ChucklesMginty

I only have the vaguest idea. But I want to begin studying 'classical' composition, I can't study at a college so I'm just going to have to teach myself.

I've studied up to Grade 5 theory (just about) and I can play a tiny bit of piano.

Now where on Earth do I begin?

Books, online courses? What kind of form or instrumentation is easy to start off with? Do you just start writing and improve from there, or get an idea of what you're doing first before you begin?

I can't afford Sibelius or anything fancy like that, this is a pen + paper and piano deal. Learning to read it and hear it in my head with audio reference.

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So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

Reagar

Listen to lots of music. I think that's more important than anything you can formally learn. Beethoven, Mozart and stuff. Try and work out why the greats are so great.

Weirdbag

get piano lessons

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Imagine Ends

Macabre_Turtle

Guitar Pro. It costs money (unless you're computer savy, arggh), but I owe my whole musicianship to it's creators.

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Full Album Guitar Pro Tab

Hail

he said classical composition you nuts

find a good university, get their composition class' books - should be easy to find. or scour your library and read everything you can.

or be enroll in a class at a junior college nearby (just enough to get an ID) and go apeshit on their library

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CelestialGuitar

I'm an orchestral composer and while programs like Sibelius are great for that, it's so much better to invest in some real orchestral plugins, such as EWQLs software, and compose in something like Reaper, as it's so satisfying to hear your piece come to life as you write it, and with a bit of mixing, it can be ready to be licensed out and sold almost as soon as it's done.

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ChucklesMginty

Doing that.

And that.


We don't really have anything like that around here, and I can't really afford any more classes.



I specifically don't want to use any software because I want to learn how to write straight to paper and do it all in my head. I've got no interest in producing anything.

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So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

jazz_rock_feel

Why? Will the music you write be better for having being written by hand? Does the music care?

I'm a huge advocate of lessons, as composition is a really difficult craft to learn on your own. If that's not possible, read Arnold Schoenberg's Fundamentals of Musical Composition. It will get you thinking a bit more like a composer and show you how composer's should look at and analyze music. Also, listen, listen, listen, listen, listen, and then listen again. I can give you some stuff to check out if you need some direction for listening. And don't just listen to Bach/Mozart/Beethoven/Brahms and call it a day, explore more music is both directions of time (renaissance and 20th century).

Other than that, begin composing. I like the idea of starting with chamber music for a couple of reasons 1) it's less daunting than writing for an orchestra and 2) you can't hide behind instrumentation and orchestration, your form and technique has to be dead on or the piece will suck.

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An Afternoon with Stravinsky: Analysis and Observations of the Symphony of Psalms

I finally updated my SoundCloud with more recent pieces. Check it.

ChucklesMginty

No, but I'd to learn to be able to hear music just by reading it. Plus not need a computer to write stuff down. Oh, and good notation software costs a fortune. Sibelius is like £450 right? Manuscript paper costs virtually nothing.



Thanks, that's all I was after!

__________________
So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

Nietsche

You can turn the sound off and there are free options like MuseScore for starting off with. I think manuscript paper and pencils is pretty good for scribbling down solutions to short excercises or short phrase ideas and I have a notebook for that purpose, but it's just a pain to go through and edit anything of substantial length with it if you mess up, which you probably will a lot to start with. I'd probably be reaching for notation software as soon as what I was writing started to look like it was going to be more than a single system long.

In terms of reading material, if you've done up to grade five, I've looked over ABRSM grade 6 with my Mum and that seems to be the level at which they begin to introduce basic concepts which will aid with composition like four part harmony. I'd look into getting Harmony in Practice by Anna Butterworth which is the reccomended accompanying text that's in the ABRSM grade six workbook. The Schoenberg book is great too.

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Xiaoxi

...no idea why everyone keeps advocating for technology. EastWest libraries are not going to teach you counterpoint or musical development. THESE are the basics, not which goddamn software to use.

Sons, I am disappoint

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Modes and scales are dumb and useless. Stop learning them. No, seriously.

Analyzing Brahms: Insights to Help Us Improve Our Music

Nelsean attempting to pronounce my name lol

I got Last.fm. Don't know why...

ChucklesMginty

Brahms needed no software, only cereal.

__________________
So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

Hail

wait you don't have a library where you live?

or the ability to google "GOOD MUSIC THEORY SCHOOLS" and look up their booklists for composition and theory then proceed to google thepiratebay amazon [bookname]?

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ChucklesMginty

None of them seem to give out their booklists.

__________________
So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

Hail

http://www.berkleepress.com/

http://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/...0901_books.html

http://music.indiana.edu/department...ces-links.shtml

not much, but that's literally from 2 minutes of google searching

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d1sturbed4eva

I heard good things about Twentieth-Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti from my music theory/composition professor.

Xiaoxi

I wouldn't read books. I haven't gotten anything useful out of books when it comes to writing music.

Just remember that music is a language. Not LIKE a language, IS a language. You don't read a book on how to write a novel. You read novels, digest them, think about them, and develop intuition/sensibilities/tastes into writing your own works. Same thing here with music.

Actively listen to the music until you can speak the language fluently. I don't read about Bach. I don't read about counterpoint or fugues. I listen to him to the point that I know his distinct idioms and tendencies. And from there on, you start to really know counterpoint and develop your own realizations of what all these things really are.

And also, you want to begin composing. Ok, why are you making a thread about it? There's no official certification that dictates when and when you can't start. You start NOW. I guarantee you after reading the 50th book on the subject of composition, you still won't have a clue what to do. The only way to learn is to do it.


That book is completely useless. Like, even more so than all the other ones mentioned.

__________________
Modes and scales are dumb and useless. Stop learning them. No, seriously.

Analyzing Brahms: Insights to Help Us Improve Our Music

Nelsean attempting to pronounce my name lol

I got Last.fm. Don't know why...

ChucklesMginty

I know what you're getting at. But what on Earth were you studying at college then?

__________________
So you want to write a fugue?

So you want to write a fugue?

You've got the urge to write a fugue

You've got the nerve to write a fugue

So you want to write a fugue?

Xiaoxi

I didn't read any book in college when it came to writing. And the ones I did read for more mechanical matters (like harmony, jazz chord scale theory, counterpoint, etc), I had to abandon their conceptualizations and turn to actual music instead to truly understand.

__________________
Modes and scales are dumb and useless. Stop learning them. No, seriously.

Analyzing Brahms: Insights to Help Us Improve Our Music

Nelsean attempting to pronounce my name lol

I got Last.fm. Don't know why...