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What does it take to learn composition?
“Musical composition is the process of making or forming a piece of music by combining the parts, or elements of music.
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The fastest way to learn composition is to memorize small fragments of music, and then learn to change and combine those fragments in very specific ways.
The process of changing it, actually forces you to understand it.
When I started Art of Composing in 2011, I had a loose idea of the things I needed to learn. But it wasn’t very clear in my mind.
So I set out reading just about every music theory or composition book I could get my hands on. And I blogged about it at the same time.
Heart pounding on stage. The conductor, about to give the upbeat.
And the note begins.
With the lightest touch of the bow, the string begins to just barely scratch out a sound.
But as the second beat hits, the note gets louder. The player puts more pressure. It gets gritty.
By the third beat, the note is very loud, and then suddenly without warning, the violinist accelerates the bow, to leave the ring of an open low G string.
Now, write that down. A low G, 3 beats long, starting very soft (pp), and getting very loud (fff).
Hopefully, you could see and hear in your mind what I just described to you.
It’s a little bit like a story, and you have the ability to imagine music in your head with the same clarity. It also develops and changes as you create it.
Now imagine doing this for more than just one note.
What do we mean when we say “compose music”?
It’s always helpful to have a clear definition when learning a new topic. Music composition is no different.
Musical composition is the process of making or forming a piece of music by combining the parts, or elements of music.
Composing isn’t about being totally unique. The search for ever more novelty has lead to a lot of incomprehensible music.
It’s also not about just copying the past.
Grab a pencil, staff paper, and compose with me right now.
Download staff paper here. It will open in a new tab.
Step 1 – Set some restrictions for yourself
Let’s be deliberate about this. Your goal is to compose for me, a 1 note piece of music.
So let’s start with laying out the boundaries.
Restrictions will help to open up our creativity, because they filter out unnecessary ideas from your brain.
For instance, you can throw away any ideas you have that are two notes or longer.
Right now, I just want one note. But we’re going to make it a great note.
Pick each of these before we start sketching and write them down in the corner of the paper.
The tempo.
The time signature.
The key signature.
What instrument or instruments will be playing the note.
If you want, you can just watch me do it.
I pick a slow tempo, about 60 beats per minute, also known as 1 beat per second.
The time signature is, 4/4. I don’t want to overcomplicate this.
The key signature is C major. Because… it’s C major.
The instrument I choose for this example is the violin.
Step 2 – The process of composing, in one note
Let’s imagine your note for a second. Now you don’t need to hear the note before hand in your mind. You can start to get closer to the note you want, without hearing.
Is it a high range note, middle range note, or low note?
Is it loud or soft?
How should the note change over time?
How long is the note?
Here’s what I can imagine.
I hear a note, it’s middle range. The note is… soft.
Very soft. In fact, it is as soft as the violin player can play. Yes, I see the violin player. Heart pounding on stage. The conductor, about to give the upbeat.
And the note begins.
With the lightest touch of the bow, the string begins to just barely scratch out a sound.
But as the second beat hits, the note gets louder. The player puts more pressure. It gets gritty.
By the third beat, the note is very loud, and then suddenly without warning, the violinist accelerates the bow, to leave the ring of an open low G string.
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