz musicians used
rags, marches, pop songs , European music.
Much written jazz is based on conventional notation with idiosyncratic variations
for special sound. Contemporary versions like Anthony Braxtons 1983
composition No 107 use new graphic symbols.

Jelly Roll Morton took the intuitive inflammable materials of New Orleans solo
improvisation ensemble polyphony expressive tonality, impulsive breaks and
organised them to create early masterpieces.

Techniques of Musical Composition (Last update 17/12/1996)

http://empresa.portoweb.com.br/compor

Deals with Major and minor scales, tonality, musical writing (measures, notes,
lengths, clefs, etc)
Harmony, Triad, (Augmented, triad by adding notes, chords derived from triads
Quartal harmony (extension of quartal harmony, quartal harmony by adding
notes)
Harmony through Fifths, Fifths by adding notes
Harmony through Seconds and Clusters
Borrowed Modal chords
Cadences
Modulation
Deceptive Progression
Harmonic Movement
The tonic preparation
Preparation of the other degrees
Melody (Consideration about phrasing), (Foreign notes)
Counterpoint
Techniques of motive variation
Rhythmic variation

Basic Literature, References, Bibliography, Links

Harmony is the vertical relationship of the notes which are played at the same
time; the materials out of which harmony is made are scales, intervals and
chords.
The intervals ie, the distance from one tone to another, determine the type of
harmony;
Triad; sound generated by the interval of thirds, eg do/mi/sol or do/mib/sol;
Quartal; formed by intervals of fourths eg fa/Si/Mid or fa/sib/sol;
Fifths; intervals of fifths, inversion of the interval of fourth eg si/fa/do;
Cluster; intervals of seconds, eg do/re/mi and so on
It is irrelevant if these intervals are major, minor or even augmented
Interval of do to re# is an interval of minor third(3m)
Triad
The triad may appear in 4 different forms;
1.Major
2.Minor
3. Diminished
4.Altered
C Cm C5# Cdim
Extended Triad
In four-voice harmony the 5th is usually suppressed in an extended triad. In this
chord type the main notes are:
1. Fundamental indicates the tonality
2. Third chord quality (major, minor, etc)
3. Sevenths indicates the extension
4. The characteristic dissonance

Eg. C, E B(7), D(9),F(11),A(13)

Triadwithaddednote
ThedifferencebetweentheExtendedTriadandtheTriadwithaddednotesisthe
latterwillalwayshavea;
1. fundamental or root (tonic)
2. Third
3. Fifth
4. The addition
Eg. C,Eb,G,D (Cm9), and D,G,A,F (Dm11)

Chords derived from Triads

Diminished chord:
Any note of the diminished chord may be the superior or inferior sensitive of
the following resolution chord. Actually only three diminished chords are
possible; when inverted, each of them would generate three new different
diminished chords. Eg; Cdim (C,Eb,F#,A) C#dim (C#,E,G,A#)
Ddim(D,F,Ab,B)
Chords of augmented sixth (Italian Sixth):
ThechordofItaliansixthisderivedfromthesixthdegreeoftheminorscale,where
thefifthissuppressedandreplacedbyanaugmentedsixth.Eg.lAb6aum(Ab,C,F#)
ChordsofGermanSixth:
DerivedformthechordofItaliansixthsimplybyaddingtheaugmentedsixth.Interms
ofsonoritythischorddoesnotrepresentanythingnewbecauseitsoundsenharmonically
asaDominant7th.Thepopularityofthischordliesinthepossibilityofanewresolution
ofatraditionalsonority.WhenonewritesFa#insteadofGb,thesensitivestopsbeing
thethird.eg.Ab(6#)adic(Ab,C,Eb,F#)
EverychordoftheDominant7thtypemayberesolvedintoeightdifferentchords,where
eachnotethatformsatritonemaybeasuperiororinferiorsensitiveofaminorormajor
chord.
ChordofFrenchsixth

DerivesfromtheGermansixthchord,wherethefifthisreplacedbytheaugmented
fourth.Itisresolvedlikeadiminishedchord,ie,itmayresolveinto16newchords.

