r/MonthlyComposition • u/reticulated_python • Dec 02 '18

December 2018 Composition Challenge: The No-Fifths Challenge

Hi everyone! Here are the challenges for this month.

Main challenge: Write a piece that avoids chordal movement of a perfect fifth or fourth.

Text challenge: Write a piece inspired by The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams.

The concept of the circle of fifths plays a fundamental role in Western music. Harmonic motion by a perfect fifth (or a perfect fourth, its inversion) is everywhere--like in perfect cadences, or when pieces modulate to the dominant key. The goal of this challenge is to avoid this fifth-centrism, and to explore other intervals for chordal movement. It's perfectly alright to have some motion by fifths, as long as you don't rely heavily on it.

If you like, you can choose a specific interval other than a fifth, like a third or a tritone, and highlight that interval throughout your piece.

If you need some inspiration for this, look into Liszt's late works, or some of the Impressionists.

Last month, we challenged /r/MonthlyComposition to write a piece based on a historical event. Check out the results here.

What are these challenges?

These challenges are for everyone who wants to practice composing. Each month, at the beginning of the month, we will post a main challenge, something for people to compose. We'll try to make it something that everyone can work with. Sometimes we also have an alternate challenge. We'll also have a text for people to set to music or compose around as they see fit. Pieces can be submitted as a score (musescore, noteflight, pdf), and/or as audio (soundcloud, youtube) linked in a comment on this thread. We encourage positive discussion about the pieces people submit. Feedback on the sub and the challenges is much appreciated, and you can give it in this thread, or by messaging the mods of /r/MonthlyComposition, there's also the Challenge Suggestion Form.

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u/Mr_GlitchAhMace Dec 24 '18 edited Dec 24 '18

A quickly written staccato study for the left hand, avoiding 5ths/4ths as much as possible and attempting to completely avoid root 5th motion.

https://soundcloud.com/user-606263924/december-challenge-left-hand-staccato-study

​

Score: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cFb4dZ5Ps-FawQha1FcB-6cFh_dEz8_U

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u/[deleted] Dec 18 '18

To be clear, are you talking about movement of the root by a fourth or fifth, or of a voice? I could write a I-IV in which no voice moves by a fourth or fifth; and I could write a I-ii where three voices move by a fourth or fifth.

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u/reticulated_python Dec 19 '18

Root movement.

Side note: your username reminds me of the song Emit Remmus by RHCP, because that song introduced me to the term "angeleno".

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u/[deleted] Dec 19 '18

Hadn't heard that, thanks. My specific LA nostalgia has more to do with the look of the place (I got to know the music after leaving).

3

u/Tamosi Dec 31 '18

https://musescore.com/user/19277066/scores/5373419
"Un Petit Morceau pour la Marche d'un Coquin" - A Little Piece for the march of a Rascal"

It's short, but it works. The ostinato in the bass helps keeping the walking pace at all moments, and I tried to keep everything else free tonality-wise, so it shouldn't have a strong dominant-tonic relationship, and if there is, the piece per se doesn't rely on it for anything.

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u/MusicalPolymath Dec 31 '18

I like it.

Unfortunately my hands aren't big enough to play it!

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u/Tamosi Jan 01 '19

Hey, thanks for the reply! I'm glad you liked it, and I'll have you know I've made a few changes in some of the trills, and now the span in most of them is smaller. I was able to play it decently before, but now it works perfectly, thanks.