Development Exercise

@Michael Lückgen in my opinion what you have above sounds really good, except the ending of course, which is way too abrupt. Your track sounds a lot like much of what we hear in media music today. If that is your goal, I can see it working just as is.

If your goal is more aligned towards concert music or the classic Hollywood style of John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith, then you have a lot of work to do but you have a good start.

As you mentioned above, a sonata form can help you build your piece by providing a framework for your ideas. Another helpful plan is to model a composition you like. If you are not familiar with modeling let me know and I can help with more details. Basically the idea is to use the modeled composition as a guide for your piece. The level of modeling can be very loose, to very detailed.

 

@Michael Lückgen I am just an amateur hobbyist composer, so take anything I offer with a grain of salt.

First regarding modulation. Even to an untrained listener, modulation helps keep a piece sounding interesting and the modulations into the new keys add harmonic interest. Do not discount the value of repetition, and repetition in a new key will hold the interest of the listener extremely well.

Williams "Raiders of the Lost Ark" theme is a great example. He repeats his core idea several times in the Raiders theme modulating from C to Db to keep it fresh. Listen to it without the score first and experience how the 5-minute composition holds interest and stays fresh in the ear. The 5 minutes seem to just fly by.

In this second link below you can follow the score analysis with the music. When he modulates at M53 from C to Db I feel the excitement build and I can feel a lift. Then we modulate to G for the love them, and I think that modulation signals something new, something different is happening. It is repeated once modulated to Bb. Then several more repetitions of the hero motive with lone more modulation.

Williams also varies the orchestration a bit, but not by much. The net effect is splendid, despite the simplicity. A very solid five-minute composition with very limited material.

 

Modeling can be of great help in writing. Let's take the Raiders theme above as an example.

On a Big Picture level, you could decide to write a hero theme, then have a love theme, then back to the hero theme, and a quick ending. That would be a sort of big-picture modeling. Take it another step and model the keys, you will start in the key of C, the love theme will be in the key of G, then you will end in the key of F. Take it another step and include the other key changes, Start in C, modulate to Db, then G, then Bb, etc.

Or you could model the melodic structure with or without modeling the keys. Start with 8 bar theme, repeated, then 8 bar B theme, using a common 2 bar ending segment for both. And so forth.

You know that Williams used modeling a lot in his younger days. That is why people often accuse him of stealing other people's ideas. Most of the time he improved on the ideas he lifted. Anyway, the melody is what most of us tend to remember and focus on. So as long as you come up with original melodic or thematic material, modeling is not likely to be recognized as such, except by other composers.

 

I don't think there is any exact answer on which keys to use. Listen for it in the pieces you like and study scores if you can. Cheers, and looking forward to your next piece. This one above indicates that you have a good ear and good musical instincts. I would love to hear more of your work.