In the Evening I Will Sing

[Evan Bender]

Here is a short (and hopefully sweet) piece I wrote yesterday. I’m posting it for constructive criticism while I’m still excited about it. ????

In-the-Evening-I-Will-Sing-1-1.pdf 46 KB PDF - Click to view

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In-the-Evening-I-Will-Sing-1.mp3 425 KB MP3 - Click to view

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Discussion

[Lynn Martin]

Nice singable tune, with a somewhat nonstandard harmony. To my ear, it works. Not sure I’m well-placed to judge it, but I do notice some open fifths, such as the first chord on ms. 8. Whether it works or not will probably depend on how it sounds when sung.

[Evan Bender]

I don’t know very much about open 5ths. Could someone explain how or if they could be used?

[Richard Stoltzfoos]

Sure, Evan. A standard chord has three notes: a root, a third, and a fifth. Some solfege examples are do-mi-so, or so-ti-re.

A chord that is missing a third, having a root and a fifth, is called an open fifth. An example of an open fifth is a chord with do and so, with no mi.

If you are writing in standard counterpoint (which is recommended), every chord in your piece should have a third (with a few exceptions), but the fifth is optional. There are several passing chords in your piece that are half diminished sevenths, ti-re-fa-la, that have no re. I’m not sure if these are the open fifths Lynn means. The penultimate measure has an open fifth that could be very pleasant if changed to a suspension, te-la in half notes, instead of do-ti-la.

Thanks for sharing your composition!

[Richard Stoltzfoos]

As to whether they should be used, probably not. Open fifths are associated with a loud, primitive sound that is very clear, satisfying to shout, and hard to tune. I don’t think that fits a sunset well, although I’ve been mistaken about this kind of thing before.

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