Composing chord sequence

[Ashwin Jain]

Dear Friends,

This might be a wrong forum (in that case can you suggest me a right forum for this question?).

I want to understand how to write music for classical guitar. Mainly how to write a meaningful(expressing a story/situation?) harmonic sequence.

In my harmonic studies i have come across three main ideas -
1)Chord Hierarchy (tonic, dominant, subdominant)
2)Chord quality/family (major, minor,dominant ... )
3)Voice Leading
Are there more concepts that i m missing?

I would like to understand (may be tips from your experience or a good reference)
1)how to combine these three ideas? and
2)write a composition relating to a story or situation.

I can play around with these ideas one at a time to get something that sounds good to my ears.. but meaning seems to be missing

Are there any resources on composition for classical guitar?

Thanks,
Ashwin

[BigDaddyLoveHandles]

Jazz?

[Ashwin Jain]

i guess musical understanding and theory should be same..

[JohnW400]

Originally Posted by Ashwin Jain

i guess musical understanding and theory should be same..

Yes and no.

Jazz has certain devices that you don't use in classical music and vice a versa.

You would be better off taking a class in form and analysis plus composition at the local college/university.

Through studying form and anylising composition you should learn more concepts.

You could even learn something from a classical music apreciation course. Lot's of classocal works "tell a story" They probably go over stuff like that in a good class

[JimBobWay]

...so little time. If you have access to a good library you will find a series of books by Frederick Noad on theory and composition (classical-guitar specific). I also recommend Ralph Towner's excellent work "Improvisation and Performance Techniques" Ralph Towner book which covers composition to some extent. Ralph is sort of hard to classify; an improvising composer who happens to play guitar really well. Hope this helps!

[Fast Bebop]

Hi,

If you want to play classical music, you should get a book, a teacher, or something. This is then the wrong forum ;-)

If you just want to get familiar with classical colours and progressions in a jazz approach, I suggest you to listen to Ted Greene, and especially his video performances (lessons) on his site TedGreene.com - The Legacy Of Ted Greene Lives On
In particular his 5 baroque improv videos. It's incredible, he's improvising while explaining his approach to Bach-like improvised counterpoint. Purest and most beautiful thing I've ever heard on guitar.
You should learn more by listening to and watching him play this stuff than with a book.
Also check out his written lessons (available on his site, on pdf format). A little messy, but precious stuff there. And in huge quantity.

Cheers,

FB

[fep]

Originally Posted by Ashwin Jain

Dear Friends,

In my harmonic studies i have come across three main ideas -
1)Chord Hierarchy (tonic, dominant, subdominant)
2)Chord quality/family (major, minor,dominant ... )
3)Voice Leading
Are there more concepts that i m missing?

Thanks,
Ashwin

That is a huge subject and you've only just scratched the surface; additional main ideas...

Melodic Form
rhythm
Secondary Function
Modulation
Counterpoint
Harmony - Chromatic third relationships
All that great Debussy stuff like, planning, nonfunctional Dominant chords, Augmented triads, modal writing, whole tone scale, octogonal scale, Quartal harmony
etc. etc.

You really need to get a book or books to properly answer that question.

Or... just work it out by ear, or borrow ideas from Sor or Tarrega or Lobos or Debussy ...

[franamico]

I'd suggest two books on these topics:

1) Jazz Composition by Ted Pease
2) Modal Jazz Composition Vol 1&2 by Ron Miller.

They should keep you busy for a few years

[Reg]

Pick a form, (the general principles and schemes that govern the over-all structure of a musical composition), forms are like structural outlines, and fill in the pieces the best you can. You will get better after each one. There's no magic, it takes years to become proficient at composition, most never do. But it is a great road trip. Reg