I just did something very interesting as I was writing part of Moon Song, a composition I’ve been procrastinating for far too long on: as I wrote a fully harmonized theme for a section of the song (so the small training I received wasn’t useless after all!), I thought to insert a rather long introductory motif I had used on a whim.

It fit perfectly. No parallel intervals or anything, and it sounded great. Essentially, I had unconsciously (or accidentally, but that’s unlikely) written a counter-melody in the opening to the theme I was about to introduce (or wrote the theme around the opening) and then subconsciously knew exactly where to insert it. There are three remarkable things about this:

a. I’m working with about six harmonic voices in this particular measure.
b. I have no training in counterpoint.
c. This theme is about 10 measures long (at a very slow tempo, meaning this is nearly a minute of music).

Thus, I’m very surprised that this works. Unfortunately, this sets a very high standard for the rest of the piece, and I am now going to need to either put a lot more time into it or end it quickly 🙂

It is good to see progress.