QuartalHarmony
Thequartalharmonyischaracterisedbykeepingtheintervalrelationshipof4thbetween
thenoteswhichformachord.Thequartalharmonyforthreesoundchordsmayassume
threeforms:

1. twosuperimposedjustfourths
2. ajustfourthandanaugmentedfourth
3. anaugmentedfourthandajustfourth
eg.(C,F,Bb)(C,F,B),(CF#,B)
extensionofquartalharmony
eitherajustoranaugmentedfourthmaybeaddedie;Throughjustfourthyoucan
makeachordwithallthenotesofthescalel
quartalharmonywithaddednotes
Twojustfourthsornot,plusanyothernote;themostcommonchordthroughadding
notesismadebyaddingathirdtothesharpestnote.Eg(C,F,BbD)
Harmonythroughfifths
Thiskindofharmonymaybeformedbyintervalsofjust,diminished,oraugmented
fifths.eg.(C,GD)(C,G,DbF)(C,Gb,Db)
Fifthswithaddednote
ThesehavethesamerulesasQuartaladdedHarmony.Actuallythechordsoffifths
areinversionsofthechordsoffourth
HarmonythroughSeconds(clusters)
1) Diatonic;formedbythenotesofadiatonicscale.Themostcommonofthese
notesareformedbythescaleofDomajor,calledwhiteclustersbecausetheyare
playedonthewhitekeysofthepiano.

2) Chromatic:itusesthechromaticscale.
BorrowedModalChords
Thesearechordsoftheminormode(tonality)usedintheparallelmajormodeandvice
versa.Homonymousorparalleltonalityhappenswhentherearedifferenttonalitiesfor
thesametonic.Forinstance,theparalleltonalityofDomajorisDominor.
Modualation
1. Presentationoftheinitialtone(withstrongcadence)
2. Creationofapivotregion(commontobothtones)
3. Presentationofadifferentialchord,fixingthenewtone.
4. Cadenceinthearrivaltone
Cadences
1. conclusive
perfect,plagal
2. Suspended:
halfcadence(relatedtothedominant)11V;IV;IVV;
imperfect:V13;V713
deceptive(interrupted);VVI
AmplifiedDeceptiveCadence
1. Resolutionoftheattractivenotes
2. Theresolutionnoteofthesensitivemaybethe5th,7th,the9th,ecofthe
resolutionchord.
Noteeachresolutionchordmayassumeoneormorealterations.Thiswillimplya
chromaticharmony.
Note;Alloftheseproceduresmayalsobeappliedtotheresolutionofthe7thofthe
dominantinthe3rdofthetonicchord.G7,C,G7Em,G7F7/MG7D#dim(9b)G7
B7(11)

Byapplyingtheseprocedurestointermediatepartsofphrases,andnotonlyto
cadences,aconstantlychangingstructurewillbeformedinmidchordmutation
whichwillfreelymovetowardsseveralpoints.
HarmonicMovement
HARMONICMOVEMENT

Inthistopicweshallstudysomekindsofpreparationsusualtothechordsofagiven
scale.Thepreparationenhancestheharmonicpossibilitiesandenablestheuseofan
interestingharmonizationforthechromaticpassingnotes,bothforthebassandthe
mainmelody.
a) PreparationV7I(PerfectCadence)G7CG7Cm
b) PreparationSubV7I(SubstitutionoftheSeventhoftheDominant)
Thischordisfoundonthesecondlowereddegree,onetoneabovethechorditwill
resolve(Db7CDb7Cm)
c) PreparationVIII
d) BdimCBdimCm
a) SecondaryDominant
Thesecondarydominantsarethedominantsoftheotherdiatonicdegrees.
C7MB7EmA7Dm7D7G7C7M
b) AuxiliaryDominant
ThesearethedominantsoftheBorrowedModalChords(BMC)
C7MBb7Eb7MAb7MDmG7C7M
c) SecondarySubV7
Thisisthesubstituteofthefifthdegreeofthediatonicdegrees.Itresolves
with/bydownwardshalftonemovements.
Bb7AmEb7DmG7C7M
d) DeceptiveResolution
Thishappenswhentheprepatorychords(V7andSubV7)donotresolveinto
theexpectedchord,causingasurprisingeffect.
CF#m7B7C

