tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post6181974443718917854..comments2024-03-28T22:40:25.196-02:30Comments on → Music Composition Weblog ←: Fun With Scales and ModesClark Rosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13153382609775397798noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-11538707860877708982024-03-27T21:18:07.906-02:302024-03-27T21:18:07.906-02:30When I did intro to comp, I remember really enjoyi...When I did intro to comp, I remember really enjoying using modes of limited transposition for a project. In my third year I also used the whole tone scale quite a bit. When writing my piece Nightsurf I used the whole tone scale as the basis of a lot of the piece and purposefully made the first peak of the piece the place where it broke the scale and went into a more ambiguous key. Using the whole tone scale was interesting because it is a very limiting scale. Because there's no semitones each note of the scale has equal importance. This made the section where it breaks the whole tone scale all the more importance because it broke the feeling of equal importance that all the notes had before.<br />I would love to explore writing in the octatonic scale, because I use it.a decent amount in jazz. It's an interesting scale because it has a strange combination of traits in it.Evan Westnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-26376718957313152452023-01-22T18:17:07.813-03:302023-01-22T18:17:07.813-03:30When I was improving and just trying to create cer...When I was improving and just trying to create certain natural relationships with the prime form 0145 and the whole tone scale in my head. I came across an interesting scale... C# D# E# F# A# B. This combines the whole tone scale I was thinking about, CDEF#G#A# and 0145 F F# A# B which was letting me get the Arabic sound that I wanted and made it seem tonal but where I came from and where I went after slow changed the tonal centre as to keep it post-tonal for the assignment and to create the sounds I like. I sometimes like to bring different culture's music into my music in subtle ways such as adding a quick ornament the flattens a note in the scale and creates an eastern vibe. I would say though that I focus more on rhythm and sometimes creating the illusion that for a moment the piece is tonal (modal). This I go about by introducing some aleatoric moments if you were to analyze the harmony after the fact. I love creating lines and leaving the harmony it creates to chance. I use patterns and a nack for improvising when changing the harmony most times and help from voice leading or common tones. Modes have helped me be a little more unique and my natural experimental style guides my compositions. I have become more logical but I still rely mostly on flow. Liam Kuhnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-67825767017383363472014-04-10T20:35:05.500-02:302014-04-10T20:35:05.500-02:30Before I started music school, I had a very small ...Before I started music school, I had a very small knowledge of theory. My previous teacher had never taught me scales or chords, so even those simple concepts were sort of new to me when I started university. Even without that education, I was still writing music. Once I started theory classes, I realized that many of the progressions and chords I used in the pieces I wrote as a child were actually standard tonal chord progressions, and I didn't even realize it. At the same time, I was also using many chords and progressions that were not tonal at all, but still sounded interesting. After taking 5 semesters worth of theory, I find it harder to write chord progressions like that, that are not tonal, even though it was so easy as a child. The assignments for this composition class I found very difficult at first for this reason, but I got past my tonal thinking after a while. These scales you have shown are very interesting, and could be very helpful for me. I particularly like the Hirajoshi scale, I've never heard of that one before, I really like it! <br /><br />I think I just need to stop thinking of tonality as rules and more of stepping stones or guidelines. Becca Spurrellnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-36595877101393878802013-04-03T23:56:14.940-02:302013-04-03T23:56:14.940-02:30The subject of employing different scales into ton...The subject of employing different scales into tonal music really interests me. I've been so rooted in tonality my entire life, that I've never really considered that different scales and modes can actually be used, and sound great in tonal music. I've always looked at tonal music as simply being scales, and chords found within those scales, rather than the relationship between the notes and chords of the scales. I will definitely keep this in mind for future composition assignments. Learning about different scales, and the relationship between the notes and chords of these scales has definitely given me some direction!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07939562905929544063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-21825633935166308202013-03-31T14:42:05.526-02:302013-03-31T14:42:05.526-02:30I really like using and exploring the modes. They ...I really like using and exploring the modes. They open the do to so many exprssive and creative possibilities, and in my opinion a good example is Gregorian chant, which is some of the most beautiful and haunting music I've ever heard! Outside of the church modes, I got the opportunity to explore the modes of the limited transposition in the Messiaen project, which was a unique experience for me. I had learned about them in theory and music history, but never actually used them for a creative purpose. I realized that many beautiful sounding chords/sonorites and melodies can be created form the notes of these modes and I