For this improvisation I called the resulting piece of music “Aster”. An Aster is a flower that looks like a tiny star — “aster” comes from the Greek word for star (think of “asteroid” or “astronomy”). Aster wildflowers are late-blooming, resilient plants, often symbolising love, faith and endurance — conveyed by my decision to stay in one mode so that the identity of the piece remained constant and accepted, instead of modulating. The star-like aspect represents hope and guiding light, like true north. Also, the character and colour of G sharp Aeolian feels to me a bit like deep, patient waiting; while the compound time signature (see below) feels like momentum even when the melody is slow.
This improvisation was slightly unusual for me in a couple of ways. Like the previous one (Air: Variation on a Theme) it remained in one mode only, without modulating (as mentioned above), this time G♯ Aeolian (G sharp Aeolian). The other unusual aspect for me was the time signature — it was in compound duple time, which in this case could be considered to be 6/8 (as it is improvised rather than written, the actual note values could be defined in a number of ways in order to represent the specific proportions of the notes and rhythm). As the time signature 6/8 tends to have a lilting feel to it, this represented a feeling of moving forwards, even when slow.
The introduction consisted of quavers in the left hand outlining an octave plus inner note figure, while the right hand played triplet semiquavers filling in the rest of the harmony. This resulted in a variation of my signature fast arpeggio introduction style.
After this introduction I moved onto a texture which consisted of broken chordal/arpeggiated figures in both hands, with the right hand top voice playing the main melody, and with harmonised inner voices in both hands.
Throughout both the introduction and the main section I made frequent use of minor 7th chords, add 9 chords, and sus 4 chords, as well as the occasional add 6 chord. I love the gentle dissonance of these kinds of chords, especially add 9 chords — to me they sometimes sound bittersweet, with a feeling of reaching.
At one point the texture switched to repetitive block triad accompaniment in the left hand, defining the 6/8 pulse, with a simple and mostly pentatonic single-line melody in the right hand (G sharp minor pentatonic).
This was followed by a return of the earlier textures and ideas.
G♯ Aeolian mode
G♯ Aeolian is the 6th mode of the B major scale and its notes are:
G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – E – F♯
Read more about the Aeolian mode and how to work it out here: Aeolian Mode (Natural Minor Scale): Note Names in All 12 Keys, Character, and Examples
Read more about modes in general here: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
G♯ minor pentatonic scale
G♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – F♯
The scale degree formula for a minor pentatonic scale is:
1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7
You might also like: Air: Variation on a Theme — Improvisation in C Aeolian
Asphodel Twilight — Improvisation in E Dorian, D Dorian ♯4, B♭ Lydian & D Mixolydian ♭6
Or Ultramarine — Improvisation in B Dorian♭2 (Phrygian♮6) & B Aeolian