MELODYCAPIII
Considerationsaboutphrasing
Phrasingisthestudyofmusicaldiscourseconstruction,itsarticulatinand
linksinshort,thewaythevariouselementsofaworkareinterrelated.
Phrasingspecificallystudiesthemelodicconstruction.
1)Phrasingelements:
a) Motive;thesmallestrecognizableunityofagivenmusicalwork.The
motiveitselfisincompleteanditisusedasapointofdepartureforthe
constructionofmoreextensiveunities.Themotiveisalsocalledthecell.
b) Semiphrase(orphrasecomponent);theconnectionofdifferentmotives
c) Phrase;Basicunityofthemusicalsyntaxacompletemusicalidea
whichendswithacadence.Thephraseresultsfromtheconnectionoftwo
ormoresemiphrases.Thephrasemaybe:
Conclusive(fullclose)whenitfinishesinthetonicchord
Suspendedwhenitfinishesinotherchords
d) Periodthecombinationoftwoormorecomplementaryphrases.The
secondisheardasananswertothefirstone.
Antecedent;Thefirstphraseofaperiod
Consequent:thephrasewhichservesasananswer
3) Recognizingphrasingelements:
Inordertounderstandphrasingmorepreciselyweneedtoclearlyperceivethe
articulationsbetweenthevariousphrasingelements;knowhowtoseparatethemotives,
thesemiphrasesandtheperiods.Thesesubdivisionsofmelodymaybecarriedoutby:
1) theuseoftherest
2) thelongnote
3) theuseofthehold(pausefermata)
4) directionshiftofthemelodicmovement
5) Melodicleap
6) Noterepetition
7) Repetitionofmelodicorrhythmicpattern
8) Shiftofmelodicorrhythmicpattern
9) Shiftofmelodicorrhythmicpattern
10) Divisionbythemeasureweight
11) Exception
ForeignNotes(addednotes)

Thosewhichdonotbelongtothechord;theymayhaveeitheramelodicorsimplyan
ornamentalfunction.
a)Passingnote(pn)(CEGCDEA)
b)embroiderednotes(auxiliarynotes)(CEGAB)
c)suspension(delay)(CEGB)
d)appoggiatura(CEGDE)
e)anticipation(an)(GBDGCCEGC)
e) scapata(sc);noteresolvedintowholedegree(CEGCBDBCBE)
References;
Noteswrittenonclassroomnotestakenduringacompositioncourseby
ProfessorinstrumentalistandcomposerFernandoLewisMattos
LookupfundamentalsofMusicalCompositionbyArnoldSchoenberg
ElementaryTreatiseofHarmonybyPaulHindermith
Anessayonpatternsinmusicalcompositiontransformations,mathematical
groups,andthenatureofmusicalsubstance.
EdgarVareseoncegaveadefinitionofmusicasorganisedsoundandthisseems
likeagoodplacetostart,morebecauseofwhatinformationsuchadefinitiondoes
notgivethanforwhatitdoesgive.Thedefinitionissomewhatsatisfyingbecauseit
seemstoembracepracticallyanythingthatiscalledmusic,thatanyonecould
conceiveofasmusicandfurthercertainlyanythingthatmightbecalledmusicinthe
future.Ontheotherhanditisunsatisfyingbecausetherearenocluesinthe
definitionastohowmusicisconstructed.OnmullingVaresesdefinitionover,the
firstquestionthatcomestomindisacompoundone;whatisorganization,howisthe
soundorganized?Illtrytoconsiderananswertothatquestionbystartingwiththe
mosthistoricallyprimitivemusicalnotionsandmovingthroughincreasing
complexitiestocomplexitiesofmodernatonalmusic.Here,Imeanatonalinits
technicalsense,notinitsguttersenseofharshanddissonant.
Undoubtedly,themostprimitivemusicalperceptisthatofpulse,recognizedperhaps
firstinourownrhythmicpulse,heartbeat.Imagineanaustralopithicus,onhisday
off,pickingsomeobjectupandbangingitagainstanother;thesatisfactionobtained
bysimplybeatingouttime,inasteadyrepeatingunitoftime.Thissetsthestage
forapulsetomusicasbeingafundamentalparameterthatcanbevaried.Nowadays
wearelittlemorepreciseandsophisticatedaboutsuchthingsandspecifyapulseby
givingametronomevalueforandunderlyingnotevaluethatistiedtomusical
notation.Foragivenpulseonehassimplyasequenceofunaccentedand
undifferentiatedbeatsseparatedbyequalunitsoftime.
Onecanoverlaythepulsewithstructuralformsthatgiveapatternofvariouslevelsof
accent.Withinstandardmusicalnotationthisisdesignatedbygroupingtheprimitive

