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Beginner: having trouble getting started


Falco_sparverius

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I'm a violinist in high school, and I really want to learn how to compose music. I seem to always have ideas for pieces in my head, and I recently got Sibelius, but whenever I try to write something I get frustrated and I usually can't write more than a few measures. I'm taking AP Music Theory next year so hopefully that will help me, but I'm wondering if anyone here could give me some advice as well.

Thanks in advance.

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I second the above. Taking a music theory class will also help considerably. In addition, a few other pointers I can offer:

Listen, listen, and listen some more. Absorb absolutely every kind of music you can lay your hands on from the last 500 years, particularly contemporary music. Go to or listen to concerts as often as you can, even if the performers are not professionals, and try to get some ideas for what you can include in your own music.

Do not try to write masterpieces from the start. Learning to compose is the same as learning an instrument; you start simply with the basics and gradually become more and more proficient as you practice. It is fine to just write a short tune to start with as long as it teaches you something. In fact, try writing hymn tunes as an exercise. You can learn harmony this way too and all this will lead on to more advanced technique.

If you can persuade some friends, especially if they have an interest in composition, to perform your music or go through it with you even in private, ask them. If not, write pieces you can play yourself and get friends or family to give honest evaluation. A computer cannot simulate a live instrument and cannot provide you with the crucial feedback from the player's point of view.

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What sort of music do you like? A lot of composers can be turned off, or get frustrated because they are writing things that they themselves don't like. So are there any composers you like? I grew to like Holst and Vaughan Williams because of playing them in band. So my first compositions were usually based off folk songs.

Also, write what you know. You play violin, so you probably don't want to start writing for brass just yet, or harp, or something that you don't know too much about. You might want to try a string quartet. (Cello, Viola, and two violins). Composers have been writing for quartet for hundreds of years in all sorts of styles. Personally I stay away from quartets because I'm not too good at writing for such a small group of strings (mostly because I've never played a string instrument). But you would be perfect for that!

This is the wiki article for string quartets if you are interested in writing for that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_quartet Check out the "notable string quartets" section about halfway down if you want some ideas.

You also might try writing for unaccompanied solo violin.

If you can only write a couple measures - take that couple measures and repeat it in a sequence a couple times and add a transition. All of a sudden you have an A section. Now just write a contrasting section (perhaps in the minor if you started in major, or visa versa) and you have a B. Now just repeat the A section, perhaps with a couple small changes, and a nice ending, and you have a great piece of music!

1-2 minutes may not seem like a lot when you compare it to a symphony, but most every composer writes dozens of short pieces to every long. Plus if you write a couple more 1-2 minute pieces that are similar, then you can throw them in a suite, and presto! you're a legit composer!

Hope that helps!

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About your problem with only being able to write a few measures, I need to ask how confident your ear is. I find myself in the same situation that I have something in my head, but it takes so long to write it down, mostly because I'm not very good at intervals yet, which means it takes very long for it to sound the way it sounds in my head. And most of the time, before it sounds the way I think, I've either forgotten the melody in the first place or my brain has started composing on, leaving me with just a lot more I don't know how to write down :P

So now I've turned to practising my ear until I'm a boss and then I will sit down in my chair with my coffee cup and compose the only true way.

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Do something that helped many Rennaissance and Baroque composers. Work with a composed melody and write a bunch of variations. Bach did it and Dufay wrote a whole huge Mass quoting the melody of one of his own songs. Mendelssohn wrote some and Mozart did it with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. And then in Jazz, all the tunes they worked with were material for new works. If you want to get analytical study a melody - try something like All The Things You Are or Someone To Watch Over Me. I suggest these as they are more difficult to write (oh and really Beethoven had a problem with this type of melodic writing, some of his most famous pieces do not have melodies but a few memorable tics, mottos and hooks which he manages to make into wonderful music)

As for getting what you exactly hear in your head on paper - some composers struggle with that for a life time.

I will say be open to mistakes. Sometimes what you are SOOO sure about really needs to be let go iand released out of your head and allowed to take a life on its own. It sounds odd but all my ideas become complete only when I let them out of my head and then enjoy the ride as they grow.

Usually I can be quite prescriptive and detailed. But in your case it sounds like you just need to write, write , and write. Variations are one of the best ways to do it. Oh and stick with either a one voice instrument OR if you play piano don't try to make it too virtuosic at first.

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Do something that helped many Rennaissance and Baroque composers.

Very true! Palestrina (the "Bach" of the renaissance) wrote over 100 masses, and only 5 were "free" compositions. Everything else was based off preexisting composers! If one of the masters can do it, so can you!

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Rosenskjold, that's exactly my problem. My mind is faster than my skills at notation, and when I write something it never sounds like what I was expecting when I play back the audio. I guess I just need more practice.

I'll try doing some variations.

Thanks so much to everyone, this is really encouraging.

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Definitely work on the ear training! It's so useful! Actually, I see you play violin, so you may already have a pretty good ear, but if not, here's some ideas to develop it:

Take a melody that you know (nothing too complicated at first), and try to figure out -- away from any instrument or software -- which notes of the scale it uses. Start out by finding the tonic (1st note of the scale - where the song wants to rest, and usually the last note of the melody) and the dominant (5th note of the scale - a sort of musical "plateau") notes. Then locate the other notes relative to these. Constantly sing (or hum) a few notes of the melody, then switch to the scale (starting on the tonic), then switch back to the melody. Go back and forth until you can identify each note of the melody in the scale. If you know what key the piece is in, you can write down the notes, if not, just write down the scale degree numbers (then you can transpose them to any key).

Learn to recognize when the melody is moving stepwise, and when it is leaping by a wider interval. Once you're comfortable doing this out loud, you'll internalize the scale, and sing it in your head (you may already do this as a violinist). You may also start to recognize certain patterns that recur over and over again, like 3-2-1 at the end of phrases. If you're feeling especially adventurous, try isolating a harmony part in some song (or maybe even a bass line), and try doing the same thing.

I don't know how much harmony you know, but if you're familiar with chords, learn which chords can accompany the scale degrees that you're hearing, and start thinking about that while you're listening. V-I cadences are especially easy to recognize. You don't necessarily have to identify every single chord, but recognizing a few key ones helps. Very often (but not always), and especially in pop music, the root of the chord is in the bass, so if you can pick out which scale degree the bass is playing, you have a good shot at knowing the chord.

After you can do this in your head for a song that you know, you can start doing it with songs that you come up with.

Oh, and one last thought: if your mind is faster than your notation skills, you could try recording yourself singing it, then go back and listen to the recording.

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