Open Position, Close Position, and Why It Only Matters When You Switch

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Close position means every voice sits inside an octave. Open position means one of them doesn't. That part takes thirty seconds to learn.

What matters is what happens when you switch. You're switching texture, and if you do it by accident the piece sounds unstable. Do it on purpose and it's a technique.

Two rules come out of this one. Keep your spacing consistent, and double the bass.

0:00 Close position and open position

1:39 Register, and why the same chord muddies low

2:00 Doubling the bass note

2:58 Consistent spacing, and what inconsistent sounds like

4:23 How much room the bass needs

5:43 Switching textures on purpose

6:25 More in the members library

These are excerpts from The Composers Studio Seminars, the live sessions I run with composers who are working on their own pieces.

The audio is what it is, because these are real sessions and not studio recordings.

Student work and student voices are never included in these videos.

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