BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
6899 / 18210 · Workshop 51 — “A Night in Tunisia”: Pedal Bass, Phrygian-Dominant Color, Afro-Latin Ostinato, Bebop Contrast, and Switching Musical Worlds Without Losing the Form← prev⊞ allnext →

51.84Mini-composition exercise

Write a 32-bar piece centered on D minor.

Requirements:

  • D-minor ostinato section
  • A Phrygian-dominant/A7♭9 pedal section
  • B♭°7 used as rootless A7♭9
  • one Em7♭5-A7-Dm cadence
  • one straight-to-swing transition
  • one motif appearing in both rhythmic worlds
  • one rhythm-only resolution
  • one harmony-only resolution
  • one simultaneous double resolution
  • optional final D-major surprise

Keep the number of fundamental roots modest.

The contrast—not harmonic quantity—should generate the form.