I've always wanted to compose, but never had time to. Now that it's summer, I have time. But it seems like my ideas are all not useable. I normally record whatever I have in my head down real quick. Usually just a phrase or just a chord progression. But now I'm looking at what I recorded, and they seem stupid...
How can I stick with just one idea and finally finish something? I have too many ideas and not enough perseverance to stick with it to make the best out of it.
Anyone else with the same problem I have?

How about fitting a poem to music? One that has an odd number of lines and doesn't rhyme would be a nice challenge. This would give a contraint and allow you to know when to stop.

Keep a notebook handy at all times. When you have an idea, however small, write it down. It could be a chord, a fragment of a melody, a theme to base a composition upon etc etc. Then set aside a few hours to work at one piece. Look over your notes and see if anything appeals to you. Decide what sort of piece to write and then get busy. Perhaps you could begin with a short piece for a solo instrument, without an accompaniment. Keep to a standard musical form and see what emerges. You could then write a contrasting piece. Have a look at the London College of Music and Media exams in composition too. You will find some useful ideas for projects there.

This method is really good for ideas....

Think of a piece you really like.... get the sheet music....

And now you have to analyse it!!!! - There is good reason so much music analysis is done in A level Music and this is probably one of the best reasons.

Go through the scores. See how the composer has used developed use of melody etc.. Do the follwoing: Make photocopies of the score...

Annotate how melodies are developed - used (e.g Q+A, sequence etc.)- how melodies are constructed? Is there a repetitive motif at different pitches? keys?

Identify rhythmic motifs, patterns, developments.. Do the same for tonality, use of chords - e.g. 7th chords etc. Analyse the use of instrumentation..... e.g pizzicato strings... Analyse, the form, texture, harmony. etc...


So basically analyse a piece of music - looking at the sheet music really helps! - then use it as a major influence for your composition. But don't steal the melodies. You need to see how many ways other composers develop their ideas. And try not to overuse the main melody, for example a good piece is The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams - where the main melody isn't actually used that often - it only appears in the solo violin approximately 3 times.

Also - if you're keen on composition - you should do grade 6-8 music theory - as when you're forced to compose - your thinking becomes much more logical - whereas - some people spend far too long composing purely because they think too much - trying to make some fantastic chord progression - when really - some of the best compositions begin from the most simplest melodies.

wow These are some really really useful answers.
thanks! I think i'll look into theory more and analyze my favorite pieces.
The poem idea also struck me as well. Perhaps a short walt whitman will help.
Also i'll look into the London College of Music and Media exams. I didn't know there was such an exam!

Improvise melodies everyday. Try to make the melodies free-flowing and join them together. Occasionally you'll get a very good one and work from there. Write it down and all the ideas and developments that come with it. Leave it for a couple of days and get back to it when you feel inspired. The time spent improvising will also help you build confidence with melodies and chord progressions.

Or you could just ignore what everyone has said and doodle with your instrument. That's what I usually do.

Some bits of standard advice I try to give myself:

1. Architecture FIRST. Unless you start out knowing what the overall shape of the piece is going to be you are liable to ramble. And you must know what the point is - what you mean to say. This must happen BEFORE you write a note.

2. Do you know that putative quote from Michelangelo: “I just cut away everything that didn’t look like David”? When you've 'finished' your piece, prune away ruthlessly everything that is not contributing to the final objective. (If you have no final objective, see 1 above!)

3. The Medea Principle: Murder your children
Go to your favourite part - AND DELETE IT. It’s the self-indulgent bit. If you can’t bear to, then:

4. Put your favourite bit at the end.

5. Don’t be too anxious to perfect each piece. Sometimes it’s better to be wrong now than right later.

6. Don't be bitten by post-natal depression: the thing we've just done always sounds dreadful because it falls short of our ideals. Try to finish every piece, however bad you think it is, because very often when you go back six months later it seems much better than you thought.

7. Embrace your mistakes: it's mistakes we learn from, so if you never make one, you never learn anything.

And don't forget Haydn's principle: take a figure and explore its possibilities exhaustively.

