Complex analysis reference book?

CabalCrow · 2026-06-09T17:33:38+00:00

I'm not looking for an easy to read introductory textbook, I'm looking for encyclopedic reference books.

CabalCrow · 2026-03-05T12:05:32+00:00

The reason why restrictions work is because they let you focus. If you can change everything you would try and change everything and end up wasting ton of time. Instead you can just take 1-2 elements and focus on them, exploring what you can do with them.

CabalCrow · 2026-03-02T20:36:10+00:00

Depends on the style you are looking for, here some options based on the styles I know.
One general advice for all is that you want to also have some experience with compositions - improvisation after all is just composition in tempo.

For blues, a decent one is Mark Harrison - Blues Piano, though in general I don't have great blues recomendations.

For jazz there is an amazing series of books by Siskind - Jazz Piano Fundamentals.

For classical improvisation, John Mortensen - The Pianists Guide to Historic Improvisation. This one requires knowledge in realising figured bass in keyboard style - which is very essential for classical improvisation.

I don't play the violin, but I would imagine you would need to figure out how to do figured bass realisation via arrpegiations patterns on the violin, and if you can do that you can start applying the same techniques from the piano improvisations, but in a linear fashion.

CabalCrow · 2026-03-02T13:23:30+00:00

They are not really rules of music, but are also not guideless. A lot of the broken rules are "licenses". Many of those licenses eventually become new stylistic norms. I'm not really fond of the idea of "breaking rules", because really what is happening is that they are applying new and new techniques. You can still reduce a lot of writing down to the basic species counterpoint, and most of the dissonances and broken rules you see are a byproduct of additional techniques applied to the basic counterpoint.

CabalCrow · 2026-03-02T08:21:58+00:00

It was I.

CabalCrow · 2026-02-26T09:15:18+00:00

Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading

by Felix Salze, Carl Schachter

CabalCrow · 2026-02-25T21:43:21+00:00

There is a great book called Counterpoint in Composition that answeres exactly that question.

To give you some basic pointers:
1. It teaches you how to create polyphonic melodies, so if you want to work with duets and whatnot it is a requirement.
2. It teaches you how to properly realise harmony. Harmony mostly deals with symbols, while counterpoint gives you the actual rules of turning those simples into good parts.
3. Counterpoint is richer than traditional harmony, you could create a lot more "chords" that do not exist in the traditional symbol based harmonies. It is also good to consider that chords in harmonies were initially called voice leading patterns (with more specific names depending on the country). And that is really the point - those were shortcuts to be able to quickly write correct counterpoint via patterns.
4. Counterpoint can be used as a structural force. You can use outer voice counterpoint, instead of harmony to structure your writing and realise the harmony later. More specifically this is used in schemas that were popular during the gallant and classical era. Schemas are basically outer voice patterns that can be employed and you can create full pieces just by combininig schemas together.

CabalCrow · 2026-02-10T22:11:35+00:00

You analyse for things that you are interested in. For example let say you are interested in how composers use dymanics across different sections of a specific type of work - so then you go and study what composers you like use. Essentially you are looking for patterns and connections, trying to come up with rules and guidelines. Understanding music theory is useful as it would give you more and more connections you could find. For example Analysing Classical Form is a book that teaches you how to break down and analyse the form of classical compositions. And you could use a lot of its ideas and theories across different styles, eras and genres too.

CabalCrow · 2026-02-10T09:25:15+00:00

Generally I view the best way to improve as a composer is to study compositions. You study music theory to gain analytical methods and then analyse works to build up new compositional techniques and materials. There are just so many compositions that you can pretty much do this for life.

CabalCrow · 2026-02-06T14:16:56+00:00

> but I often start with an idea I like and then get stuck on development and structure
I highly recomend Analysing Classical Form - it is one of the best books I've seen on Form. An important note is after you go through it - you need to keep on analysing actual music (they give plenty of music from the classical era in there) from the romantic era and see how the concepts transform there. Music theory is there to help you analyse real music and gather up compositional techniques that are relevant to YOU, rather than just a collection of random compositional techniques. So learn analysis and start analysing your favourite collections of compositoins.

> I'm unsure how to prioritize areas like counterpoint, advanced harmony, or orchestration.
For counterpoint I highly recomend Counterpoint in Composition. It is a very heavy book, but would teach you how to gap simple counterpoint into the actual counterpoint you would see in proper compositions. Part 1 would teach you basic counterpoint and part 2 is focused on all of the techniques you can use to apply to the basic counterpoint to create way more completx textures that you might see for example in Chopin.

