I Am Jon
I am guy that just enjoys composing and teaching. I have always had a passion for music, even when I was a kid, and I hope to make composing a bigger part of my life from now on.
My Story
I was born in Southern California and lived there till I was 11. My musical career also started there, when I joined my school band and started playing trumpet, after being inspired by the Theme to Jurassic Park.
South Africa
In 1996, my family moved to Durban, South Africa. It was a great experience. I joined the
Kwa-zulu Natal Youth Wind Band and finally got a trumpet teacher (who was appalled that I couldn’t read music yet). I got better and better, and started branching out a little more on my own. This is when I wrote my first few compositions around the age of 12. They’re not great (I don’t think Mozart would be jealous), but at least it got me started. My Dad also taught me to play guitar.
Below are the first three pieces I ever wrote, using a DOS program called IT Tracker. Be gentle, I was 12.
England
In 2000, we moved to Guildford, England, where I continued to compose and play. I learned piano, which really helped, and started to really get into jazz music. This was a major help for understanding harmony. My composing was getting better, but still needed a lot of work. This also started what I call my “precocious annoying child” phase. I thought I was better than I really was.
South Carolina
After high school in England, I was accepted into Furman University as a music major as well as ROTC cadet. I loved music. In particular, I loved theory and composition. But an issue arose between music and ROTC. At the time, ROTC was paying the bill for college, and was going to be my job after college, so to make a long story short, I switched to history as a major.
10 Years Later
It’s now been 10 years since I started college. I’ve learned to fly helicopters, went to Iraq
for 15 months, got shot at, lived in 3 other states, learned to play the drums and saxophone, got married, had a kid, bought a house, got two dogs and a cat… but haven’t composed much at all.
The Realization
Early in 2011, I had an urge to write a jazz tune, but instead of making an excuse, I just sat down and did it. And it was great. I loved the process and I loved the song. I posted it online, and others liked it as well. So I began thinking, “Maybe I need to do this more.” And here I am today.
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Free Composing Course
Let me take you step by step, from writing your first notes to composing your first complete classical piece. Along the way, learn about melody, harmony, and musical form.
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Jon
I love your story about composition and music. It is a hard path and has some of the solitary time and discipline you’d find in the military – that is IF you want to excel at music performance and/or composition. I am surprised you never thought of going into the United States Band Corp (I believe that is the area where they hire musicians). They accept people until the age of 39 and I know of a conductor of a community orchestra where I live in Queens who got into that division of the armed serves to continue as a conductor.
Appreciate your comment on my blog about Bach. You are correct that one of my points was that every composer is a beginner at some point. But also t we stand upon the shoulders of many , many fine musicians and composers too who should be acknowledged and celebrated for their own contributions – not everyone can be a Bach, but Bach needed Bohms and Buxtehude to achieve as high as he did. What can make our music stand out is how we assimilate the past with our own life – both in and outside music.
Keep at it and find good composition mentors to listen to your music. Feel free to email me one of your finished pieces once in awhile.
Chris Sahar
Chris
I appreciate the comment. When I was in high school in England, I actually thought about going into the Army as a conducter. That was also my plan when I started college. But the Army has a way of “changing” your plans.
I am in the process of relearning things, and I am up for any critiques of my work. You can take a listen on musescore.com, the username is artofcomposing. I’ll put up a page with all of my compositions soon, so they are easy to get to and leave comments.