Project 1

When I listen to atonal or serialist music, I listen closley for chords that have a consonant resonance. I'm drawn to these chords and the way that they relate to one another. For the first project, I wanted to use chords that acted in this way and I beleive I have succeeded. The only thing was that I did accidently use a tonal chord (Major 9th chord), and upon hearing the chord progressions of the other students, realized how little tension was present in the chords that I have used. It was also commented upon that there was a dip in the tension of the chords (chords 8-10 were more tense than chord 9)

Naturally, consonant chords will not have as high tension as dissonant chords, so I tried to add tension by a falling bass line, with parallel fifths. This did not create enough tension, so I plan to make a few of the middle chords more dissonant.

I am not a big lover of atonal music, but by limiting myself to work outside the framework of tonality I am able to appreciate atonality more. Composing in this way opens up a world of endless texture possibilities that one may not reconize while writing in a tonal medium.