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Writing For String Quartet - Composer Hints

The document provides composition tips and techniques for writing string quartets, including: - Drawing on the four voices of strings (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) similar to a choir - Not needing to give all four instruments something to do at all times - Choosing any instrument to have the melody - Leveraging strings' ability to sustain notes indefinitely - Considering keys that are easier or more difficult for strings, such as major keys with fewer sharps being easier - Terry Riley's minimalist piece "In C" as an example, with musical fragments the players progress through independently

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David Wolfswinkel
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381 views2 pages

Writing For String Quartet - Composer Hints

The document provides composition tips and techniques for writing string quartets, including: - Drawing on the four voices of strings (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) similar to a choir - Not needing to give all four instruments something to do at all times - Choosing any instrument to have the melody - Leveraging strings' ability to sustain notes indefinitely - Considering keys that are easier or more difficult for strings, such as major keys with fewer sharps being easier - Terry Riley's minimalist piece "In C" as an example, with musical fragments the players progress through independently

Uploaded by

David Wolfswinkel
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Composition hints and tips

Techniques for making a start on your composition


There’s nothing worse than sitting in front a blank piece of manuscript paper or a computer
screen, trying to find that first idea that will get your piece started. Many of the composers who
have written the string quartet in the past have lots of “tricks of the trade” for structuring their
pieces so that inspiration doesn’t flag. In the sections that follow, we’re sharing some of these
with you. You should be able to adapt them to your own pieces or perhaps use several elements
from them to come up with some individual of your own.

How do I write for four string instruments?


In the previous section we’ve given you a taste of some of the range of sounds and techniques
that you can draw on, but how do you combine these in a piece for four instruments? Here a few
thoughts:

The four voices of the string quartet more or less correspond to the four voices of a choir:
soprano (violin 1), alto (violin 2), tenor (viola) and bass (cello). This means that if you
were to transcribe more choral music, each of those parts would fit the quartet with
virtually no need for adjustment (example: Hen Wlad fy Nhadau) and most piano music
(often written in four parts) will do likewise (example – opening eight bars of Beethoven
Sonata in C, Op.2/3).

Remember – you do not have to give all four instruments something to do all the time. In
real quartet writing the group often break into trios, duos and even solos.

Who has the melody? Any of the instruments that you choose. Remember, having the
tune is not just confined to the first violin.

Are you a keyboard player or percussionist? If you are, then you’ll know that as soon as
you play a note, it begins to decay. But strings are sustaining instruments – they can
prolong a note indefinitely (but don’t use this as an excuse for lazy part-writing!)

Keys. Whether or not you are thinking in terms of writing your piece in a key, string
instruments respond more happily to simple sharp keys (G, D etc) on account of their
open strings.

- The most straightforward major keys are: E flat, B flat, F, C, G, D, A & E


- The most straightforward minor keys are: C, G, D, A, E, B
- More awkward are A flat and B major and F and F# minor
- The most difficult major keys are: D flat, G flat, C flat, F# and C#
- The most difficult minor keys are: B flat, E flat, A flat, C#. G# and D#

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In C - Terry Riley
Californian composer Terry Riley, more or less, invented minimalism with this piece in 1963.
Look at his piece In C on page 16 and you will see it fills only one side of a piece of paper and
doesn’t look like it would last more than a minute, but it can last as long as an hour and is packed
with rhythmic energy. The way it works is very simple:

- It is written on one side of a piece of paper and consists of 53 separate musical


fragments.

- Each player can play one of these for as long as s/he wishes before moving on to the
next.

- All fragments are in C major (or at least on white notes) except for some about two
thirds of the way through which use F#s or B flats.

- There is no way to predict when a player will move on to the next fragment or how
quickly, so the performers have to listen and respond to one another in a
improvisatory manner which recalls jazz.

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