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Instructor: @Monarcheon Students: max. 10 Expectations: Composers will learn about music from the contemporary/modern period, analyze it deeply, and will write music in this style. This should span over about a month and composition assignments will be used. Week 1: Bartok - form Week 2: Webern - interval set/vectors Week 3: Messiaen - rhythms/time Week 4: Cage - intro to musical philosophy AKA "real theory" Special Notes: This is our first test long-form masterclass... structured to be more like an actual class. It's a test because I don't know how many people will be interested/care. Let me know if you're interested in the comments.

@Maarten Bauer@Rabbival507 I was kind of in a similar position when I finished high school 8 years ago. I went into software engineering at first because it didn't occur to me at the time that music was something I'd be able to pursue really seriously. Even as I started hating software engineering, and realising that I really needed music in my life, I still worried that music wasn't something I could do as a 'job', and that IT would be safer even if I hated it. But then I hated it so much, and was so miserable, that I decided that I would switch to music and just take my chances. This was after 3 years of uni. I then had a 4 year music degree (in percussion performance) which I loved almost every second of. It was at a university rather than a conservatoire, which I think was better for my own development. Then during the music degree I gradually realised that what I actually really wanted to do was to write music. The composition tutor at my uni recommended I finish my degree in performance rather than switch to composition, so I stuck out in performance and I'm glad I did. A chance visit to London two years ago gave me the inspiration to audition for a masters degree in composition at various places in the UK, and my backup plan was a masters degree in performance at the Sydney Con (I didn't want to do composition there). I got accepted in Sydney and was about to start class when I got the offer from the RCS in Glasgow, and there was not a moment's hesitation before I accepted it. So I guess if I have any advice, it'd be to feel free to start a degree in something other than music, but remember that it's never too late to change your mind. So the reason I write music is that I can't imagine doing anything else. Even if I had stayed in IT (and would by now be working in some sort of desk job), I would still be composing in my spare time. It made sense to me that I should therefore try and study it to get better at it.

Jazz ins't a strong point of mine but I quite like this. I think you've done a good job here, especially given the constraints you placed on yourself to help imitate that improv feel. I think it worked rather well. Nicely done!