Advice to Young Composers

This article was written by a composer and has a ton of useful advice. Follow it.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/05/the-score-advice-to-young-composers/

Very good advice!

I would try to follow

I seem to remember reading a very similar article a while back that uttered many of the same sentiments.

While I agree with the notion of "personalizing" your craft to -make it "your" art and not some imitation- I have to object to drawing such a definitive line here. Just like the other article I read (maybe a year ago?), this one brings me to the same issue every time. Yes, make your "art" work with your environment... rather, let your art give you the freedom to create more of it. If that means writing commercial tunes or teaching at a school so you have summers off, it makes no difference. Put the best of yourself into everything you do no matter what your attitude toward the work may be. That's not a lesson strictly for young composers. That's a lesson for all of us, one we should always be learning in striving to achieve it.

Wow, this is fantastic advice! Thanks for the link, composerorganist!

AntiA - I agree with your points but I didn't read the author was making that point ... but overall I thought it offered some great nuggets of advice - the best being is "We are ALWAYS young composers" that is there is always something to learn and the field of composition always brings about challenges that make us beginners because as composers it is impossible for us to be masters of all instruments and musical genres.

No, I really disagree with how much "advice" was really present in the article. Does the article really give us anything to hold onto with statements like, "We are ALWAYS young composers?" That there is always something to learn in any field is nothing new. If we have to be reminded of that, we're spending way too much time burying our heads in the sand. As composers, we can and should be masters of all instruments and genres that inspire us to write. What are we doing if we're always assuming we know nothing and that we're always beginners? That's not a productive outlook on our profession. We should strive to be wise about music, to offer our perspective wherever possible, but to also remember that there is enough room for all of us to have our own individual perspective on our profession. We don't need to placate our talents as though we know nothing, as that only squanders and stifles our creative efforts.

I don't think the article was saying that we "need to placate our talents as though we know nothing...", but rather be aware of the fact that there is always more to know. It's an uplifting, informal essay meant to inspire us. Obviously we're not looking for practical theory in it. But, your attitude absolutely influences everything you do-from how you treat your family to, yes, how you write music. I think that what the author of this article was trying to tell us is: put yourself in a position where you are able to continue to learn from your mistakes. It would destroy you as a composer if you stopped looking for your own mistakes, or stopped looking for new kinds of music because you "mastered" yours. The point is to never be too comfortable where you are, because then you'll never get anywhere new. Obviously we need to be wise about music, but it wouldn't hurt to stop thinking that we are.

TO paraphrase a quote from Sir Issac Newton regarding his estimation of his scientific discoveries -

"All I did was stand by the vast sea of unknowable and found a few beautiful shells and stones washed up from the sea"

This is pretty good advice, but it depends entirely on what you're trying to accomplish. For me personally, little of her advice would be of much use.

The best advice I could give a young composer would be: Make your own way, and do exactly as you please; wherever that leads you, you can't go wrong.

Lee gives advice from a guy who knows what it means to live. Following the trail blazed by Dr. Thurman, I've come to the belief that wondering what the world needs you to be is much less productive than being what you want to be, whatever that is. The world simply needs people who are alive. You'll be happier and same with the world.

In regards to this article. She gave solid advice. In the long run though, if you want to succeed at anything, you only really have to do a few things. Have confidence, keep trying, and be purposeful about it all. If you do that, the rest follows into place.