What is it about some music that makes a person's heart stir? I swear, from my own experience, that some pieces of music give me goose bumps, bring tears to my eyes, and take my breath away. Why is it that music can enter our very souls with such ease and magnificent power?
I adore music. I always have and assuredly always shall. I love to sing and play instruments. One day, I hope to be able to compose my own works of music. How amazing it would be to portray the whole spectrum of emotion through the perfect usage of melodies, motifs, key signatures, cadences, dynamics, and similar devices.
I have started several pieces and am planning on completing (or at least furthering my efforts) on each, throughout the rest of the summer. Any advice for an experimenting musician?
6 comments:
I'm a bit rusty myself (it's been years since I last composed anything), but I'd recommend composing away from your instrument, or at least at first. For me, at any rate, sitting at the piano means my fingers do the composing instead of my heart, and while my fingers can make music, they almost always fall into the same, familiar patterns. And so my music is mechanical and repetitive (in all the bad ways :)). I've noticed that when I "compose" in the shower, singing in my head and hearing the orchestration, I come up with much better music. If only I had a tape recorder jack in my brain... :)
Other than that, I'd recommend sitting down and really analyzing some of the music you'd like to emulate. (And it's okay to emulate.) Take it apart and see what makes it sing. You'll learn a lot of technique which will prove invaluable, and you'll also subconsciously learn the ins and outs of composition straight from the masters. I need to do this myself. :)
Ben,
Thanks for the comment! Your musical advice is greatly appreciated. I'd like to hear what you have composed (even if such compositions have been stashed away in the dusty archives).
Why did you stop writing music? Wait... never mind. From all that Ryan has said and all that I've read on your blog page, you sound like a very busy fellow. With everything you are interested in, I can imagine that it is difficult to find the time to fit everything in.
I suppose, I can be the same way. Sometimes, I wish there were more hours in a day and that I didn't have to "waist time" by taking care of the basic necessities of life (food, sleep, basic hygiene). As much as I enjoy a good meal, a nice snooze, and the feeling of cleanliness-- keeping up with it all takes a lot of effort and time. There is so much to learn and to do, in life! I am ever thankful for the knowledge of eternity. Without it, I'd go insane-- doomed to die a starved, exhausted, and diseasedly dirty young (that's right... my negligence in an attempt to finish, learn, and do all wouldn't even allow me the experience of living to be considered old) woman.
Then again, a lack of the gospel (or any religion, in general) might have influenced me to be a completely apathetic individual. Wow, that is quite a depressing thought... :(
~Anywho~
I am working on composing away form my piano and violin, as you suggested. It has been fun to experiment and guess what? Doing so has procured fascinating results. I only wish that I could somehow rig my shower head into being a recording microphone! My memory seems to falter and, as soon as I am allowed a moment to write down any notation, the description of any melody concocted goes form amazing to so so (if even that). I am sure that with practice, my memory will adjust. I am pretty good at memorizing pieces of music that have been composed by others, but when it comes to remembering my own unwritten musical ideas.... sigh... simply stated: I have work to do.
I like to write music of a more classical genre, when I am in front of the piano, but I have found that show tunes are on the tip of my tongue, when it comes to singin' in the shower. It is a style I hadn't even thought of using, and yet I have a feeling that it will be a bundle of fun to mess around with.
I have been trying to analyze some of the music that I've performed and/or am planning on performing. It is amazing how much a person can learn from simply picking out patterns, key changes, chord progressions, and etc.. Like you mentioned, the masters learned to pick and prod at what had already been created. J.S. Bach, himself, would stay up, late at night, to copy and analyze music (note for note + by candle light). Because of this, he learned the many techniques and forms (i.e.: polyphony) used by the great men who lived before his time. It is all so inspiring, isn't it?!?!
Well, wish me luck and thanks again! :)
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Brook, here is a fun game to help you break the mold and compose. Make copies of your favorite music and sort them by key signature then by time signature. Next draw a colored line below the staff to indicate the bottom of the staff. Take all the music in a sorted stack and cut it up into measures. Put the pieces in a container and draw them out one at a time and place them on a board that has a light coat of artist’s spray mount on it. (If this is a party activity, have the person who drew the measure hum or sing it.) You now have a raw composition that will work because it is in the same key and time signature. Play the piece through. Can you find a melody or interesting motif? Build on that with variations on a theme. It is fun, it’s simple and you’ll find that your silly symphony will help you break the mold and become a better composer.
Janet:
Thanks for such a fun idea! I'll have to try that, sometime. :)
When I compose, I can find with my fingers what the heart wants. By the time I want to write it down, my heart can't stand the slow process of writing and I want to give up. I do not give up. I teach my heart to have more patience. My heart do not forgives if I loose it's thought. It might never repeat it again. It teaches me to be quick and consistent. What a fight!
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