Quote:
Originally Posted by rick-slo
What's your acceptable ratio/balance range in a musical piece? Repetition can breed familiarity and attraction (propinquity romance  ).
However for me when a listen for ten to fifteen seconds pretty much sums up all there is going to be is a repetition stretch. |
It's a great question.
I think a primary consideration is whether this is a song or an instrumental piece. If there are lyrics, then a far greater degree of repetition will be acceptable, if not required.
However I don't know if there can be a hard and fast rule for purely instrumental pieces. In Irish traditional music, "tunes" are typically composed AABB, ABAB, ABBA or whatever, and repeated a number of times, often in a set of tunes played one after the other without pause.
When played in a typical open session there would traditional be very, very minimal variation between what is played the first turn around and what is played the second, perhaps just nuances in ornamentation. The melody needs to be consistent so people can keep track of where they are in the set. There is scope for rhythm instruments to use different voicings of course, but in many traditional sessions there are no rhythm instruments.
Of course, these were tunes which people often danced to originally, so again repetition and consistency was important. But nowadays when dancing is less common, the tradition of "just play it" allows people who have never played together to join in, which is an important part of session music.
When played more in a more performative setting like a gig/concert, or perhaps on an album track, a group might arrange the tunes in terms of when different instruments come in and out, which can be highly effective.
Where fingerstyle solo guitar is concerned, where the piece has a recognisable verse/chorus component I like an approach that establishes the melody first, then moves into variations of the base incorporating different voicings or different chords, go up/down an octave, ornamentation, flourishes and fills. I think to appreciate the complications we have to first be shown the base.
Of course some pieces flow through with no repetition of the melody. Here I think variation can still be achieved but we are dealing with, probably, a more complicated piece which will have inherent variation simply because it does not repeat.
Again, a good question and interesting discussion for which thanks.