The Minor iv

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I absolutely love the sound of a minor iv chord. I also absolutely love the sound of a minor iv leading to a V chord. Those two concepts are what this piece is all about.  

The Minor iv is a piece that plays on a few different techniques. I was inspired by minimalism of the likes of La Monte Young where a piece is purely chordal and extremely simple in rhythm. I was also inspired by twelve-tone music, and that is the basis of how this piece came to be.  

The Minor iv is built from the twelve-tone row 9-T-E-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-1-0. 

The way I used that tone row in this piece is that each pitch class represents the key of one measure (besides the last pitch class, 0, which has an extra ending measure), meaning that the piece has thirteen measures, each in a different key signature (excluding, of course, the ending measure which follows the final key).  

Each measure has the same, very simple rhythm, which draws on that idea of minimalism. Each measure contains a minor iv chord in the designated key. Every four measures, there is a progression to a V chord from that minor iv.  

The piece's tempo is merely a suggestion, as it is meant to be taken very rubato with how the performer feels the music.  

This piece is a lot to look at as a pianist, as the constant changing of key signature requires the player to be playing in one key and then have to instantly shift their brain to thinking in another key.  

With that in mind, The Minor iv is a great warm-up or exercise for pianists or anybody who wants to improve their proficiency when it comes to quickly thinking in different key signatures.  

It is a great exercise for the minds of musicians who aren't used to such sudden key changes. 

I hope you appreciate the sound of this chord as much as I do.  

Enjoy The Minor iv.