pulsesintobarsthatcreateameter.Forcertainevolvedmusicalforms/typesthe
meterisprescribed;Awaltzusuallyiswrittenin3/4metersothatthereare3quarter
notestoabar.Ashortrepresentativetable:
Waltz3/4
Polonaise6/8
Polka2/4
Gigue6/8
Sarabande3/4
Chaconne3/4
Passacaglia3/4
Allemande4/4
Tango2/4,4/4,4/8(before1955)
Theseallhappentobeorevolvedfromdanceforms.Itistheassociationofmusic
withdanceandalsowiththevoiceandwithindigenouslanguagethathadprovided
givenstructureformanymusicalfeatures.
Towritemusicthatfollowswordsinagivenlanguage,themusicmustfollowthe
accentsandrhythmsofthatlanguageinordertoprojectthewordsmeaningfullytoa
listener.Theartofdoingsoiscalledprosody.Composersalsopayattentionto
vowelstructureofthetext,withanunderstandingofbiologicallyresonantpitchesof
vowels.InHelmholtz1877agreatstudywasdoneofvowelresonancesand
generallyhowsoundisperceivedbyhumans.Thoughwrittenoverahundredyears
ago,itisstill,aBibleofthesubjectthatcoverstheappropriatemathematics,biology
oftheear,particularsandhistoryofpitchstandardsandtemperingwithunmatched
throroughness.Everycomposershouldatleastlookatit.
Languagesthatprovidemanyclearopenvowels(Italian,Hungarian,Spanish,
Russian)aretheeasiesttowritefor.Consonantalclusters(Czech,Russianandmost
Slaviclanguages)canpresentaslightobstacletothecomposer.Languagesthat
presentnasalisedandcoveredvowels,alongwithdipthongsandtripthongs(English,
French,Portugese)requiremorecareandrestrictioninsetting.Inregardtolanguage
andsinging,ithasbeensaid,andIthinkquitedistensibly,thatItalian(Tuscan)issthe
perfect(andeasiest)languageformellifluoussinging;allvowelsareopenandin
abundance;therearenodipthongs,nortriphthongs.EveninItalian,however,the
composermustrespectthenaturalresonancesofthevowels.Ifthisisnotdone,the
singeroftensimplychangesthevoweltosuitthepitch.Themostdreadedvowel
soundsforsingers,whetherthyknowitornot,isthelonge;ithasthehighest
resonantpitchandismostlikelytobecomeunstablewhensungatthetopofthe
singersrange.
Languagehasbeenclaimedtobeapowerfulinfluenceonthestructureandnatureof
whatmightbecalledanationalmusic.Influencescomefromsettingmusicinthe
languageandthenabstractingthemusictothatwhichisnotsung.Therhythmsofthe

