Week no. 1

This week is week no.1 of my Spring Project. This week, I made an outline for two possible formats for my composition. The composition is going to be either a Sonata for solo guitar or a Rondo for solo guitar.

The outline for the Sonata is more strict, I’d say, taking into account everything you’d find in a traditional Sonata-Form. I decide to do an outline for both a major and a minor key. Starting with Major Key Exposition:

I color coded the section sin the exposition to make them easily distinguishable. The FTA or First Tonal Area is in D Major, the tonic, which leads into a transitional phrase which is going to be in the dominant key or at least will end in the dominant key. The transition is usually used to tonicize the dominant which is the key of the Second Tonal Area (STA) in a major key sonata—I think thinking in “A” from the beginning of the transition will help in tonicizing it for the STA. The transitional period or phrase will end with a medial ceasura, we can think of this like a “stamp” or “period” making sure the listener knows the transitional phrase has ended.

The Second Tonal Area (STA) will be completely in A major, perhaps some modal mixture will be introduced from and will simply be thinking in “A” not necessarily major or minor. The STA usually ends in a Perfect Authentic Cadence to the tonic, prepping the ear for the closing statements. I don’t know yet if this will include a Closing Theme but it will for sure contain a codetta.

Minor Key Exposition:

In Minor Key Sonatas we end the FTA in a HC, leaving the First Tonal Area open and continuing in the transition in the Dominant. The Dominant should be clear up until you prep for the PAC to the relative major key in the STA—In this case F Major.

The Second Tonal Area (STA) is a bit simpler in terms of form in a minor key sonata. The form for the rest of the exposition calls for the relative major until you cadence to the tonic at the end of the coda or codetta. Being in a minor key overall will allow for tons of modal mixture if one felt so inclined to—this will allow more room for different sonorities to shine.

Being that the Standard Sonata Form is A-B-A or Exposition-Development-Recapitulation, up next we have the Development. The development in both minor and major key sonatas isn’t too different in term of form. The tonal centers will be the dominant for both—again, we must keep in mind, the minor key sonata will allow for more modal mixture especially in big sections such as the development as a whole. In the diagram you can also see the Recapitulation, this remains the same as the earlier mention exposition in both minor and major key sonatas respectively.

 Development:

 Rondo Form: A-B-A-C-A-D-A…etc.

In a Rondo we have looser rules. The only rule is that there is a recurring refrain, the “A” section. The episodes, the other sections (B,C,D…etc.) can be free standing—meaning no obvious connection between them is needed. This can be more freeing in terms of keys or modes one would like to use but that can also bring about its challenges being that in Sonata Form, come sections call back to others by reusing thematic material.

Next week I will have decided which form to use and hopefully have the Refrain for the Rondo ready or the FTA for the Sonata Form ready.

SEE YA NEXT WEEK!