# Composition Assistant — Faculty Examples Passages from faculty testing. ## Finding an opening intention Trombone and piano · Before drafting the opening. **Composer** I have a friend who is a trombonist. He asked me to compose a piece for him. I can't decide if it should be trombone alone or with piano. He is a very good player. I'm not quite sure how to get going. **AI** A strong player gives you room to explore, but you don’t have to settle the instrumentation before finding the piece’s central curiosity. What do you most want to hear this trombonist do—sustain and shape a long line, move through agile or extreme-register writing, make unusual colors, or something else? And are you imagining an intimate solo statement, or a piece where another sound could challenge or support him? Those answers may help you decide whether piano feels essential or merely available. **Composer** I'm thinking about sustaining a long, lyrical melodic line. I want it to start not softly, but sort of unassuming, and gradually build in intensity to a climax before the next section starts, which could be more rhythmic. **AI** That gives you a clear dramatic arc: a lyrical line that begins with presence but without announcing itself, then gathers intensity toward a threshold before the rhythmic section. One useful choice is what makes the build perceptible—expanding range, longer or more forceful phrases, rising register, thicker piano support, or some combination. For the opening, does “unassuming” mean restrained dynamics, a plain or speech-like contour, or something else? And are you leaning toward piano as a partner in that build, or would you like the trombone to carry it alone? **Composer** Not forceful. But now that I think about it, it could start with shorter melodic fragments with space between them, and that gradually get longer as the spaces get shorter. That could lead into a more continous line. I think the piano would be a partner, maybe with soft but slightly crunchy chords at first. **AI** That sounds like a promising way to make the line grow without starting forcefully: fragments gradually lengthen, the silences narrow, and the trombone eventually sustains a more continuous phrase. Soft, slightly crunchy piano chords could give the opening a gentle tension without taking over. One useful choice to clarify is whether the piano’s chords should also become more active or intense as the trombone line fills out, or stay restrained so the trombone carries most of the build. Are you picturing the fragments as recognizable pieces of one developing melody, or more like separate gestures that gradually connect? **Composer** I think the latter, but maybe both. I'll go work on it and try to figure that out. **AI** That’s a useful place to pause: the fragments can begin as distinct gestures and gradually start to sound connected, if that feels right as you work. You can leave the piano’s role open for now, too. When you’re ready, we can pick up with how the fragments relate—or whichever question comes into focus. ## Deciding what a downturn can do The same trombone-and-piano piece · An uploaded passage, measures 1–11. **Composer** I have uploaded the part already worked on, but I removed the continuation. I wasn't satisfied with it. I know I want it to build in intensity and volume and reach a peak before or at the point that the next section begins, which will be more rhythmically active with less focus on lyrical melody. I'm wondering if the downturn at the end of this segment is too much. I know the part I need to write should be an unbroken directed line to the peak. **AI** The downturn is substantial, but it needn't be *too* much. In the uploaded ending, the trombone reaches D4 in m. 9, then moves E4-D4-G3-A3 in m. 10 and settles on G#3 in m. 11. The piano holds a chord through m. 10 and falls silent in m. 11. To my ear, that combination makes m. 11 feel like a clear low point—potentially a useful launch point for the unbroken climb you want to write next, rather than part of that climb. The question is how long you want that low point to register. If the next phrase begins climbing immediately, the downturn could give the later peak more distance to travel. If it lingers, the end of this segment may feel like a full close instead of a hinge. Would you want the build to begin from the G#3 in m. 11, or should some of m. 10-11 already feel directed toward the peak? ## Trying a revision and checking a pitch-class relationship The same piece · An editable copy of measures 8–11. **AI** I've loaded the last four measures of the current upload (mm. 8-11) as an editable example, with the trombone and both piano staves. This is the unchanged starting excerpt; we can make the screenshot edit one step at a time. The uploaded score remains unchanged. **Composer** In the trombone part in m. 10, leave the first two eighth notes, then for beats 2, 3, and 4, create quarter notes B3-C4-D4. **AI** I've made that change in the editable example: m. 10 