Diabelli Project 215-224 Piece for Piano

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

Below is the finished version of the Piece for Piano. Even though I wrote it, the music sometimes surprises me with its twists and turns. I'm sure they're there because I didn't write it in one continuous session, or even over several consecutive days,

During that weeklong gap between sections, I often forgot what I was intending when time stopped. But I would also come up with something different. And breaking out of my familiar creative tracks is what the project is for.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 224 - Piece for Piano, Part 10

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins at the second measure on the page. And it's (finally) the end of the piece. I finished out the restatement of the opening theme. I don't know where the eighth note shift in the last measure came from -- but I like it.

Next week I'll start another flash composition. Will it be another movement of this piece? I don't think so, but I haven't heard from my subconscious yet.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 223 - Piece for Piano, Part 9

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins in the middle of page 5. Those long, descending lines in the right hand finally reach their destination. Rather than have a crashing climax, I use the repeated chords to slow down the momentum by getting softer.

And that decrescendo leads directly to the double bar, and the return of the opening material. Sort of. I don't like exact repeats, so the right hand is doing a little more this time around. Yes, we're nearing the end of the piece. But we're not there yet.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 222 - Piece for Piano, Part 8

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins at the bottom of page 4. Basically, I just continue the long, slow melody in the right hand that I started last week. The left hand continues its arpeggios. Not to worry, though, things won't remain in this state much longer.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 221 - Piece for Piano, Part 7

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins in the last measure of the second system. We begin with a grand sweep up the keyboard. A younger version of myself would have made the high A the climax. Instead, I dropped back down to the C, giving the run (hopefully) a kind of bounce.

I'm not through with the sweeping gestures, though. The left-hand roves up and down while the right presents a version of the opening melody.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 220 - Piece for Piano, Part 6

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins in the last two measures of the first page. The flowing arpeggios in the left hand have become a staccato rhythmic pattern. The right hand continues to work with the original melody, expanding on one of the motifs. Yes, I'm going somewhere with all of this. Stay tuned!

When I ran out of time, the left hand seemed to be in a holding pattern. But holding for what?
As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 219 - Piece for Piano, Part 5

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins in the second system. The climax the music has been building to over the past few installments finally arrives at the double bar. At that point, I revisit the opening material. But it's not exactly the same (I try not to do exact repeats). The development of this material will probably continue on into next week's sketch.

When I ran out of time, the left hand seemed to be in a holding pattern. But holding for what?
As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 218 - Piece for Piano, Part 4

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of the Piece for Piano begins in the fourth system. I don't really have much to say about this one. The music continues to push to a new climax, but we're not there yet. I will say that the odd meters were a bit of a surprise. I just didn't feel the need to fill out 4/4 bars with superfluous notes, I guess.

When I ran out of time, the left hand seemed to be in a holding pattern. But holding for what?
As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 217 - Piece for Piano, Part 3

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of my Piece for Piano continues developing the opening material. The right-hand note clusters become thicker as it builds to the climax. The single note in the left hand suggested a return to the opening melody but instead went in a different direction.

When I ran out of time, the left hand seemed to be in a holding pattern. But holding for what?

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 216 - Piece for Piano, Part 2

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This week's installment of my Piece for Piano revisits the opening material. After the arrival of the stacked triads, the right-hand returns to its simple rhythmic figure. This time it's even simpler. Rather than a two-note cluster, it's just one repeated note. And the left hand simply repeats its opening note. Obviously, this suspension of motion won't last. Can't wait to see with my subconscious comes up with next week.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.

Diabelli Project 215 - Piece for Piano, Part 1

The Diabelli Project is about offering my weekly flash-composition sketches freely to all. Like Antonio Diabelli's theme, these sketches aren't great music. But perhaps (as in Diabelli's case) there's a Beethoven out there who can do great things with them.

I decided to try writing another complete piece in 10-minute weekly installments. It's definitely exercising a different set of creative muscles than my daily work requires.

This time I opted to write a solo piano piece. I don't play the piano all that well, so technically this piece will lean more towards Haydn than Liszt. The opening bars set the stage, with the melody in the left hand.

As always, you can use any or all of the posted Diabelli Project sketches as you wish for free. Just be sure to share the results. I'm always curious to see what direction someone else can take this material.