Help with the Basics of Composition

~~Neward Thelman~~ · 05-12-2017, 09:32 PM

If you can get the financing, you should apply to a music conservatory. If you have actual talent, you'll be accepted, and what you'll learn will both change and fulfill your life.

If you have talent, music theory'll come easily and quickly to you.

If you've picked a good conservatory, they'll stress that you break any habit you've developed of composing at a keyboard - or any other instrument.

The reason's that is twofold:

1] It slows you down. If you really have a compositional gift, then music should come to you "in your head". With sufficient training, you should be able to get it all down on paper - know as notation - quite easily. After all, all of the greatest composers in history have managed to produce their masterpieces in exactly that manner. Once the music starts flowing, you don't want to be hampered with picking it out on some instrument - and then pausing to notate it. As you've already found, that really slows you down, and you loose the music that's just occurred - probably never to occur again.

2] It's not natural. If you're actually gifted, then music flows naturally in your mind.

However, before you get to that point, you might try just using your cell phone to record material. You may then play it back later and notate it, develop it, assign instrumentation, etc.

05-12-2017, 09:32 PM	#3 (permalink)
~~Neward Thelman~~ Account Disabled Join Date: May 2017 Location: The greater Chicago metropolitan area Posts: 23	This Is What You Should Do If you can get the financing, you should apply to a music conservatory. If you have actual talent, you'll be accepted, and what you'll learn will both change and fulfill your life. If you have talent, music theory'll come easily and quickly to you. If you've picked a good conservatory, they'll stress that you break any habit you've developed of composing at a keyboard - or any other instrument. The reason's that is twofold: 1] It slows you down. If you really have a compositional gift, then music should come to you "in your head". With sufficient training, you should be able to get it all down on paper - know as notation - quite easily. After all, all of the greatest composers in history have managed to produce their masterpieces in exactly that manner. Once the music starts flowing, you don't want to be hampered with picking it out on some instrument - and then pausing to notate it. As you've already found, that really slows you down, and you loose the music that's just occurred - probably never to occur again. 2] It's not natural. If you're actually gifted, then music flows naturally in your mind. However, before you get to that point, you might try just using your cell phone to record material. You may then play it back later and notate it, develop it, assign instrumentation, etc.