languageremainembeddedinthemusicalthought.Onthisbasisonewouldexpect
differentkindsofmusictoevolveinareaswherethesoundstructuresoflanguageare
different.InEurope,forexample,Romancelanguagesofthesouthhavelostthe
inflectiveendingsthattheymighthavekeptfromLatin,whilethenorthernGermanic,
SlavicandScandinavianlanguageshavekepttheirinflectiveendings.Oneshould
includeinthesecondcategory,finnishandHungarian.Thethingaboutthese
inflectiveendingsisthatintermsofstress,theyareweak;rarelystressed.Themusic
comingfrominflectedlanguagesconcomitantlyexhibitsweakcadentialendings
whicharenecessaryforproperprosodyinsong.Onecanhearthisdistinction
betweensayGermanmusicandItalianmusic.Someoftheidiomaticmelodic
structureinsouthernEuropeanmusicisaresultofexposureandassimilationofmusic
thatcomesfromTurkicandSemiticlanguages,whichhaveanaltogetherdifferent
soundstructure.Onemightexpectakindofstraightjacketfromalanguagewherethe
workdaccentsareprescribed.Forexample,inHungarian,theaccentalwaysfallson
thefirstsyllable.InSpanish,theaccentfallsonthepenultimatesyllable,with
exceptionsincertainconstructionsthatthenmusttakeanaccent.InEnglish,German
andRussianthereisnotpredictingwheretheaccentfalls.Fortunately,wordshave
differentlengths,innumbersofsyllables.
Englishisnotaparticularlyeasylanguagetosettomusicbecauseofitsmany
coveredvowels,dipthongsandtripthongs.Thedevelopmentofamusicallanguage
whoserhythmsandcadencesfitandarederivedfromspokenEnglishhasbeenalong
timeincoming.Forme,theprototypicalAmericanEnglishoperaisTheCrucible
byRobertWard,onewhichcertainlydeservesmoreandbetterperformancethanit
gets.OthercomposersthathavecaughttherhythmsofEnglisharesamuelBarber
andNedRorem.
Whilerhythmisapurelytemporalaspectofmusic,cadencehastemporal,vertical
(harmonic)andhorizontal(melodic)aspect.Foraworkingdefinitionofcadence;itis
atechnique,procedureormethodbywhichonesignifiestheendofamusicalphrase.
Inamoremodernsetting,itsignifiestheendofanactivity.
Tomakelifemorecomplicated,ormoreinteresting,dependingonyourviewpoint,
theverticalandhorizontalaspectsofmusic,arenotasaruleindependent.In
speakingofcadenceandthehorizontalaspectsofmusic,wehaveenteredtherealm
ofpitch.
Thenaturalpitchingofvowelsinhumanspeechisarathersubtleanddiffuseconcept,
eveninlanguageslikethevariousdialectsofChinesewhichdistinguishmeaningby
tonalorpitchvariationpatternsappliedtoasyllable.Thoughonecaneasilylearnto
distinguishchangesinpitch,theactualabsolutepitchasfrequencyisnever(tomy
knowledge)usedassemanticinflectioninanyhumanlanguage.Theonlyplacein
naturewhereonehearsclearlydefinedpitchesandpitchrelationsisinthesongsof
birds.Itisnothardtoimagingthatshouldbirdsneverhaveexisted,wewouldhave

