BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
8521 / 18210 · Workshop 68 — Harmonic Rhythm as an Arranging Tool: When Chords Change, When They Don’t, and How to Create Momentum Without Adding More Harmony← prev⊞ allnext →

68.95Mini-composition exercise

Write 32 bars where harmonic rhythm itself creates the form.

Requirements:

  • first 8 bars: slow harmonic rhythm
  • next 8: gradually accelerating
  • one four-bar tonic pedal with fast color changes
  • one passage with active bass but slow functional rhythm
  • one offbeat anticipated chord change
  • one delayed chord change
  • one dominant region lasting at least four bars
  • one multi-stage dominant: sus → dominant → altered
  • one stop-time bar where harmony remains implied through silence
  • final four bars: harmonic deceleration into a long tonic

The chord vocabulary can remain relatively simple.

The form should still feel dramatically shaped.