For this improvisation I felt like conveying movement, change, gravity, shifting light, and sorrow in a free and yet structured form. This apparent contradiction comes about in the way I tend to find myself creating a structure for my improvisations as I go, repeating and varying ideas, and forming sections and chord progressions; and yet, as with any improvisation, there is spontaneity and imperfection within that structure. An Impromptu is traditionally a spontaneous sounding piece of music, and obviously the spontaneity of an improvisation goes without saying, but I chose the title because I found myself inspired by the sounds of some of Schubert and Beethoven’s works (as well as more contemporary styles) — Schubert was famous for his impromptus; and while Beethoven wasn’t officially known for any pieces titled “Impromptu”, he was reputed to be an incredible improviser, like many of the great composers, creating impromptu performances. I’m no Beethoven, and there was certainly imperfection in this particular impromptu performance, but I felt it conveyed something authentic, so I published it, and I hope you enjoy the result.
For this improvisation, I cycled through several minor flavoured modes (the tonic triad of each one is a minor chord), each sharing the same tonal centre — G. These modes were G harmonic minor, G Aeolian, G Phrygian, G Dorian ♯4 and G Dorian. This resulted in an overall melancholy sound but with shifting shadows and movement of illumination points.
The harmonic minor has its brightness in the leading note — that raised 7th that has a strong gravitational pull towards the tonic.
The Aeolian holds its light in its major submediant and mediant chords, as well as chord VII, all of which I used.
Phrygian has an unexpected and paradoxical brightness in its supertonic chord (II), which is major in quality, but the root of chord II is that flat 2 of the Phrygian mode which creates its distinctive downward-pulling darkness.
The Dorian ♯4 mode has light in its major 6th degree and also its sharpened 4th, and the Dorian also shares that lifted major 6th degree.
So the darkness of all these modes remained in the minor 3rd degree of the scale (resulting in a minor tonic triad), but with each different mode the brightness shifted to a different point, like sunlight moving around a shadowed room as the day goes on.
Along with the aforementioned modes and chords, my fondness for add 9 chords and 11th chords made itself known quite frequently in this piece of music.
In keeping with that Romantic and Classical influence, I ended the piece with a cadence that involved a Neapolitan 6th. A Neapolitan 6th is the flattened supertonic major chord in first inversion, within a minor key, usually preceding a perfect cadence. A perfect cadence is V – I (commonly extended to Ic – V – I). The Neapolitan 6th is a very Romantic sounding compositional feature — Romantic era composers used it very frequently, as did Beethoven who was late Classical (just on the cusp of the Romantic era).
G-based minor–modal family: note names and parent scales
| Mode | Notes | Parent scale | Modal origin |
| G harmonic minor | G A B♭ C D E♭ F♯ | G harmonic minor | First mode of the harmonic minor — root scale. |
| G Aeolian | G A B♭ C D E♭ F | B♭ major | 6th mode of major (natural minor) |
| G Dorian | G A B♭ C D E F | F major | 2nd mode of major |
| G Phrygian | G A♭ B♭ C D E♭ F | E♭ major | 3rd mode of major |
| G Dorian ♯4 | G A B♭ C♯ D E F | D harmonic minor | 4th mode of harmonic minor |
Interval formulas
G harmonic minor: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7
G Aeolian: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7
G Dorian: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7
G Phrygian: 1 ♭2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7
G Dorian ♯4: 1 2 ♭3 ♯4 5 6 ♭7
Further reading and listening
Learn more about modes: Complete Guide to Modes of the Major, Melodic Minor, and Harmonic Minor Scales
Listen to my recording of Schubert’s Impromptu in G flat major.
Listen to one of my Beethoven recordings: Rondo in E
You might also like Air: Variation on a Theme — Improvisation in C Aeolian
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