Drop 2 and Drop 2+4

Drop 2 and Drop 2+4 A very easy way to gain more sonority in your chord voicings or to make more space for the top line is to “drop 2”, “drop 2+4” or traditionally called “open voicing”. These are pretty simple procedures to spread out close position voicings to fill...

Minor Ninths

Minor Ninths The minor ninth is considered the “last dissonant interval”, even more than a minor second. Therefore it should be handled with care in any chord voicing (including minor ninths + octave(s)). The inherent dissonance in this interval will often...

Two Bar Structures

Two Bar Structures Lots of music nowadays is very heavily orientated on structures that are multiples of two bars. Often themes are presented in an 8 bar form which can be subdivided into two groups of 4 bars which can again be subdivided into two 2 bar groups. While...

Motivic Development

MOtivic Development Great composers are not measured by the amount of ideas they have but rather what they do with a few ideas. Very often, young or inexperienced composers tend to write pieces that play out one idea just to move on to another idea etc. while losing a...

Planning a Composition

Planning a Composition In spite of many composition teachers and professors recommending to plan out a composition properly beforehand and making sketches to create a proper structure and drama for a piece, letting a composition develop out of itself might be a valid...