Episode #
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Topic
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Author
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Listening Selections
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Score examples
Click on the scorch file to bring
an example you can view and play in Scorch - a free browser plug-in
from Sibelius - download here. If you want to view the Sibelius
file, download and open in Sibelius - version 6 recommended. |
This audio recording series, Perspectives in Music Composition,
was conceived as an additional resource for members of the Vermont MIDI
Project and the Connecticut
Composition Project by Richard Wells, Sandi MacLeod and Erik
Nielsen. We gladly share them with any teacher or student interested in
learning more about music composition. Rich is
coordinator of the
CCP and audio engineer for the series below. Your suggestions about
future topic and authors are welcome. Contact Rich or Sandi.
Episode intro music
is Sunday Night Blues by Brooke Mooney.
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Podcast #1
MP3
PDF
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Creating an Effective Melody
- strong sense of keynote
- repetition
- mostly stepwise motion
- effective shape
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Erik
Nielsen
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Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star
1st four notes Scorch - Sibelius
1st phrase Scorch - Sibelius
BBA Scorch
- Sibelius
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Podcast #2
MP3
PDF
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Creating
Your Own Melody
- Where do you start?
- What do you want to say?
- How do you want to say it?
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Erik
Nielsen
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Erik Nielsen - On the Quiet Side
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Podcast #3
MP3
PDF
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Composing
Using a Motif
- The building blocks of rhythm and pitch
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Erik
Nielsen
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Penny Lane - by John Lennon and Paul McCartney from The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” (album)
Take Five - by Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond from “Time Out”
Symphony #5 - by Ludwig van Beethoven, first movement “Symphonies #5 & 7” (Deutsche Gramophone records )
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Podcast
#4
MP3
PDF
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Composing Using a Sequence
- A way to extend and solidify a melody
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Erik
Nielsen |
White Room - by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown, recorded by Cream “Wheels of Fire”
Boogie Stop Shuffle - by Charles Mingus “Mingus Ah Um”
In the Hall of the Mountain King -
from “Peer Gynt Suite” by Edvard Grieg (Naxos)
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Podcast
#5
MP3
PDF
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Composing
Using Repetition
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Erik
Nielsen
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For What It's Worth - by Stephen Stills recorded by Buffalo Springfield “Buffalo Springfield”
Brilliant Corners - by Thelonius Monk on “Thelonius Monk” Ken Burns Jazz (Columbia/Legacy)
Morning - from “Peer Gynt Suite” - by Edvard Grieg
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Podcast #6
MP3
PDF
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Composing
Using Contrast
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Erik
Nielsen
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Crooked Crown - by Maia Sharp and David Batteau, recorded by Bonnie Raitt “Souls Alike”
Manteca - by Pozo Luciano Gonzalez, Dizzie Gillespie and Walter Fuller, “Dizzie Gillespie's Greatest Hits” (RCA Victor)
Quintet for Piano and Strings - by Johannes Brahms recorded by Rudolph Serkin and the Busch Quartet (Deutsche Gramophone)
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Podcast #7
MP3
PDF
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Creating
an Effective Bassline
- The building blocks of rhythm and pitch
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Erik
Nielsen
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You Know My Name - by Chris Cornell and David Arnold from movie “Casino Royale”
The Party's Over - by Jule Styne, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolphe Green, from the musical “Bells are Ringing” recorded by Anita O'Day “Anita O'Day's Greatest Hits”
Rejoice Greatly - from “Messiah” by George Frideric Handel, recording by Dunedin Consort (Linn Records)
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| Podcast #8
MP3
PDF |
Putting It All Together |
Erik Nielsen |
Sunday Night Blues - by Brooke Mooney |
Brooke Mooney - Sunday Night Blues
Scorch - Sibelius
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| Podcast #9
MP3
PDF
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AABA Form |
Erik Nielsen |
Solitude - by Duke Ellington “Duke Ellington” Ken Burns Jazz (Columbia/Legacy)
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| Podcast #10
MP3
PDF
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Rondo Form |
Erik Nielsen |
Romanza - from Serenade #13 “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” - by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Deutsche Gramophone) |
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| Podcast #11
MP3
PDF
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Blues - Part 1 |
Erik Nielsen |
West End Blues - by King Oliver recorded by Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five 1928
I'm a Steady Rollin' Man - by Robert Johnson (recorded by artist) |
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| Podcast #12
MP3
PDF
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Blues - Part 2 |
Erik Nielsen |
How Blue Can You Get - by Jane Feather, recorded by B. B. King “B. B. King's Greatest Hits”
Crossroads Blues - by Robert Johnson (recording by artist)
Crossroads - by Robert Johnson, recorded by Cream “Those Were the Days”
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| Podcast #13
MP3
PDF |
Voice Leading |
Erik Nielsen |
Kyrie - from “Nelson Mass” - by Franz Joseph Haydn, recorded by English Concert directed by Trevor Pinnock |
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| Podcast #14
MP3
PDF |
Chord Do's and Dont's |
Erik Nielsen |
Overture - from “The Magic Flute” - by Mozart
Shepherds' Farewell to the Holy Family - from “L'Enfance du Christ” by Hector Berlioz |
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| Podcast #15
MP3
PDF
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Chords as the Whole Ball of Wax |
Erik Nielsen |
Prelude in C Minor Opus 28 #20 - by Frederic Chopin
Zadok the Priest - by George Frideric Handel
Here and Now - by Timothy Woos
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Podcast #16
MP3
PDF |
Counterpoint 1 |
Erik Nielsen |
Invention #8 from Two-Part Inventions - by Johann Sebastian Bach
The Lamentations of Jeremiah - by Thomas Tallis |
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Podcast #17
MP3
PDF |
Counterpoint 2 |
Erik Nielsen |
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta - by Bela Bartok
The Cherry Tree Carol (traditional) - performed by Pentangle |
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Podcast #18
MP3
PDF |
Vocal Music |
Erik Nielsen |
When I am Laid in Earth (Dido's Lament) from Dido and Aeneas - by Henry Purcell |
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Podcast #19
MP3
PDF |
Choral Music |
Erik Nielsen |
The Lamb by John Tavener
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Podcast #20
MP3
PDF |
Texture |
Erik Nielsen |
Overture to Boris Godunov by Modeste Mussorgsky
Symphony #5, first movement, by Ludwig van Beethoven
Boogie Stop Shuffle by Charles Mingus
Ruhe Sanft by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis by Ralph Vaughan Williams
While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison
Concerto for Orchestra, third movement, by Bela Bartok
Farewells by Zach Sheets |
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Podcast #21
MP3
PDF |
Ah, Simplicity! |
Erik Nielsen |
We Must Always Have a Song by Erik Nielsen |
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