nomusicbeyondrhythm.Outsidemywindow,inSpring,IfrequentlyhearwhatI
callmyBeethovenBird.Itchirpsquiterecognizablytheopeningmotiveof
BeethovensfifthSymphony(GGGEb)descendingamajorthirdfromGtoEb.
SometimesitaddsatrillontheEb.IdontthinkBeethovengottheideafromabird,
sinceintruththatlittlemotiveappearsinmanypiecesofmusicandisalmosta
musicalbanality.Thepointofthe5thsymphonyisnotthemotive,butthevariative
geniusofBeethoventhatcouldmakespringfromitanentiresymphony.That
symphony,sooftenplayedthatitsnotreallypaidattentionto,isanastounding
solutiontothefundamentalproblemofmusicalcomposition;howdoIkeepdoingthe
samethingforhalfanhourandbetheoppositeofboring?
So,Ithinkitaprettygoodguessthattheideaofsongaroseinhumancultureby
imitatingthesongsofbirds,andalsobyhearingthateventhebirdsproduced
variationsintheirsong.Thesongofbirdsseemedtobenotlearnedbehavioursbut
ratherhardwiredintothebirdsbrain.Inthehumanspecies,fewthingscomehard
wired,exceptpossiblyourinclinationtosee,impose,andcreatepatterns,sometimes
playfullyandsometimeswithdireconsequences.
Thecreationofthepatternsofmusic,mathematicsandphysicsis,Iwouldassert,
primarilyaplayfulactivitywithnoparticularpurposeotherthantheenjoymentofthe
activityofcreationandtheaestheticsoftheendproduct.But,Idigress.Thenext
questionshouldbewheredothepitchesofmusiccomefrom,andwhatarethey
anyhow?
Formodernwesterncomposers,thepitchesorurmaterieofmusicmightbedefined
asthosethatonefindsonthekeysofapianolThepredominatingfrequencieselicited
bystrikingpianokeyshavealongandfairlycomplexhistory,goingbackatleastas
farastheGreekmathematician/philospherPythagoras,(575500BCE),throughthe
classicalGreekModesofwhichtherewereseemingly14;
IONIAN
HYPOIONIAN
DORIAN
HYPODORIAN
PHYRGIAN
HYPOPHRYGIAN
LYDIAN
HYPOLYDIAN
MIXOLYDIAN
HYPOMIXOLYDIAN
AEOLIAN
HYPOAEOLIAN
LOCRIAN
HYPOLOCRIAN
Onthroughto7liturgicalmodesoftheRomanCatholicchurch.Twoofthese
surviveinWesternmusicasthemajormode(Ionian)andtheMinorMode(Aeolian).
Thereismoretosayabouttheminormode,whichhascertainmodificationsin
modernusage.Thereareactuallytwocommonminormodes;themelodicminorand
theharmonicminor.Whydidonlythesemodessurvive?Theanswertothatquestion
liesintheparticularpaththatmusictookinwesternculture.Westernmusic
developedastructuralnotionoftonality;inthisrespectitisnotunique.All14

classicalGreekmodeshaveatonalcenterwhichistherestingorresolvingnotefor
musicwrittenitit.Theliturgicalmodesalsohavetonalcentresinheritedfromthe
GreekModes.Thereareothermodesaswell;variousPersianmodes,Hebraic
Liturgical,Hungarianmodes,Neapolitanmodes,Spanishmodes,theselastnotbeing
restrictedto7tones.Therearevariouspentatonicscaleswithfivemodeseach.
Consideralsothenthemultipleoctaveragas(RageAsavari:RagaNet,Issue#1)of
ClassicalIndianMusicwithascendinganddescendingaspectssimilartothe
ascendinganddescendingformsofourmelodicminormode.Thenumberofmusical
modesusedbyhumansisinthehundreds.Thisdoesntcoverthemicrotonal
embellishmentsfoundinmusicofthemiddleeastwhichhavebeensaidtodividethe
semitone,oursmallestwelltemperedintervalinto64parts.Itseemsthattheaverage
adultcandiscriminate1/17ofawholetone,whiletrainedmusicians(violinists)can
discriminateasfinelyas1/540ofawholetonearoundconcertA.Pitchdiscrimination
abilityseemstobemoreinnatethanaproductoflearningasdoestheaudiblerange.
Dependingonvariousalterablefactors,theextremesofpossibleperceptionrange
fromabout12Hzupto25000Hz.Thenormativerangeisnarrowerthanthis,
sometimesmuchnarrower.
Whyallthesemodesandwhydoeswonderfulrichnessdisappearinwesternmusic?
Thereasonthatallthesemodescouldexistandbewantedisthatmusicwasatfirst
essentiallyhorizontallyorganized.Itcouldmaintainatonalstructurewhichprovided
anarchitecturalwholenesstoacompositioneitherbycadentialformulasofamoder
orsimplybydroningthetonalcenteralsocalledthetonicpitch.Mostofthemusic
ofworldfollowedthepathofincreasinginventivenessandcomplexityofhorizontal
structure,ie.Ofphraseandrhythm.
InEuropeanculturetherearealsodevelopedconcomitantlywiththeascendancyof
theRomanCatholicchurchadefinitivedivisionbetweensacredmusicandprofane
music.Theoriginalsacredmusicofthechurchwasplainsong,sunginunison,with
noinstrumentsusingtheliturgicalmodes.(Inpractice,Locrianmodeisunstable,
easilydegeneratingintomixolydian)
Forahistory,oftheintroductionoforganum,thesingingofplainchantinparallel
fourthsseeGrout1973ormorebrieflyandonlineMusicHistory.Theintervalsof
thefourthandthefiftharemoreconsonantinnaturaltempering,thaninwell
tempering.Althoughtheideaofcounterpoint,theplayingofsimultaneousmelody,
wasinsecularuse,ithadnotpreviouslybeenallowedinthechurch..Majorchanges
intheArts,andtheriseofuniversitiesoccurredduringthe11thcentury.Changews
andupheavalsthatweretoclimaxintheRenaissance,300+yearslater.The
introductionofeventhisprimitive,harmonicallybasedcounterpointisthesourceof
thecomplexcounterpointofJ.S.Bach.
Itisthepathtowardverticalstructureintertwinedwithhorizontalstructurethat
westernmusichastaken.Thisratherthanthepathofincreasinghorizontal

