Beaches of Harris — the creative process by Mark Saul Melody elements
The first melody that I wrote for Beaches of Harris was not the beginning of the piece, but the middle. It was initially just a one bar “riff”, syncopated and akin to a rock ‘n’ roll riff played on a guitar:
I then extended this slow melody into a full length slow air to act as a beginning theme:
I then experimented with writing this theme into various time signatures, such as the hornpipe:
Once I had the basic riff worked out, I tried it in various keys; E minor, B minor, D major, experimenting with the various possibilities that each offered before settling on A major. I then extended it from one bar to four bars in length and included a modulation to G major.
Because the riff has only a limited range it lends itself to being a lower part harmony, so I wrote a second higher part to accompany it:
One technique that I endeavoured to use in this suite as much as possible was to have melodic themes repeated as harmony and vice versa. This happens throughout the piece, with most of the separate melodic elements being used in their own right as well as harmony to other melodies. For instance, when the slow air theme progresses to a high melody the original low melody returns as a harmony to it:
The next step in the process was a bit like writing a tune using “Chinese Whispers”! I removed the first riff and just used the high second part as a fast harmony line, and came up with a much slower melody that sat well underneath it:
Structure
With each of the various parts having an interlocking nature it was then possible for me to construct an final piece that used an “arch form” as it’s overall structure:
Copyright 2012, Mark Saul PIPING TODAY • 33
NEW MUSIC
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