UNLOCKING SECRETS

Hoday,

When it comes to music composition, theres little that can be truly original. Music theory is finite since there are only 12 tones. So how can we arrange those 12 tones to make new sounds? Steal them and re-arrange them!

Igor Stravinsky once said that he stole music from Mozart. He also said that Mozart would have wanted us to steal from him - (Balanchine DVD,D2448) And even though higher education reveals the secrets of music theory, it also reveals the facts that all music has already been written.

Pop music for example, starts on a root chord for 4, 8, 12, or 16 measures then moves to the major 4th in major, or the minor 4th in minor, and stays on the 4th for 4, 8, 12, or 16 measures and then it goes back to the root chord for 4,8,12, or 16 measures again. Sometimes it will go astray to minor 6th chord or even a 2-minor to a 5 chord. Sometimes the minor-2 chord will contain a flat 5, or maybe other altercations, but no matter what extension, it's still the same 2-5-1 movement in theory. Symphony music works the same way, no matter what extension of the chord it's still basically 2-5-1, ABA, ABACA, or ABACABA if it's sonata rondo, or some other extension of theory that has already been tried.

So all music is essentially written and leaves little room for originality. Augmented sixth chords, appogiaturas, escape tones, neighbor tones and groups, pedal points, diatonic seventh chords, neopolitans, and simultaneities, or what ever enharmonic re-interpretation you compose are also extensions of theories already used. So go ahead and analyze your favorite music and alter changes in chord and melody to compose your piece. The late and great Charles Ives even used passages from different composers building blocks of musical statements to make up one large piece (song).

There, now you have it!

Later