Music Composition Lessons on DVD?

Does anyone know of any Music Composition Lessons on DVD?

I'm looking for a complete course if possible.

I'd be interested in anything you might be aware of.

Ulitmately I'd like to find something that address composition in depth for writing full orchestrations.

Barring that, I'd be happy just to find something that teaches music theory in general and gives examples. Especially with regard to counterpoint, writing interlacing melodies, and modulation techniques for getting to new harmonic places.

I'm actually looking at this course right now:

Reviews of Learn & Master Piano DVD Course

It's not actually a course on composition, but it looks like it might teach a lot of music theory. Then maybe not. I'm not even sure. I haven't actually seen course.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

An alternative might be books with CDs.

I can't learn from just books alone. I need to hear examples.

Well it's my theory that it really can't be taught. You can watch all the DVD's, read all the books, know all about music theory, but whether you can compose or not comes down to YOU and your creativity.

Originally Posted by Young Prodigy

Well it's my theory that [composition] really can't be taught.

Of course it can be taught! You can be the most creative person alive, but if you don't have the tools at your disposal then you won't write shit!

Originally Posted by Abracadabra

Does anyone know of any Music Composition Lessons on DVD?

I'm looking for a complete course if possible.

I'd be interested in anything you might be aware of.

Ulitmately I'd like to find something that address composition in depth for writing full orchestrations.

Barring that, I'd be happy just to find something that teaches music theory in general and gives examples. Especially with regard to counterpoint, writing interlacing melodies, and modulation techniques for getting to new harmonic places.

I'm actually looking at this course right now:

Reviews of Learn & Master Piano DVD Course

It's not actually a course on composition, but it looks like it might teach a lot of music theory. Then maybe not. I'm not even sure. I haven't actually seen course.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

An alternative might be books with CDs.

I can't learn from just books alone. I need to hear examples.

This might not be exactly what you are looking for, but try the Leonard Bernstein's "Young People's Concerts". He explains to children how orchestras work, why the great composers are so good, etc., in a way no one else can. He just oozes with passion for this stuff and never talks down to the 1950's/60's audiences.

Amazon.com: Leonard Bernstein - Young People's Concerts / New York Philharmonic: Bernstein, New York Philharmonic: Movies & TV

I just found this excerpt on you tube to show you what it is like: YouTube - Bernstein Tchaikovsky 4

If that is too basic, you could try his Harvard Lectures which is basically a graduate course video taped.

Originally Posted by robinjessome

Of course it can be taught! You can be the most creative person alive, but if you don't have the tools at your disposal then you won't write shit!

Actually! If you ARE the most creative person alive you'll write ANYWAYS regardless if you have the tools or not because you'll CREATE THEM as you go along!

So, uh. Composition CAN be taught, but it's like reinventing the wheel somewhat. Though that's a bad example I can't think of anything better since reinventing the wheel in music is actually not so bad...

OH WELL!

Well, I'm just looking for the music theory knowledge. I'm not seeking for anyone to teach me creatitivity. I already know what music I want to write. My problem is transforming what I have in my mind into sheet music. I don't understand the mechanics of writing it down. I also don't understand all the concepts of harmony transisitions.

I've been writing music already, but I'm doing it in a way that feels like I have both hands tied behind my back. I can't write the music that I hear in my mind because I don't understand the mechanics of it. Let's face it, the production of music in the world is a physical (and thus a mechanical) process. Music is a form of physics. That's not to say that it isn't also art, but music is meaningless if there is no sound, and sound is a physical phenomenon.

There are physical principles of why things sound good. We call those principles "Music Theory".

And of course, when we take the music theory and apply it to a whole lot of different intruments playing music at the same time, that's called "Orchestration" and there are reasons why things work and why other things don't, and I guess we call that "Composition Theory".

An artist can never go wrong learning about the medium in which they 'sculpt'.

So far, I've been getting by with extremely limited knowledge of music theory in general and basically no knowledge of composition theory. But I also know that this limitation is holding me back tremendously.

Just to dive into things a little deeper I just now ordered four books from Amazon.com.

"The complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory" with CD, by Michael Miller.

That one's probably beneath me, but it can't hurt to glean over it.

I also got the "Study of Counterpoint" by John Fux.

I think that's the book I need to read more than anything.

I also got "Composing Music: A New Approach" by William Russo

It looked like it had good reviews.

And finally I got, "The Piano Handbook: A Complete Guide for Mastering Piano" by Carl Humphries.

I don't know what that one will be like either, but it sounded like it contains some musical principles and it also comes with CD examples.

I'm currently downloading the Bernstein excerpt from YouTube that karelm suggested. I'm on dial-up so I'm limited to what I can see on Youtube. The only way I can watch those videos is to download them first and then play them from my hard drive. But at least that works that way.

One thing that scares me about buying the Bernstein videos is that I fear they won't have the "technical knowlege" I seek. I'm actually seeking a course that give actual hands-on examples. The Harvard Lectures sound good. I'll have to look into getting those.

Any other Youtube suggestions?

A fully interactive online-based program that teaches music theory and composition techniques is in the works. Unfortunately, it will not be available until 2009. PM me for more details on this.

-AA

Not to be pedantic, but a DVD doesn't seem like a very intuitive way to learn theory and composition. Those books you've ordered seem like a good start though. I wouldn't discount the "complete idiot's guide" book; I've found them to actually be pretty helpful, especially for a beginner like yourself.

The main things I want to really get a handle on right now is counterpoint and modulation techniques. At least I think that's what I need to learn.

I want to be able to write simultaneous independent melodies, as well as compelemtary melodies. As it is right now I have a hard time even writing good base lines that aren't extremely mundane.

The other thing I need to do is learn how to break out of harmonic boxes. I think that by focusing on counterpoint and modulation I'll be well on my way to feeling like I've sprouted wings.

Cleary there is a lot more to learn. But those two things seem to be the things that are currently holding me back the most right now. If I get past these two concepts and find another hurdle standing in my way at least I'll feel like I've made some progress.

By the way, to Karelm, I listened to the Bernstien video excerpt. Quite interesting. Although, I'm not sure if that's the kind of instruction is what I'm seeking. That's almost more along the lines of inspirational lectures. I'm seeking something more along the lines of the actually HOW-TO nitty-gritty of the mechanics of how it's actually composed.

For all you need to know about modulation check out Wagner's Tristan and anything by Franck...seriously