will definitely go back and use them in my future compositions! Outside of the realm of tonality, I think the various atonal scales and modes are great tools for composers! Timothy Brennannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-37447901029218179592012-11-17T11:33:03.512-03:302012-11-17T11:33:03.512-03:30I'm playing with different scales/modes for th...I'm playing with different scales/modes for this second assignment - and yes, I am finding it fun! <br />At first, when given the task of writing atonal music, I had no idea where to start. My musical background is so rooted in tonality, those are the sounds that my ear wants to create, the patterns I would instinctively follow. I at first felt quite lost when having to avoid traditional harmonies and disregard so many of the rules we learned in core theory classes. <br />Using different scales is giving me some structure to follow - something to pull notes from and create chords out of. And it's really interesting to compare the intervallic structure of the different scales - like how whole tone and augmented scales are both composed of two augmented triads, a whole tone apart in the WT scale and a semitone apart in the aug. scale - so similar, yet each with a distinct character. <br />I will admit it. I appreciate being forced out of my comfort zone, being challenged to explore different techniques. It's giving me a whole new set of ideas I can apply to my composition so i'm no longer limited to the familiar world of tonality.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00213144905216009194noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-91854450192511220812012-04-11T11:50:47.606-02:302012-04-11T11:50:47.606-02:30Using other scales is always a lot of fun. However...Using other scales is always a lot of fun. However sometimes I end up finding myself lost in how to do things harmonically. for example a pentatonic scale I usually just use all the notes at once, cause they all sound good with each other, and then just cadence on the same note to make things sound final.<br /><br /> My favorite thing about using different scales is that rather than modulating to a new key using the same scale, you can modulate to another scale. my personal favorite being whole tone scale, that modulates to a pentatonic scale, because they both share the characteristic of all notes sounding good with each other ( more so than scales with semi tones atleast), but they are very contrasting in their sound.Kyle Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16387133202601753851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-16267834981460244272012-04-11T11:08:24.468-02:302012-04-11T11:08:24.468-02:30As someone who is very rooted in tonality, this bl...As someone who is very rooted in tonality, this blog is actually rather helpful! I usually find it very hard to get out of that tonal mindset, so branching out brings me out of my comfort zone.<br /><br />That said, the best piece that I've ever written (in my own opinion) was written using the octatonic scale. For that piece I told myself "You will not write a tonal piece" and completely gave in and rid my mind of tonal ideas. The result was something that sounded organic, and, better yet, like something I've never written before (or like something I could have written for that matter)!<br /><br />I agree completely that these various modes and synthetic scales can each provide their own character or evoke their own feeling that tonality just can't.Elliott Butthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10469746812758218142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-83236401895689522732009-12-10T22:48:36.915-03:302009-12-10T22:48:36.915-03:30I was definately excited to read this and start th...I was definately excited to read this and start thinking about all the different possibilies for modes and scales because I LOVE modes. They make me happy. I just naturally tend towards the sound worlds they create. I also became rather enamoured with Klexmer scales during my stint with the Klezmer band B'ys in da Shtetl. However, I am confused about how to make sure that pieces composed using these scales stay atonal. As you know, I had a lot of difficulty with this in my second piece I composed for class. I was never really sure where the line was that separated, atonality, modality, and tonality. Do you have any suggestions of what I could do to better understand?Sorcha https://www.blogger.com/profile/01790282756428668651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298312567843426829.post-27831311160788480402009-12-08T01:45:46.263-03:302009-12-08T01:45:46.263-03:30When thinking about writting atonal music the thou...When thinking about writting atonal music the thought of using different scales, other then the major/minor scales is exciting. You can do so much with an octatonic scale or a penta scale, etc. The piece I just wrote for voice, piano, violin, and percussion, based on Robert Frost's poem "Fire and Ice" was based on two different types of scales. For fire I used an octatonic scale and for ice I used two different whole tone scales. When comparing these two scales the contrast in character is awsome. The whole tone scales gave me an awsome ice feeling, there were no semitones so it felt static. On the other hand the octatonic scale worked great for the fire because it it was full of semitones and it sounds dark. Atonal scales open the doors up to writting music it gives composers much more options and paths too take. I definitly agree with Clark, when beginning to write atonal music playing around with different scales is great. I definitly learnt a lot even though I have only written one piece using atonal scales.<br /><br />Andrew RideoutA. Rideouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15339290311179408307noreply@blogger.com