Yes, it’s Tuesday—the traditional day of the week for Open Mic Adventures. No need to check your calendars—or to question my sanity.
I wrote this piece, “Chorale for a Sleepy Wednesday,” last Wednesday, 26 April 2023, during one of my planning periods. I thought it would make a fun sightreading exercise for my Middle School Music Ensemble, and we spent class that afternoon sightreading this piece and “Song of the Bigfoot.”
When I write chorales (as I’ll explain in the video), I tend to do it as a music theory exercise. I used to write them with the idea of sustaining one or even two notes for as long as possible, and always keeping notes within stepwise motion of one another. That stepwise motion is largely maintained, with a few exceptions, in the manuscript below.
So, what does it sound like? Well, it’s a short piece, so I spend a good bit of time in this video explaining my methodology and giving some examples of the unusual chord structure for this piece, then I play it:
The manuscript gives a bit more of the details. I also wrote a percussion part for this piece, which my drummers had fun deciphering and figuring out (and they did—very quickly!), but that got cut off in my editing and resizing of this photograph of the score:
The stepwise motion is most obvious in the upper note of the right hand. It starts on G and walks up to Ab, Bb, B, and then C. It’s present somewhat in the left hand, too, but I have a few third intervals in there. The lower note of the right hand (the alto?) maintains stepwise motion until the penultimate measure, when it leaps a third from D to F.
I had fun with the chord structure here, too. The major I chord (C) proceeds to a minor iv (Fm of various extensions). That iv also functions as v/II (or v/V7/IV/I, I guess?), pointing down to the Bb7 chord. That Bb7 does not point logically (in terms of harmonic theory) to G7/D, but the Bb resolves to B, the F steps down to D, and Ab resolves to G. The right hand D on the fourth beat of the third measure repeats, as D is present in both the Bb and G chords (acting as the major third and fifth, respectively).
Anyway, that’s enough theoretical navel-gazing. You’re probably more interested in the doodle. That little sleepy guy in the score is “Sleepy Guy,” featured in this past Sunday’s edition of Sunday Doodles over on my SubscribeStar page.
Happy Listening!
—TPP
Other Editions of Open Mic Adventures:
- “Open Mic Adventures I: Oingo Boingo’s ‘Just Another Day’“
- “Open Mic Adventures II: Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’“
- “Open Mic Adventures III: Joanie Sommers’s ‘Johnny Get Angry’“
- “Open Mic Adventures IV: KISS’s ‘I Still Love You’“
- “Open Mic Adventures V: ‘There’s a Light (Over at the Frankenstein Place)’“
- “Open Mic Adventures VI: Journey’s ‘Lovin’, Touchin’, Squeezin’“
- “Open Mic Adventures VII: ‘Suite: Judy Blue Eyes’“
- “Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s ‘The Sound of Silence’“
- “Open Mic Adventures IX: Journey’s ‘Faithfully’“
- “Open Mic Adventures X: ‘Time Warp’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XI: Spooktacular Supergroup Covers ‘Monster Mash’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XII: ‘Ghostly’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XIII: The Penguins’ ‘Earth Angel’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XIV: ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XV: ‘O Holy Night’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XVI: ‘Please Come Home for Christmas’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XVII: ‘L’il Divertimento in C major’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XVIII: ‘Satiean Motion’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XIX: ‘Two-Day Minuet for Left Hand’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XX: ‘Sleepy Student’s Serenade’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXI: Styx’s ‘Come Sail Away’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXII: ‘Blessed Assurance’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXIII: ‘Gabbi’s Gavotte’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXIV: ‘Softly and Tenderly’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXV: ‘Venite, exultemus Domino’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXVI: ‘Sonatina’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXVII: ‘Heavenly Sunlight’“
- “Open Mic Adventures XXVIII: ‘Song of the Bigfoot’”
- “Open Mic Adventures XXIX: ‘Lavender’s Blue’“
The Portly Politico 
What a wonderful smile you have.
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I agree. Tyler has the deep voice like me but a lovely smile, something I envy – having no top teeth isn’t ideal and I hate wearing the denture because it upsets my gag reflex. Bizarrely, I can still eat anything. Practice and all.
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Sorry to hear about your lack of top teeth, dude! Glad you’ve figured out a way to gum your favorite foods, though.
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Hey, thanks! That is very sweet of you, Audre.
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Nice piece mate. I miss your open mic performances though. Any chance you could interrupt your busy schedule with a rendition or two? It’s been a while since you uploaded a song.
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Yes, I hope to start getting back out soon. It’s very hard to get out to open mic during the school year (and I won’t be able to attend tonight due to revival at church), but I’ll try to get some in soon.
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I still have a lot of other teeth so I’m not really gumming. Bruxism is much more serious than some people think. It never goes either. I still grind my gums but mostly from habit.
If we have to wait years for open mic, I’m fine with that. You’re too mobile for your own good. A rest would do you well.
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What an evocative piece, Port! I am picturing it as a score to any number of imagined opening scenes in an appropriately angsty teen-directed film and this adds to my experience of this evocative chorale. Plus, thank you for helping me remember what “ostinato” refers to (by reminding me to look it up). The other day I came across a passing reference devoid of context clues and thought, “hmmm. lovely word, now what does that mean again?” Now I’ll be repeating it whenever possible : )
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Thank you so much, Stacey, and I’m sorry for the delayed response—I somehow missed your comment until this morning! I’m glad you enjoyed the chorale; I like your description: “evocative.”
Also, my pleasure re: the definition of “ostinato.” It’s a great word, and one of my favorite musical concepts. Sometimes it’s called “pedal point,” but the concepts are essentially the same. The subtle difference might be that ostinato can be various different rhythms of the same note, while pedal point is the same note and rhythm (typically just sustained whole notes tied together), although I could be wrong about that distinction.
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Oh, this is very helpful. Thanks, Port! : ) Have a great day.
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By the way, Audre, I was reminded yesterday of Eddie’s magic moment in Stranger Things, playing Metallica’s Master of Puppets and creating one of if not the coolest scenes in the series.
Tina and I are rewatching Smallville and in one of the episodes, Clark, under the influence of red Kryptonite, which rules his emotions and makes him uncaring, breaks up a bank robbery for his own ends, to Frantic by Metallica. I guess most series creators and writers have got that particular beat, working out that you can make a great scene even cooler with a Metallica track.
If you, or Tyler, get the opportunity, check it out on YouTube. You’ll probably find it if you type Smallville, Clowns, Bank robbery.
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Do me a favor – go online and listen to The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot. He passed away and The Wreck is his magnum opus. It is a true story. Here – let me give the link. At the end of the song, he mentions that the (church) bell rang 29 times for each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald; today at that Mariner Church, they rang the bell 30 times. In honor of Gordon Lightfoot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vST6hVRj2A
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Cheers Audre. I’ll check on the link in the morning. It’s nearly 1:30 in the morning here and I reckon I’ll need some shut eye soon. Goodnight, from both of us. Send our best to Lon. 😄💤
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