Music Composition DUMmIES

By the way, the example in Figure 16-6 has a few tonality “don’ts,” which we

get into later in this chapter.

The example shown in Figure 16-5 is based on this idea of overlapping

melodies, but voice 2 has been rewritten to retain the same feel and shape

as voice 1, without committing so many harmonic and compositional blun-

ders. You will notice, if you play this piece, that the harmonic choices have

a few different, unexpected turns in them. Some accidents are fortuitous.

The idea is to not settle for poor harmonic choices just because they are

easy. A fancy, dissonant moment can be a charming curiosity that you want

to defend because it is a little different. But don’t be afraid of applying a little

thought to these moments before you decide on keeping them.

You could also use the same or similar melody for the second voice, but

change it rhythmically. Maybe slow it down and stretch it across more mea-

sures than the first voice’s melody. All of the tools and techniques found in

the chapters on melodic composition are available to you to use on any or all

of your multiple melodic voices. You just have to be aware of the harmonic

and rhythmic relationships that exist between parts.

If you can figure out what your structural underlying harmony and melody

are, you should be able to resolve the moments where your melodies uncom-

fortably collide. Learn to apply enough elbow grease to turn unwanted chaos

and dissonance into something that makes sense. You may have to think

about it a bit and try a few ideas out — but hey, that’s music composition.

On the other hand, sometimes the accidental surprises generated by overlap-

ping melody lines provide unique opportunities for harmonic development.

Dissonance isn’t always a bad thing. Don’t just throw things out without

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Figure 16-5:
Overlapping
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up this time
for tonality’s
sake.

Chapter 16: Composing for Multiple Voices 201