Music Composition DUMmIES

It’s completely up to you where and when you want to make the cut-off.

Expansion ..............................................................................................

Expansionis, of course, the opposite of truncation. In expansion, you add

new material to the original phrase to make it last longer. You typically do

this at the end of the phrase, as shown in Figure 7-12.

Expanded phrases are found at the end of many classical music pieces, includ-

ing Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata and, especially, his Symphony No. 5.

Exercises .........................................................................................................

1. Write 16 measures of melody based on a three- or four -note motif.


2. Write a 16-measure melody (period) in which there are no repeating
   motifs.


3. Write a 16-measure melody (period) that contains the smaller repeat-
   ing motifs of Exercise 1.

&b 4

4

œ

œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ œ œ œœœœ œœ

œœ ̇# ̇

Ó

Figure 7-12:

Using

expansion

to fill out

our phrase.

&b 4

4

œ

̇ œ# œ œ ̇.

̇#

Ó ∑

Figure 7-11:

Here is our

phrase, this

time with

the first

repeat

truncated.

76 Part II: Melody and Development