Modern Instrumental Composition

Getting started. Coming up with the initial idea.

This can be the most mysterious and elusive phase, but, when you stumble upon something inspiring, it is almost magical! Your initial idea can be just about anything. A tiny melodic fragment, a rhythm, a groove, or even a word or visual. In this section I'll talk about the initial idea that I had for a few of my compositions.

Using standard or traditional elements to write new music

One great way to get started is to use common grooves or harmonies as a template to write your own composition. You can write a new melody over a common chord progression, for instance. You might write a rock tune with a Peruvian Lando groove. Or a funk tune with an afrobeat groove. The combinations are endless. I'll show some examples from various tunes and we'll talk about how to use it in your own way.

Techniques to developing an idea

Once you have an idea that inspires something in you how do you develop it? Sometimes you'll be fortunate enough that the ideas will just pour out of you and before you know it the composition will be finished. When that doesn't happen you can still get a great tune out of it with the help of some tips and tricks. In this section we'll talk about how you can use rhythmic displacement, reusing material, altering bass, chords, and/or melody, and a few others to help develop your ideas.

Documenting your composition

In this section we'll talk about the pros and cons of and when it's best to use a voice memo, DAW (logic, GarageBand, and, Protools, etc.), or notation (by hand, Sibelius, Musecore, etc.)

Finishing your composition. Editing, subtracting, and form

Once you have all your ideas fleshed out you may find you actually have too much material. In this section we'll talk about editing your ideas as well as letting go of ones that aren't serving the composition, even if you love them, in order to make it all feel like one concise, complete piece of music.

Writing for large vs small ensembles

What are the similarities? What are the differences? In this section we'll talk about arranging and how to expand your composition to include several instruments.

Your compositions

Everyone is encouraged to bring in a composition of their own. Complete or incomplete is OK. We'll talk about them in class and, if needed, I'll give some suggestions on things you can try for this, or a future composition of your own.