complexity.Inwesternmusictheconceptofharmonyrisesupasdynamicforce
withinmusic.Thisisanisolatedculturaleventthathasnothappenedelsewhere.
Tuningtoakeyboardinstrumentbyjusttemperamentconfinesthekeysinwhichone
canplay,andthereforetheamountanddistancethatonecanmodulate.Helmholtz
1877,containsagooddealofinformationonthemathematicsofvariousscale
temperings,andanapproachtowhatdistinguishesconsonancefromdissonance
betweentwopitches.Tomyknowledge,theconnectionsbetweenthemathematical
propertiesofasoundwaveformandwhathumanbeingscanhearasthepitchofthat
waveformhaveyettobeelucidated.Agong,forinstance,producesanextremely
complexsoundpatternthatisusuallyusedundermusicalcircumstanceswiththe
assumptionofitspitchlessness.Yet,IrememberastoryofaproductionofTurandot,
wheretheconductorwasbeingdrivencrazybecausetheenormousgongthatiscalled
for,notonlyturnedouttohaveapitch,butthepitchwasoffkeyrelativetothescore
beingplayedbytherestoftheorchestra.Thesoundofmostinstrumentshasacertain
frequency,whichisweightedmoreheavilythantheotheremanatingfrequencies.
Thisweightingisaneasymappingbetweenauditorypitchanda
physicomathematicallydefinedpitch.Butitdoesnotexplainthegong.Aharder
questionishowwerecognizethesoundofaparticularinstrument.Onereasonable
theoryisthattheovertonesfordifferentinstrumentshavedifferentweightsanditis
thedifferentweightsthatelicitrecognition.SomeexperimentsthatIremember
indicatedthathumanhearingisnotsodiscriminating,andthattheactualinformation
astowhichinstrumentisbeingplayedactuallycomesfromthetransientsofthenote
attacks.LookinMusicandBrainInformationDatabase(MBI)
DaveRusinhascollectedsomeUsenetpostsonthequestionofwhythereare122
tonestoanoctave,andsomeothersonthenatureofmusicalsounds.Inthearticles
byDaveRusinandStephenfulling,itisexplainedhowwelltemperingclosesthe
sequenceoffifthsintoacircle.Thatthereareotherpossibilitiesoffargreater
complexityisalsoexplored.
Thatwelltempeingclosesthecircleoffifthsandthatonecanplayonapiano
keyboardinanykey,celebratedinthetwobooksofBachsDasWohlTemperierte
Klavier,makespossibleasimplergrouptheoreticalstructuringofbothpitchand
musicthanwouldotherwisebepossible.Inanaside,themathematicalconceptof
groupsoftransformationsisdefinedandrelatedtotransformationsappliedtothe
keyboardinthecontextofwelltempering.
Thefactthatawelltemperedkeyboardmeansthatonecanmodulatetoanykey
withinagivenpiece,andthatpiecesmaybewritteninanykey,ledtothe
developmentofincreasinglydoingso.Ifathingispossible,someoneislikelytodo
it.Thuscametheadvancedchromaticismofthelate19thCentury,seen/heardinthe
worksofWagner,Liszt,Regerandothers,whichthreatenedtodestroytheharmonic
pillaroftonality.ArnoldSchoenberg,in1924totherescuerbringingdodecaphony!

