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Make Your Own Polyphonic Patterns

By Ernesto | February 20, 2008

I’ve been leafing though a book called "Gehörbildung" by Ulrich Kaise.  It’s a pretty interesting take on ear-training, though a little hard to read for me since it’s in German.

The second half of the book deals with 2 simultaneous voices, and he mentions some figures from "Dritten Theil des sich selbst informierenden Clavier-Spieler" by Michael Johann Friederich Wiedeberg (1775).  These figures are different ways of filling in parallel thirds with melodic activity. 

So, for example, you could take something like this:

ex1

And add some movement to the top line like this:

ex2

Or make it a 16th note pattern like this one:

ex3

or this one:

ex4

How about adding movement to the bottom voice?

ex5

And once we’ve explored some possibilities, you can start combining them:

ex6

And this is only ascending thirds.  How about descending? Sixths? Not to mention all the other intervals…and interval combinations (3rds to 6ths, for example).

I think this is a great way to explore possibilities and to develop patterns for practicing.  And it will also be a big help when it comes to improvising, since you’re getting all these "licks" under your fingers.

Yet something else to keep me busy for a while…

Topics: Counterpoint, Improvisation, Practicing |




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    • 2 Responses to “Make Your Own Polyphonic Patterns”

    1. More Patterns | Ricercar Extempore Says:
      February 21st, 2008 at 4:54 am

      [...] Make Your Own Polyphonic Patterns [...]

    2. Polyphonic Patterns Applied | Ricercar Extempore Says:
      March 30th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

      [...] Make Your Own Polyphonic Patterns [...]

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