Where would you learn how to analyse music if you're not at school?

Radio 3.

Discovering Music - Sundays 17:00-18:30
Building a Library Saturdays 9.30am (not during proms season)

Or your ears are good.

Hey thanks for that LDW Although I've just looked on the BBC web site and I can't see the Discovering Music programme - does that stop during the Proms as well do you know?

No - it's on right now. Sibelius 2 today (I'm listening to Test Match Special instead though!)

Here is the Discovering Music website. You can listen to previous programmes online through their Listen Again system - such as the one on Beethoven's Pastoral.

Yes thanks, I've got it now! I've had a look on the web site as well and I'll have a listen to the other programmes.


Hope your team wins the match

Nicely poised with India 100 for 3...

My advice for composing would be to learn the basics of music theory, harmony, counterpoint and orchestration. The better you can understand and employ these elements the higher quaility of your output.



There are online music courses setup on Music-Web (which I had a part in writing) which currently address music notation and terminology which helps to develop a strong understanding of written music which improves your music analysis skills. The guides are currently by no means perfect but are great for self learners as other members can offer their support on the forums.

Edit: To find them look under articles and they are on the right, currently the courses are: Guide To Music Notation and Terminology, Guide To Counterpoint (Harmony and orchestration on the way )



Here is where we disagree . I think of what I'm writing for rather than what I want to say. My personal feelings are not important when a producer has asked me to score a cue. I believe that the function of the music is most important. (Be it film or concert music)



This is all about form and development. Studing scores can help alot here, developing and exploring thematic material improves with practice and keep a piece from straying.

Hope this helps

I don't entirely agree with all these points.

1. I certainly don't start out with 'architecture' - after I've written a bit, I might have some idea where it's going, but very rarely do I start by deciding a structure.

2. What you think needs pruning may be the bit which the listener loves. I would never do that without playing it to someone else.

3. & 4. I cannot understand this at all. The pieces which I've considered to be favourites, have done better than any other.

David

the way i started (piano) was to play a chord (triad) with the left hand and then play around thoes particular notes with the right hand-you soon come out with a decent melody.

I DID say 'Some bits of standard advice I try to give myself'. Some people might have to guard against things (tendency to ramble, self-indulgence, over-elaboration) that are no problem at all for you. I tried to answer the question and offered these ideas in all humility. But we are all different. What is your answer to the question, David?

I stand by the architecture first thing though. How long is the piece going to be? What is the dramatic profile? I don't see how one can write a cogent piece without knowing these things in advance. To start by "writing a bit and then seeing where it's going" sounds like noodling to me. But maybe that's just me.

MaestroX says
... and he is absolutely right of course. Sammy Cahn was asked, "Which comes first - the words or the music?" And he replied, "The phone call".

That is fine for an adept composer but the original poster seems to be starting out so best to write from the heart at first, noodle as they say with ideas, jot them down and let them float in your mind. The first few tries may get nowhere but then.....they might. Of course it's easier to manage something shorter so don't aim for a sonata! Just play with the ideas you have. If you are cut out for composing your skills will increase as you go. As Maestrox says, some knowledge of theory is useful and will speed things up. 4-part harmony is good even if you decide not to obey the rules. But you don't need this just to make a start.

Write for whatever reason you wish, now, and worry about what you are writing for as you go on. Don't ever delete anything - put it aside as you may want to take another look later!

Totally agree with Kai-Lei, never delete anything! You may come back to it and turn it into something worthwhile at a later date!

No no no no nooo...tunes first, structure second! Even if you have been given a target (e.g. 47 seconds to fit into a film scene) you should get all your ideas together first then work out the shape and decide what to include and what you could re-use elsewhere. You're just limiting yourself if you work on the structure first.

You generally don't have alot of room for structuring music in film writing, but for concert/recital music I'm afriad that I don't agree with: "tunes first, structure second". The two are both intertwinded. Melodies have an internal structure aswell as being put together to form phrases which then formulate the "bigger picture" structurally of the piece.

Just some food for thought