Talented Composer

I am submitting this request on behalf of my 17 year old son Jonathan Sims, who is a talented composer and mixer.

Although Jonathan is young, his work on the computer, mixing musical sounds, and creating lyrics are phenomenal!

The problem is, we don't know exactly how to help him to develop his talents.

Can you offer any suggestions as to the next step for Jonathan.

Thank you.

Post some of his music so we can hear

The best thing you can do is encourge him to keep practicing. That's the only way anyone can get better, regardless of how talented someone is. Of course, a good way to speed up the learning process is to listen to lots of music in his particular interest, and to study the sheet music. Also, it may help if he had his own niche. For example, some of the composers in this forum are exclusives, such as myself. I focus on one type of composition style, romantic piano writing, and I am very good at that particular type of style. I could go into other styles, but they wouldn't be very good, and my true niche, which I have acquired and developed by hard work, is in romantic piano writing. Had I gone all over the place, I probably would be mediocre in all styles, which wouldn't be impressive.

If someone goes all over the place with many different styles, it is hard to capture the interest of critics, and in my opinion, finding a niche and sticking to that niche is the best bet for any composer on this site, not just your son.

Now if you are asking about actual lessons or music theory, there are many tutorials on the web, or you can order music theory books from amazon, or even go to a place like Barnes and Noble to find a good music theory book. If you are asking, "should he go to a music college", well, this is up to him. If he wants to choose music as his career, then I don't see why not. He would be surrounded by lots of musicians, and may even have an easier time getting his works exposed to the public. But if he wants to get better at composition, going to a music school will not necessarily help someone become a better composer. Just as, going to college does not necessarily mean success. In fact, I think college is very limiting, not just in music, but in ANY field. College doesn't show the way to being successful on your own, all college really does is prepare the average student to work for someone else. The point? You can't rely on someone else, or school to help that person achieve success. It is completely up to the individual, and how the individual utilizes the available information, whether it be school, books or the internet.

There are some music colleges and private schools you can send him to.

Haha! im also 17 and my dad seems to have the same problem about my musical development.

Lol. I'm 14, and my dad calls Julliard, and emails teahcers....he's WAYYY over the top. Just be encouraging, and give him some lessons

Well, when I was 17 I was pretty much stuck too, so this is what I did: I kept up my piano lessons and went to college (most decent colleges offer private instruction in music composition). Oh, and I wrote tons of music. I find that I improve even when I don't have a teacher as long as I compose often. There are also books on music theory and orchestration that could be handy.

One can definitely learn a whole lot just by doing. Also, going back and reviewing/revising older pieces, to see what could have been done better, and figuring out ways to go about it.

If someone goes all over the place with many different styles, it is hard to capture the interest of critics, and in my opinion, finding a niche and sticking to that niche is the best bet for any composer on this site, not just your son.

True to an extent, but when a composer is young and still 'finding his feet' I think it's important to just keep writing; any style will do. Rather than just picking an area and going for it it's probably better to develop your particular niche through being prolific.

True to an extent, but when a composer is young and still 'finding his feet' I think it's important to just keep writing; any style will do. Rather than just picking an area and going for it it's probably better to develop your particular niche through being prolific.

I agree with this - it wasn't until I stopped writing clarinet trios over and over again (for god knows what reason) that I discovered how much better I am at other things instead

Encouraging a kid who has an interest without being too overbearing is definitely the way to go. Offer lessons, applaud efforts, and if that's what he wants to do, he'll appreciate it! My parents never pushed me too hard, but when, at age 7, they saw I was making up songs on our organ all the time, they asked if I wanted lessons and I was totally into it, and so it all began...