The Last Post Game!!!!

[Swatopluk]

German musical education has deteriorated to almost pure theory. With the result that the kids loathe classical music before their time at school ends. And the theory does not stick either because of it.

My own counterpoint avoids #'s and b's like the plague because I can't keep them under control.

With the April piece I tried out a very complex structure but did not manage it fully. Possibly it was mathematically impossible under these conditions. I fed the computer with the model before the composition but it did not spit out a solution making all bars unique in all three voices while using all allowed combinations. I had to either allow a pattern break or a partial pattern repetition in at least some bars (I opted for the latter)

With the February piece I came as close to a regular classic structure as I will probably ever get. I wish I could ever hear it played on an actual organ by a person not just as a most basic midi (without dynamic changes) on a computer .

Last _{February is also the only one that was not just a self-challenge for its own sake} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Classical composition is a very complex and heavy subject requiring years to understand and master the different styles. It isn't the kind of thing you would give to a high schooler in it's full flavor.

Last _{in fact many arts high schools only have a few solfeggio levels, and some basic to intermediate music theory} Post

[Swatopluk]

I say with a good teacher and a curriculum that does not turn musics class into a mere subsection of math any kid should be able to do some basic composition in the classical mold like a minuet, an invention á two voices or some simple counterpoint á three. There are enough cheap or free programs for musical notation including a play option that allows it even for people without a musical instrument at hand to get at it and be it by simple trial and error. I used one of these and made a simple 'harmony calculator' from paper that showed which notes are consonant with a preselection of one or two other notes without the need to learn to read a regular chord table.
All one needs is a seed of a tune maybe three or four bars long and even a dummy can produce surprising 'counterpointy' music that may not obey all the arcane rules (like the ban of 'hidden fifth' parallels) but gives enough of an impresson.
I know 'serious' music needs analysis but these days that's all that's left with little to no synthesis.

Even an imperfect fughette written by yourself does more for the joy of music (and undesrtanding) than having to dissect all the welltempered clavier seeking the hidden relations between abstract concepts with no regard for the aural beauty.

Last _{first should come the living music only then its vivisection} Post

Edit: One of the first things students should learn is to listen voice-selectively in an orchestral piece. Take one instrument after the other and try to aurally separate it from the rest of the orchestra. Then one can talk about how a composer uses them and about the preferences of different composers. Imo that is often the easiest way to tell them apart even when the style seems outwardly similar (and I would not be able to do so from the score alone).

[Griffin NoName]

One of the first things students of the Last Post should learn is to listen voice-selectively to the rules of the Last Post. Rule number one: No essays.

Last Post

[pieces o nine]

One of the first things students of the Last Post should learn is the rules of the Last Post.
Last Post Rule number one: Don't talk About the Last Post.   

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Last _{or suffer from multiple personalities} Post

[Griffin NoName]

Suffering is the natural state of homo sapiens.

Last Post

[Swatopluk]

Actually rule one is about putting Last Post in and the second is about a minimu of 15 words (not including Last Post).

Last _{and that was not an essay but a mild rant} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Last _{there is a clear rant about your essay} Post

[Swatopluk]

Better ranty than randy as the church uses to say.

Last _{write an essay about assays} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Last _{randy is always better} Post

[Swatopluk]

What about James Randi?

Last Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

A healthy dose of skepticism is always good.

Last _{a fanatical devotion to it may be counterproductive} Post

[Swatopluk]

Not as long as there is still so much to do

Last _{mundus vult decipi ergo decipiatur (et despicit quaerentem)} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Last _{sweet dreams are made of this} Post