now has E4-D4 as eighth notes, followed by B3-C4-D4 as quarter notes. The piano and m. 11 remain unchanged; the uploaded score is untouched. **Composer** For m. 11, change the note to C#4. **AI** Changed the trombone's three-beat note in m. 11 to C#4 in the editable example. The final rest and piano are unchanged. **Composer** Is the pc set class created by the trombone notes in m. 10(0135) an abstract subset of the piano chord in m. 10 with either T or TI operations? **AI** Yes-**in the editable example**, the trombone's m. 10 pitches E-D-B-C-D give the four-note set {C, D, E, B}, prime form (0135). Taking the piano chord across both staves as {A, D, E, F#, G}, it is an abstract subset under **T6l**, but not under any transposition alone. T6l maps the trombone set to {F#, E, D, G}, all contained in the piano chord; A is the extra pitch. This describes a set relationship, not a literal simultaneous doubling-the trombone notes unfold against the sustained chord. ## Clarifying where the peak belongs The same piece · A selected exchange from a later visit. **AI** Yes-that could make the broadening feel like *gathering weight*, not losing energy. Two attacks of the same dense chord in m. 15 could toll like a bell: the second strike renews the sound while the tempo stretches. Then the piano's silence on the downbeat of m. 16 leaves space around the trombone's C5 before the sixteenth-note current enters mid-measure and establishes the faster tempo. That suggests a useful distinction: the shared peak might be the second chord strike in m. 15, with C5 as its exposed continuation—or the delayed piano entrance could be the peak's final surge. Which moment do you want to feel most forceful? The transition may also be easier to hear if the new piano rhythm makes the faster pulse unmistakable on its first entrance. **Composer** I'm hearing the C as the peak. I'm thinking it will work best if the piano doesn't wait long-like if there is a tenuto on beat one, by beat two the piano has begun new material, which would start somewhat quieter and thinner with a series of 16-16-8 ascending scale figures, maybe a little polyphonic. That would lead into a busier texture. The trombone would enter with new material within a couple of measures. ## Carrying intentions and open questions forward A different piece · Flute, cello and piano. **AI-generated summary** The student began a short piece for flute, cello, and piano. They considered a forceful opening but chose to start with a simpler, transparent texture. Their intended opening has a soft but audible piano attack, followed by whispery cello tremolo on the same pitch. The cello should seem to emerge from the piano's sound without getting louder, creating an atmospheric effect. The flute would enter after roughly two or three seconds. For that entrance, the student initially imagined the flute floating in a higher register with a light, flitty gesture. The assistant also suggested a gesture circling or moving away from the shared pitch; the student said they should try both approaches, but chose to explore the high option first so the flute would stand apart. They focused on contour and speed, starting with a quick succession of four notes and some circling in the contour. They did not fix a tempo, saying they could change playback speed to hear the gesture differently. At the student's request, a two-staff, two-measure editable flute-and-piano sketch was set up; cello was omitted from this working example, not from the piece. The lower staff has G3 as a whole note tied across the two measures. After a half rest, the flute has four sixteenth notes, A5-B5-D6-C#6, followed by silence. The student said this gave them something to work with and went to work on the music. The tempo, later gestures, and how the eventual cello part relates to this sketch remain open; no comparison of the two flute approaches was reported. ## Reflecting on progress in the composer’s own words Another piece · Piano writing · Local development preview. **Prepared question** How do you feel about the progress you’ve made during this period of work? What are you most pleased with, if anything? **Composer** I am happy with the piano texture and the rhythmic interplay between the hands. I feel like it's sort of light and bouncy, but not heavy. It feels a lot better than where I started. **Prepared question** Was there a decision you made that helped the piece move forward? **Composer** I had to rework the left-hand part in the transition starting in m. 14. It wasn't working so I was stuck at that transition. Once I realized where the weakness was, I deleted what was there and started fresh. It also needed other smaller changes, but now it works and I am well into the next section. **Prepared question** What feels unresolved, frustrating, or difficult to continue? What might help you move forward? **Composer** I'm really not sure how I want to end it. I'm thinking through options, and hope it will come to me when I get there.