Getting Started With Writing, Part XVI

(con't from Part XV)
Fresh ears.
It's a good way to check our writing, after it's finished (photo).
The moment we review our latest new score we completed yesterday and listen to it with fresh ears, we'll be able to detect things within it today, that escaped our attention before, which seem to stick out and beg to be "tweaked.
By evaluating the replay the next day our ears will often provide us with information that we couldn't seem to detect in the heat of the game the day before.
A pair of fresh eyes also helps.
Such things in the notation as too many, too few, or missing ties ... incorrect or missing accidentals ... incorrect, missing, or misplaced tempo and dynamics marks ... missing, misplaced, or too many double bar lines ... redundant (too many) rest signs (e.g., 2 consecutive 8th rests when a single quarter rest would do) and other markings resulting in a cluttered measure difficult to read ... mistakes in composition (consecutive or hidden perfect 5ths, octaves, or unisons, unnecessary doublings of the leading note or crossings of voices, a melodic line overextending its voice range, Pedal lines needing to be smoother at cadential points, the 7th note of a dominant 7th chord failing to resolve to the 3rd of the tonic chord, a leading note in an outer voice failing to resolve to the tonic note, etc.) ... only 2 or 3 measures occupying the last page when they could be squeezed on the previous page easily enough ... any of these errors, when present, seem to beg for additions and/or corrections before we call the score a finished work.
One of the principal rules of harmony forbids the moving of 2 or more perfect fifths, octaves, or unisons in similar motion.
A perfect fifth preceded or followed by a diminished fifth however is allowed; this is important to remember.
The habit of conscientious proofreading of the written page and careful listening like this to our work the following day is a good one but will have us wondering at times how we could have missed that little flaw which we just found.
Then, after we fine-tune our work by making whatever necessary additions, corrections, or adjustments are required, we need to set it aside finally as finished, suspend the review process, and move on to the next work or we run the risk of procrastination, which is the most common manifestation of Resistance [See blog, Procrastination, Parts I, II, The Book].
(con't in Part XVII)