Ive been casually studying counterpoint and fugal techniques on and off for a couple of years. Ever since I became aware of the 'rules' my appreciation for Bach has immensely increased. Its pretty much all I listen to these days. Getting frustrated with fugues I decided to have a crack and just write a small simple 2 part invention.

Heres my first attempt:

edit* updated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D5y4a1FiPs&feature=youtu.be

old http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVIqOKB0CPE&feature=youtu.be


anyone else attempt contrapuntal music?

I like that!

great gob man, sounds very good. my sister is a composer and she has a lot of books from her uni days, so I occasionally check them out (not that I understand fully or apply it to my own playing) but one day i want to sit down and learn these.

Sounds very cool.

I wouldn't say I'm into classical styles of composing but I sure love listening to it. Well done.

Cleaned up some parts that were bugging me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D5y4a1FiPs&feature=youtu.be


Thanks guys. what I love about this style is its all about note selection, I write it all on the stave, not locked into my typical guitar licks I fall on when composing with a guitar in hand.

Way awesome man! Are you writing this stuff without touching an instrument? Or are you listening to a little bit while writing is in progress? I'm taking a counterpoint/four part harmony class. A lot of those baroque era songs are really crazy with the polyphony... and it blows my mind that people composed that shit while going blind and deaf...but at the same time not surprised cause of all the rules involved. Really good job!

I was playing the first theme on guitar, just the simple pedal lick. I decided to try and use that for a imitation exercise. I wrote the rest just on the computer. But I did play it back as it was progressing along to get a feel where I wanted to go next. I usually know how individual melodies will sound with out having to play it back, but Iam not advanced enough to hear two melodies at the same time just from looking at a page.

The rules do help. But once you free yourself from their strict restraints its a little more intimidating, i.e you have to rely on your imagination, and not the safety of the rules. I have tonnes of Bach scores, reading/studying them and even learning some of the stuff on piano helps alot to get a feel for how melodies should interact and rules can be bent.
Bach breaks lots of counterpoint rules .

Awesome. I'm still a novice at it...but I've found a new respect for classical music because of it. Anyway...I take it you're mostly studying Baroque era "classical" and not classical era classical?

Yeah. Bach is my god. But also love the choral works of Fux, Palestrina etc basically Pre-Bach and up to Bach is my favorite. Not really a fan of classical, though there is some great stuff, I really like the purposeful structures of Baroque.

you should listen to glenn gould's recording of the goldberg variations if you want to hear polyphony
Some parts it sounds like 5 different people playing at the same time

Yeah. Glenns one of my favs.

well, hes pretty much the only bach player out there.
Of course there are others, but when it comes to bach, glenn is so head and shoulders over everyone else he might as well be the only bach player.
you should watch the documentary glenn gould: genius within

You can definitely see that hes slightly crazy. I guess all geniuses seem to have crazy personalities though.

also watch this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57kR6RsV2iA

also, glenn's backgorund "vocals" in his recordings is just hilarious

Glenns technique is flawless, tho I don't like all of his interpretations.
I really dig some of Robert Hill's performances on the lute harpsichord.

i do agree some of his interpretations are quite strange and against the mainstream.
For exampe, his prelude in C from WTC 1 is fairly fast and stacatto compared to the traditional interpretation.

And his interpretation of beethoven's moonlight sonata mvt 1, is well, fairly against the mainstream

Which is why I like having many versions of the same compositions. Sometimes I feel like Gould Bach, sometimes Schiff Bach. Can never have too many.

If only we could have Bach Bach...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT0ghoOGn78

Listen to him playing K331. Just fucking weird.

I think he was trolling.

that was interesting
STill i think his interpretation of beethoven's moonlight sonata mvt 1 is the biggest troll to the classical world
although his interpretation of mvt 3 is pretty breathtaking

B.B. Bach?