Enjoy this little ditty. I arranged this back in college, and I always wanted to take it caroling. I once went caroling using a caroling book from the high school band. Needless to say, the …
Making a Living as a Composer
In today's modern world, composers are not the rock stars they used to be. At Beethoven's funeral, it was estimated that 20,000 people showed up. So this leaves the composers of today with fewer …
Beethoven Following My Lead
Well... maybe I am just following his. I stumbled across this little ditty on youtube. Is someone doing a little 30 minute composing session... I like to think so. http://youtu.be/FeRZokkMNy4 …
30 Minute Composition #7: Prelude in E Major
I wanted to write something a little bit faster and chromatic. I think it turned out pretty well. …
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Your Composing Does Not Equal Your Worth
I just wanted to take an opportunity to come out and say... you are not your compositions. Sometimes it may feel like you are. This can be when the composition turns out well, or especially when it …
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Comment from an Art of Composing Reader
I received this letter today from a reader of the blog named Wes Bain. It was meant to be a comment to an article I wrote entitled, "Composing Music by Hand vs Software", but. I found this to be very …
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30 Minute Composition #5: Prelude in Eb Major
In my last post, I talked about how I was going to get back into composing short pieces in 30 minutes or less. So here, I am putting my money where my mouth is. This was composed 10 December, in 29 …
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Key Signatures Make the Music
Have you ever thought about the effect of key signatures on your composing? Does it matter what key signature you compose in, or can you just transpose after the fact and thats that? Key Signatures …
Burnout, Forging Ahead and Jazz Composition
It has been a while since I wrote a post. The main reason being burnout. What's this you say! Burnout! But I thought you always had passion for composing classical music? Yes it is true. I have …
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Cool Videos About Improvising a Canon
I found these and thought they were pretty cool. Peter Schubert wrote a book on counterpoint, and after watching this, I decided to order it to give it a try. The book is Modal Counterpoint: …
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Voice Leading and Counterpoint
Voice leading is important. There is no doubt about it. But why? Why should we spend the time to become familiar with this seemingly unconnected side of theory? How many people have come out of …
Re-engaging Counterpoint – Once and For All
A New Beginning... Every once and a while, I sit back an try to examine who I am as a composer. Some of the questions I may ask myself are: Am I creating music that is meaningful? Will anyone …
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Gradus ad Parnassum Quote
I love the opening to the Gradus by Johann Fux. Josephus: I come to you, venerable master, in order to be introduced to the rules and principles of music. Aloysius: You want, then, to learn the …
Humility
This is taken from Mademoiselle, a book about Nadia Boulanger. She is actually quoting Henri Bergson. [tweetherder text="One looks for praise in the exact proportion that one is unsure of …
Identifying Creative Blockages
What is it that is getting in the way of your creativity? Is it something insurmountable, or is it really your bad habits and composing process? In this article, we are going to examine writer's …