GMoneywroteasong

"Do you perform your music?" It depends. If it's written for bass or guitar, usually--definitely if the rest of the band likes it. A lot of my work is composed in collaboration with performers of other instruments, so I'm not always writing things for ME to perform or even anyone, but I'm often writing for someone to perform. "Do you play or try out your musical ideas on an instrument while composing? Or do you just use software simulations for that?" I usually come up with the initial ideas on a real instrument. If I consider the proficiencies of an intended performer I know that's more skilled than me, or if I decide that this piece won't be intended for public performance, it's off to the software packages with it (although I write everything down in MuseScore, the works that are intended for the stage don't end their life there). "Does that sufficiently connect you to the performance practices of actual musicians?" This is the most interesting question out of the bunch, in my opinion, and I honestly feel like the answer is no. Fully digital editions of most music just feels somewhat hollow or lacking, although I believe that to be a sort of bias by association. Electronic music and videogame soundtracks, though often partially or entirely programmed into a computer to play, don't trigger the same response anymore. It honestly makes branching into the genres feel attractive on the surface, considering I'm often tired of dealing with other people...

I started on the trombone about 15 years ago (sorry, I'm a little older than someone that I typically call young, but I was looking for a community to engage with one of my healthier and more interesting hobbies). 3 or 4 years after that, I picked up the electric bass (I always wanted to get a contrabass to transfer my skills and diversify the contexts I can play in, but the cost is very high), and this has become my main instrument. Over the next 5 or so years after that, I picked up the guitar and most of the brass family to various degrees of competence. I have a flute I've never played lol. I really want to sharpen my skills in composition and piano performance at this point (without sacrificing my time with the bass--it's the only instrument that's made me any money haha).

I'd been interested in being involved with music since a very young age (longer than I can remember), but I didn't pick up my first instrument until I was about 11. I didn't write my first song until I was about 14. Shortly after that, however, a classmate told me he was writing a symphony for a class project (it was more of a tone poem, but I'm being pedantic rather than critical of the quality of his work), and he challenged me to write a better one than him. Not having much experience writing for strings or dealing with larger works, mine was pretty awful in comparison, but I fell in love with writing music after having sunk almost 6 months into this project.

Just looking for general feedback on a less adventurous work before I dive into a more involved work. I feel like advice on the use of harmony and motifs would improve most of my work, and I could develop those skills by learning to improve some of my existing work. Waltz in Eb.mp3