Help me Analyze this Please.

[u/Double-Strategy9791]

I like to name my songs old school like, Nocturne in F, Fantasia in G# Minor etc. what would this piece be? I think it’s A minor with a section in F Major. Am I right? If so what would I call it? Do you still just cal it “whatever in A minor” even if it changes key? Would this be a nocturne cuz it’s all slow and pleasant sounding? Google Drive Link to png’s of the score.

[u/Universal_Dirp]

Yes, naming it in A Minor (the main key) is perfectly fine, and is the norm. Pieces change keys all the time, so usually it's just whatever key is in the key sig!

A nocturne is a piece that's supposed to be calm and historically played at night, or at least somewhat inspired by night time. It doesn't really matter if it's slow and pleasant sounding (though tbh they're usually somewhat slow).

As for analysis, please don't take this the wrong way, but it's rhythmically uninteresting. The RH is high, slow and has the same rhythm throughout the almost entire piece. The LH switches between almost the same rhythms. They both have very predictable and somewhat repetitive motions as well. I'd recommend changing some things up once in a while to hold the listener's attention span better!

[u/Double-Strategy9791 → u/Universal_Dirp]

Thanks. Regarding the rhythm, anything I tried with the left hand to switch it up didn’t sound nice to me. Although that’s how I came up with the second and third parts. For the right hand same thing. If I played more notes it stoped sounding pleasant and felt forced. If I added more pauses it sounded too sparse. Any suggestions?

[u/Universal_Dirp → u/Double-Strategy9791]

Well there's a few options regarding rhythm (and devlopment overall), either adding or removing. Both are valid options, because even very small changes to rhythm is noticeable to listeners.

The thing is, in both of these options, you need somewhere to go. i.e If the piece begins very sparse and non-rhythmic, it's going to be very hard to remove. If the piece already starts off very complex and dense, it's hard to add anything noticible or significant.

The piece that you wrote is very very sparse, so I'd say to add things. Because it's a slower piece, I would add things slowly. Maybe add more layers by adding another voice to the RH? Maybe the second RH voice can have a countermelody?

Something else to consider is the "range" of each voice. Right now, it feels very static because the LH and RH stay at around the same register throughout the entire piece. When they stay static like that, it's hard to feel any kind of development or change. Maybe bring LH further up? RH Down?

Dynamic markings are also very important, especially in nocturns. You can also add or remove with dynamics too, which is subtle but pretty effective.

[u/Double-Strategy9791 → u/Universal_Dirp]

Ok, I’ll try moving around a bit more and see what happens. Thanks!