# Waltz in C minor, feedback



## caters (Aug 2, 2018)

I completed a waltz a few days ago. I have been told a lot of things like these. My thoughts about it will be under the quotes.



> *Your waltz is too repetitive to be a good waltz*


Any dance form in existence relies on repetition. Not just whole section repetition either.



> *Your form is weak*


Are they suggesting that I have my waltz in Sonata Form because of its length? That's like unheard of.



> *It sounds modal because there is no section in the dominant key, just dominant 7ths following the subtonic chord. And the subdominant is not enough to confirm the tonality.*


I thought the dominant 7ths after the subtonic chords were enough to confirm the tonality.



> *Change the left hand. Almost constant root position bass(spare the 1st inversion dominant 7ths) isn't the best harmonically speaking*


Yeah, okay, I might need some first inversion and second inversion chords. But how will I know where to put first inversion and second inversion chords? If I don't know where to put the first and second inversion chords, then I might get too many inversions and not enough in root position.



> *Use that going down by step that the Fate Motif does to your advantage.*


So you're suggesting that instead of repeating the Fate Motif, that I continue to transpose it down a step? I guess that makes a more interesting melodic contour. But what about in the second to last entry of it where it is a single pitch twice and then in octaves? I would have this if I continued transposing the Fate Motif down a step:

G, Eb, F, D, Eb, C, D, Bb, C, Ab, Bb, G

And whoops, it collides with my bass. And the harmony has to change if for nothing else than that the last 2 pairs of notes(which would be in octaves) outline Ab major and G minor respectively instead of C minor and Bb major like the other 4 pairs of notes. And I suppose that gives a more interesting contour to my bass but the Gm to Cm motion is weak dominant function. That doesn't really go well with a fortissimo passage, does it? If I treated it as an Eb to Cm motion instead, it weakens my tonality.



> *Your waltz is too simplistic for its length*


So what, your suggesting I go from the simple melody I have to a melody that is Chopin level difficult? How is that going to fit with the Beethovenian vibe to the waltz?



> *The chord under the Bb in bar 9 shouldn't be Bb major*


I don't understand. I clearly outline a Bb major triad in bars 9-11. So clearly, Bb major must be the harmony there. And besides, the Bb to G7 motion is very smooth. Part of this has to do with the fact that I use an incomplete 7th chord.



> *Harmonize your non-chord tones properly! That Eb in bar 10 is not harmonized properly*


How is it not harmonized properly if it is a passing tone between D and F, which are chord tones of Bb major? Next you're going to say that the C in bar 9 isn't harmonized properly either.



> *Maybe instead of going to F minor from your Eb major, you should go to Gm*


That would mean another mediant relationship, which on its own isn't bad. But the reason that I go to F minor partly has to do with the diminished 7th passage and also has to do with the fact that the Gm to Cm motion is arguably a weaker dominant than a plagal motion from Fm to Cm.



> *Around bar 174, I suggest that you make it more consonant and end your waltz with a Picardy Third*


How often does Beethoven end with a Picardy Third outside of his symphonies? Rarely if at all, right? And it isn't like a Picardy Third is the norm these days unlike how it was in Bach's time right? So why end my waltz with a Picardy Third?



> *It doesn't sound like the waltz wants to end yet because of the 2 bar long C minor chord leading to another chord. Maybe this means that you should extend the waltz.*


Um, doesn't the ritardando and quiet dynamic give enough of a sense that the piece is over that the fact that the chords are sustained for a long time doesn't change that?

Anyway, here is the link to my waltz. What do you think of my waltz? It is the first waltz that I have completed and my second attempt at writing a waltz.

https://musescore.com/user/50070/scores/5596534


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## Phil loves classical (Feb 8, 2017)

Just my general comments. It does seem long for its simplicity to me. I think the left hand should harmonize with the right more in creating more movement with different chords. There are stresses/beats in certain notes in the right hand that didn't go so well with the left hand. The tonality is quite obvious to me, maybe too stiff, which is why I would add different chords. I thought the ending chord(s) are fine, just too long and extravagant. One or two shorter ones would work for me. I didn't analyse the score in detail, btw, just going by ear. But some of those comments I don't agree with.


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