Thetransformationsofagroupusuallyleavingacentralsomethinginvariant.Now
wecanconsidergroupsoftransformationsinamusicalcontext.The12tonesofan
octavearemerelythealphabetofwesternmusic.Nowweconsidergroupsof
transformationswithintheintermixedsyntaxandsemanticsofthelanguagesderived
fromthem.Everysinglepieceofmusiccouldbeconsideredalanguageuntoitself,
soweareapparentlydiscussingsimultaneously,themetasyntaxandmetasemanticsof
music,intermsofitsmathematizedstructures.Thisapplies,aswewillsee,toboth
tonalandatonalmusic.
Inthelittleintroductiontogrouptheorywetalkedaboutagroupoftransformations
relatedtothekeyboarditself,thatis,tothekeyboardsstructuringofthe12tones
containedwithinanoctave.Insteadoftalkingaboutthestructureofwhatamountsto
themusicalalphabet,letsnowtalkaboutthelinguisticstructuresconstructedfromthe
alphabet.
Theactualprocessofcomposingmusicisverycomplicatedasitinvolvesintegrating
alllevelsoforganization,whereanygivenlevelcanbedesignatedbyatimeof
duration;fromthedurationofapitchorrestuptothetimedurationoftheentire
composition.Ihaveneverseennotevenheardofanydocumentthatpurportsto
explainallofthis.Idontthinkitcanbewritten;ifwritten,itcannotberead.There
arenostylesheetsintheformofarchitecturalstandardsavailable,eg.Sonata
allegroform,fugue,rondo,etc,allwithasetoflargescalerules,oryoucanmakeup
yourown.Attheotherendofthescalejustabovethelevelofpitch,isthelevelof
phrase.Thisiswherewecantalkandworkcomfortablybecausethecomplexityis
maneagable.Moreover,tobeabletocontrollargerstructuresonemustbeableto
controlthesmallerstructuresfromwhichthelargeronesarebuilt.
Inconstructingaphrase,amajorconsiderationisthatitcontainsahighpotentialfor
transformation.Mostmelodiesareessentiallyastringofphrases.Thereare
exceptionalcasesoflongunbrokenmelodieswithintenselycomplicatedinternal
structurethatpracticallydefyanalysis.Theabilitytocreatesuchwondrousthingsis
deniedmostcomposers.Asasingleexample,listentothe54barlongmelody
beginningonthesecondpageofthesonata#3ofChopin.Asacounterexampleby
theexactsamecomposerlistentoandlookatthescoretotheEtudeOp25#10
inBminor,thesocalledoctaveetude.Onecanbeginananalysisoftheoctaveetude
bynotingthatitiscompletelygeneratedbyitfirsttwonotes,givingtheintervalofa
semitone(minorsecond).AlthoughChopinisrarelythoughtof,orspokenofasa
structuralist,theexistenceofthisetudeisaseverecriticismofthatposture.Sincethe
etudeexhibitsinAandA,primarilyasimplehorizontalstructure,Idliketouseitas
anexampleoftransformationsbeforelaunghingintoabstractions.Inoverallstructure
theetudehasasectionalformgivensymbolicallyasssblablabla