One Day Wonder #214

For 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones and tuba.

Having exploited just one element in #213 (the glissando in the trombone), I decided to give it another turn for today’s piece. I was curious to determine whether including it really held sway over the final product. The answer is a very clear yes. What element did I use? The simple grace note. I really haven’t used them much in the past. It’s just never occurred to me. But today, I decided to over-use them. They’re in the tune, the harmony, the accompaniment, everywhere except in the C theme. I went in a little different direction for that. The key is A minor, the meter is 3/4, the form is intro-ABACA, and the feel is driving. I didn’t really intend for it to drive so hard, though, but I tell you, those grace notes really spice things up. The toughest thing to get right in this piece was the accompaniment in the first A section. I changed things up a half dozen times and it still didn’t sound right. I wanted for there to be some exchange between the horns and the trombones, but everything I tried sounded either too cluttered, too jerky or it didn’t support the melody enough. I finally settled for something that I didn’t want, but it worked well enough. The B theme is a good contrasting statement to the surrounding As, though I’m noticing now that a lot of my stuff for the horn is following a basic diatonic-non-diatonic pattern. Although this is a little disturbing to realize, it really serves this piece well, so I preserve the practice. Once we arrive at the C theme, things get weird. I was in no mood to write anything nice for the trombone, so I just wrote some stuff and accompanied it with some moving horn lines. For fun, I had the two trumpets, second trombone and tuba interject almost random notes into the midst of the section. They slowly make their way toward the V chord to bring us back to the last A section. By now, the accompaniment situation has taken care of itself and everybody’s happy. I’m very satisfied with this piece. With a little more time, it may become one of my favorites. I’m just astounded by how much using all those grace notes shaped the outcome. Honestly, I would write something and think, “Meh, that ain’t so hot.” But then I’d add a few grace notes and it would be like, “Yeah, that’s what I wanted!” In conclusion, grace notes are cool.