So how do YOU start a piece?

So I'm just wondering, how do you guys start composing pieces? I've been on a bit of a break from classical music for a while and feel like coming back. So.... yeah....

I never really learned how to start a piece. The way I did it for a couple of my guitar songs (still not done though) was like this:

1. Pick a key + Mode

2. Make a chord progression

3. Make a melody

and that just pretty much makes the foundation. I'm stuck on what I should do next, so I thought I would get some ideas on what you guys do.

decide on a theme and develop it. One of the most prominent features of classical music is its themes being highly developed.

or at least I observed.

You should almost always modulate too.

I usually start several ways. Sometimes I'll use a pre-existing melody (taken from somewhere, and used as an arrangement) or I'll come up with my own melody, and I'll just go from there. Another way is I'll come up with some chord progressions and try to build something out of it or put a melody on top that fits, then develop that melody from there. OR, I'll use a rhythmic figure, and put some notes to it and see where that leads me. Hope that helps any.

My advice though, if you want to get better at developing piece from short ideas, is to try writing long-winded arrangements off of simple themes you take from somewhere else. For instance, I'm doing this now: http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/medieval-fantasy-band-competition-16496.html and the competition is to arrange a piece based on that theme. I find that much easier than using my own original theme, and it hones my skills on developing ideas starting from very little.

Well, the question is somewhat vague. Where exactly does the composition process start? Does it start with writing something down on paper? Does it start with the idea culminating in your mind? Personally, for me, my best compositions always start far away from the computer. They start far away from my piano or even my notepad (though I rarely write down ideas on paper anyway). They start on my walks. I take a two-mile walk throughout the neighborhood. I do it for both exercise and inspiration. Something about being out and active and closer with nature just puts all kind of ideas into my head. Sometimes, it's particular experience (like going out for my walk during the middle of a rain storm) or a particular image (I pass by this absolutely beautiful lake on my walk) or, if I'm lucky, a melodic fragment being wedged into my brain. I can't explain it but this process just works for me. It works far better than just sitting at a computer hammering out random notes/chord progressions. I'm sure there plenty of people who think I'm a terrible and immature writer (which I am, I can't expect anything else at the age of 17). But the one thing I've never been accused of is writing a piece that was lacking in expression or not vividly showing the desired effect I wished to create. I'm sure my process doesn't work for everyone. For me, personally, I've never been very good at writing "absolute music". When I try to write something without a specific image in mind, the result often becomes uninspired and dull. But I do recomend that most people at least try it.

Another way that has proven effective for me for a source of inspiration is Google Images actually. Sometimes, a vivid picture is all one needs to be inspired to write. Just look at all the composers out there that have written tone poems to a single picture.

By the time I actually start writing anything down, I generally have a good idea of how I want to start things off. It doesn't always go well though. While I can vividly hear in my head how I would like a piece to sound, writing it down on paper can be quite a task. Anyway, that's the beginning of my compositional process. I really can't explain anymore after that because, honestly, when I do finish pieces, it's as much out of sheer luck as it is from structured writing and discipline.

Composing definitely starts with only one thing: an idea.

I've worked from everything - scales, modes, rhythms, photos, all that sort of stuff. Letters on a page provide a decent starting point.

I start with a painting especially made for each piece I write. Then or before, I choose an original - and if possible - non-used title. After that : just imagine ;D

Even sometimes I just start writing something basic on paper...it then BECOMES an idea

So, yeah, I kinda just write sometimes

1. Whistle a melody whilst in the shower.

2. Write down melody.

3. Improvise an accompaniment at the piano.

4. Write out in full.

5. Alter parts and develop better where necessary.

I like all the ideas presented so far, there are some other things I've used to compose, I've noticed that I sometimes create music in my dreams and just recently I was finally able to accurately write down what I heard, also I've been tapping into the subconscious to get melodies by clearing my mind and pacing or staring into the mirror, and as crazy as that sounds it actually works rather well. Personally I think that like any other skill it can be developed, one just has to train the mind to be quiet and listen, it's not like I hear complete symphonies or anything, just little melodies which I then develop into pieces. Also improvising is almost crucial in the early stages of writing music, I find it's because of sitting at the guitar for long periods of time improvising that I can normally hear in my head what I think should come next in a piece, and my best pieces are the ones that just flow out naturally, not the ones where I feel forced to come up with something.

[quote name='Rapha

I use several methods to begin a piece.

My best pieces come when I am not anywhere near an instrument and something comes into my head. It sounds solid and I often have entire pieces in my head. When I go to write it down, though, it can be somewhat frustrating to get what was in my head onto paper. I currently have three piano pieces in my head as I sit here writing this. By the time I get to writing them down, two will be forgotten and one will come out all wrong and I will have to step back and work it out again.

Another method is when I have a small idea and write it down, and then play with it and see where it goes on its own. This is how I am currently writing my string quartet.

The rarest form I use is using a process. Such as "today I am going to write using linearism." I don't do this much because it can be boring, but it makes a good exercise.

The worst method for me currently, which used to be the best method about 10 years ago, is to sit at a piano and start playing and seeing what comes out without any premeditated effort. This just does not work for me anymore.

I always start by devising an abstract and rational compositional system. These are strictly organized, abstract schemata that can be based on anything - mathematical formulas, serial procedures, certain proportions, quasi-geometric things, polyrhythmic layerings, and so on. Such a system brings rational order to the composition and facilitates the compositional process since it restricts the number of alternatives to choose from with each decision. Usually, in the early phase of developing the system, I do not yet think about the exact notes whatsoever (unless pitch organization is a crucial part of the system). The system determines the general structure of the piece and the compositional materials, tools and techniques that I will use. Once I have defined the system, I start refining it by restricting all relevant parameters and playing around with them. Once the system is fully refined, I can do the actual composing, which is a bit like constructing a building according to an architect's plan. Selecting the pitches is often the very last phase of my compositional process.

I feel this method of composing works best for me. I use these strictly organized, rational systems in order to cut myself off from habitual and clich

AS can be read from the prior posts there are many paths. It all boils down to this -

Finding a quiet space - not necessarily absent of noise but rather a space which affords you to observe your thoughts and the stimuli around you open-mindedly (sans judgement or recognizing you are judging it)

Sorry if it sounds vague but to "have" an idea you have to be aware of your internal and external world (for example, it has been found so far that most people generate about 50,000 thoughts a day and repeat 40,000 of them the next day -- I'll try and get the source of this fact) - add that to the environmental stimuli and you realize you don't have to work so hard to get ideas. The actual work is developing them into a cohesive world called a music composition. The only purpose of study of harmony, counterpoint, electronic muisc, acoustic or pygmy counterpoint and gamelan etc .. is to provide tools and technique to do this.

So as to you original modus operandi, it is fine if it works. My only suggestion is to concentrate on a more elemental step - creating the space to recognize the multitude of musical ideas you and ALL (yes, even apparently non-musical people) of us have (PS. Hindemith in his book "The Composer's World" makes this exact point!)

When I was a kid, before I got a musical education, I used to figure out a whole piece under my hands before I wrote it down. A lot of my music was melodically driven, so it was a matter of developing a frame for a nice melodic idea, spice it up here and there and then writing it down -- getting it onto paper was so difficult for me, being self-taught, that it was a completely seperate operation with it's own challenges.

After I was educated, I changed my technique to using small ideas - cells - for development. It was an easier and more organic process, allowed me to expand on my ideas more efficiently and creatively, and altogether improved my ability to push that pencil and come up with the right result. It even helps to think of a melody as a combination of related cells, rather than a period consisting of certain pitches and rhythms. However, there are times when I wish I was still na