Week of February 6 - February 10

I presented my third and last piano piece this week, which I think has several good ideas and motives, but which are maybe not put together as well as they could be. This piece was meant to sound cold and icy.

Comments were:

-Try having fewer resolutions from D# to E in order to obscure the tonality even further than it already is, and to create more mystery.
-On the repeat of the initial theme, a few changes should be made to make it slightly different from the first time through.
-The second time through the theme could be a different number of measures so that it doesn't feel so perfectly even and proportionate.
-Try not to repeat notes as this feels slightly awkward. (I had already thought this but forgot to make the changes before I presented).
-Make my chords bigger and more rippling.
-My repeated thirds are too repetitious, and should be changed so that they aren't all the same.
-Because I have a pattern of leaps, they should all be approached in the same way to give some unity.

I found most of these comments helpful, however I kind of liked the sparse texture given by not having big chords, as I thought it gave a more 'icy' feeling.

Week of January 30-February 3

This week I presented my second piano piece, which has a much darker feel than my first one.

People's comments were:

-Instead of spending less time on the introduction, try spending the same amount of time while changing small details in the material in order to hold the listener's interest.

-Also in the introduction, I could try changing registers (moving lower or higher) or planing.

-Try out different sounds to make it even darker-sounding.

-Add a technique marking at the beginning about rubato.

-I could add more intervals to create more change and keep interest (using 7ths or 3rds).

-The octaves in the left hand could be moved down an octave to make a more resonant and deep sound.

-Tied whole notes in this time signature (5/4) need to be written as either 3 + 2 or 2+3. 

-In some spots where I had octaves, single notes could be more effective. 

I think all of these were really useful comments, however sometimes I find the number of suggestions a bit overwhelming, as it's hard not to try to incorporate all of them into your next revision.

Thoughts week of January 23-27

This week I presented a pretty much finished version of my first piano piece.
People's comments were:
-Try a hand-over-hand moving downwards motion (a previous suggestion that I had forgotten about)
- Fix ties in the MIDI file and make sure they are actual ties, rather than slurs.
-Fix a few beaming issues in my asymmetrically-metered bars.
-Listen to Debussy and Barber pieces for more 'water' music inspiration

I think these were all good comments. I didn't get quite to what I had hoped to get in this piece, but maybe it's a good reality check for how much time I actually have to spend working on a piece.