At some point, everyone goes through rough patches artistically and emotionally. I've had creative problems such as writer’s block, feeling unworthy of putting out my own creations. The best way …
Why Art of Composing Exists: To Make Better Composers
When I sit down to think about why Art of Composing exists, the initial thought is To Make Better Composers. This on the surface feels like it’s generally in the right direction, but it’s also very …
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The Science of Becoming a Better Composer
If you want to grow, you need to start measuring. This has been at the back of mind for a while now. For the last 6 months, I’ve been deep into the art of learning… analytics and data science of …
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Build Your Craft: Learn the Melody and Chord Progression in Mozart’s Lacrimosa
Why Learn the Melody and Chord Progression? One of the best ways to master composition is to memorize the musical meaning of a passage, and be able to use it in a different way. Memorization, …
Feeling Stuck Composing? You’re Probably Not Defining Creative Problems.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to really push myself as a composer scoring a new Soap Opera called Hilton Head Island. What has been both refreshing and eye opening is the amount of …
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How to Spot a Film
In this article, you'll learn my philosophy on spotting a film. I'll also cover some of the tools, techniques, and tricks that I use to get the most out of the spotting experience. If your new to film …
Everyone’s Doing It, No One Talks About It: Sketching Music
Sketching Music: Stage Two of the Composing Process Sketching music is something that every composer must do at some point in the process of composing. The problem is, there seems to be very little …
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Failing Before You Start: The Pre-Composition Stage
Pre-composition: Stage One of the Composing Process Composing is a messy process. I wish it weren’t, but it is. And so, we have to be flexible in how we approach it. With that being said, there …
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The Universal Mind of Bill Evans: A Valuable Guide For Learning Musical Composition
Jazz musicians can teach composers a thing or two. Especially highly accomplished jazz musicians, such as Bill Evans. In this article, we take a deep dive into the universal mind of Bill Evans. We’ll …
Learning to Code vs Learning Music Composition
Part of the difficulty in teaching composition, is that once you become good at composition, you start to lose touch with the learning process. I have always strove to teach from the view point of …
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Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation and Composing Music
Sometimes, you just don’t have the motivation to compose. Why? Deep down, you know you want to compose, but you can’t pull yourself away from the latest binge on Netflix. In this article, I'll dig …
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The Art of Counterpoint Part 3: On the Musical Education of a Child Prodigy
I often think about what it takes to truly master the subject of composition. It can be frustrating from the standpoint of student, finding yourself writing pieces that you have written before… just …
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Unbuttoned Trust: The Collaboration of John Williams and Steven Spielberg
Film composers and directors always have a unique relationship in the movie making process. "The music" tends to be somewhat mysterious to most people, and yet, it is also something that everyone has …
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Counterpoint Part 2: The Art of Counterpoint
So where to begin the study of counterpoint? This is a dilemma that I have faced in the past, and for the most part, has been the biggest stumbling block. In this post, we will examine how Bach …
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Counterpoint Part 1: Because Counterpoint.
I've often taken a survey of my own compositional capabilities, and come to the conclusion I have one truly great weakness. That weakness: Counterpoint. I Can Do Some Counterpoint I am like many …
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