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.