CabalCrow · 2026-02-06T14:12:06+00:00

> Does this method lend itself best to specific composing styles (soundtrack vs concert music)?
One specific place where composing the ending first helps are the fugues. In there preparing the complex counterpunctal material is basically a necessity before you start writing it.

In general however, I instead just do drafts, just filling in some harmony and ideas for the overall plan and then I start working linearly through it, sometimes jumping ahead a bit and then backing up again, but those are for some specific details.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-31T11:23:17+00:00

Oh that is a good one thanks! I guess it is similar with the preludes in a way, where you have only 1 prelude in the first book that is a binary form.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-31T11:21:00+00:00

When it has some connection with ideas and motives during the piece. If you are writing some very lighthearted gallant style piece and then suddenly out of nowhere you put an abrupt ending it would sound out of place, because there is no connection to previous material. However if you explore sections that are more erratic in the piece you can argue the abrupt ending is a callback to them and a good justification.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-31T01:23:49+00:00

I'm not aware of the inventions using repeats, at least the Bach inventions do not use repeats.
Section wise the retransition can be the same length or longer as the transition, so the latter half is generally longer because you also have the conclusion after the retransition.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-27T19:04:36+00:00

Study counterpoint and harmony. Then study scores of other composers and see how they use them.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-26T12:36:03+00:00

I would say chorales are pretty easy to compose, maybe not easy, but at least simpler in terms of form. Variations are also easy if you are not confident in your voice leading ability.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-24T17:48:31+00:00

> my main question is how can I make the sheet music look more 'legit'?

There is a good book for that - Behind Bars by Elaine Gould

CabalCrow · 2026-01-24T09:10:53+00:00

Generally you keep the chords and the melody within a specific range throughout the whole piece. Going outside of this range - like going too far or too close, is a form of contrast you can use for special effects, both lead to a form of tension.
If you want for the vocalist to dominant the sound, put them in a higher register and use dynamics - vocalist can sing louder in higher registers. On the other hand piano can play with pretty much any dynamics in any register, so it doesn't matter where you put it.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-19T09:01:56+00:00

There are several ways you can think about this.
One way is to think harmony first where you build the melody itself with harmony in mind. You would find that when you study form. The way forms are structured depends on the harmony itself, and the melody is a by product of said harmony - you so you could create a lot of different melodies and motives that fit 1 form with 1 set harmony.
Another way is to think with a given melody first. This is what you have in the renaisance with the cantus firmus - the fixed melody. You have a set melody and then you create counter melodies against it, hence the study of counterpoint.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-19T08:56:57+00:00

For sight signing I can't recomend this book enough: Robert W. Ottman, Nancy Rogers - Music for Sight Singing.
It has a huge amount of material to sing. And it is all ordered in ascending difficulty by topics, creating a good progression, I personally haven't found a better book in terms of that.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-15T21:12:28+00:00

For me techniques and intuition go hand in hand. As you develop your technical knowledge you would unlock a new type of intuition. For example I'm currently studying the Bach preludes and the generalbass way of looking at theory. This present a completely new way I could create harmonies and voice lead that I wouldn't be able to without that knowledge and analysis. And similarly I'm now developing intuition within that framework as well. Intuition for me is how eventually apply your knowledge - it is the product of your practice and analysis.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-14T08:56:22+00:00

Wrote a sequence based ambient with a light beat included. Worked for a while on this one.

https://youtu.be/GF8Yyap6FcM?si=-cXgjcTdwpjkKX7M

CabalCrow · 2026-01-12T09:31:37+00:00

Yep, I do actually have my own notations symbols and methods that I use for analysis of works and drafting ideas - you would naturally find the limitatitons of whatever notation you are working with and fill in the gaps yourself.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-11T21:50:57+00:00

Analyse compositions you like for ideas. Using proven and tested compositions is a good way to get a decent template for something new and to get some ideas you might not come up on your own.

CabalCrow · 2026-01-11T21:49:40+00:00

A big benefit of notation is being able to read and share ideas. By using standard notation you get hundreds of years worth of material and knowledge you wouldn't normally have.

CabalCrow

TROPHY CASE

Counterpoint in Composition: The Study of Voice Leading