I find that composing is a great way to spend time alone and to work out ideas that you may also use when you improvise. Original tunes also give you something to record and play with other people while contributing in a positive way to art and culture. This recent piece called “Maker’s Curse” I wrote for a gig at the Jewell in Omaha Nebraska.
The song is a short ballad which, from an emotional standpoint, attempts to capture a close friends battle with heavy drinking. Theoretically, the piece uses the sound of the Major 9th and Major 13th on a half diminished chord. This sound belongs to the second mode of harmonic major scale (Major with b13). The lower voice can be a 2nd horn part or even a piano/guitar single note accompaniment the first time. Playing the melody down an octave might be nice a well.
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