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Episode 2 of the Art of Composing Podcast. In this episode, I talk about my music composition process. The goal here is not to have something complicated and strange, but to layout how I structure my composing sessions.
What is in this episode:
- What is the process of composing music? Hint – it’s actually pretty obvious.
- What I do to prepare myself mentally for composing.
- Learn about zero-friction composing, and how it can benefit you.
- Listen, as I compose an entire piece of music, live on the podcast.
- See the complete piece below.
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Below is the piece that I wrote for the episode.
Podcast Prelude No. 1
Podcast Predule No 1 – Full Score
my age is 68 … can i learn composing?
if wake up at 3:00 . what timing do you sleep at?
When I am getting up this early, I generally go to bed early, but my schedule tends to change frequently.
Yes, it’s never too late. But it will take time and effort.
I have done my grade 5 music theory and practical (guitar) and got pass for both, I am now preparing for grade 8 for both theory & practical the same instrument, I don’t worry practical for I can sightread without problems and follow all performance directions, BUT my worries are with theory, please help me out there what I should do to be confident in theory grade, I look at many things in the syllabus as new things especially *Composition*
I took my grade 5 music theory test in high school, but I remember thinking at the time, the material was relatively basic. It seems like grade 8 may have you do 4-part chorale writing, figured bass, pretty much college level stuff. Are you using ABRSM? https://us.abrsm.org/en/our-exams/music-theory-exams/music-theory-grade-8/
How long do you have to learn this material before the exam? If you have several months, then there is plenty of time to get a study guide for the exam and start going through the criteria testing your current abilities. That gives you a bench mark, and clear goals for the exam.
Always be working on your ear, and your ability to hear the theory. That is the key because often you may not be sure of a specific technique, but your ear can lead you through it.
Transcribe music by ear as well. I like the app https://anytune.us/
I need to know more though to give you better direction.
I can not get information about the Composing 101 course from your website. The ‘Academy’ link doesn’t seem to work. The following message appears:
The connection was reset
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
But I have no trouble navigating through the rest of the site. I’d like to know the price (and details) of the course(s).
Willie,
I checked and the links appear to be working going to the academy. The link is https://academy.artofcomposing.com/.
It could be an issue with your internet connection, but I have had no one else say they haven’t been able to access, and it is working on my end.
The product page for music composition 101 is here.
https://academy.artofcomposing.com/product/music-composition-101/
Sounds a bit familiar…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmvAd0W6frI
Hi Jon,
Thanks for all your hard work. I’ve found the basic course and the podcast very helpful. I play classical guitar and I’m always coming up with ideas for melody. However, most of the time there very short. I’ve managed to finish a few pieces, but I struggle with two things. 1. Making a piece at least 2 minutes long. 2. Accompaniment. I’d like to hear some podcast on these. Thanks.
Paul,
Thanks for the feedback. I will definitely do a podcast about those in the future. Glad you are enjoying the podcast. Christmas has been a crazy busy time for me, but as soon as things settle a little bit, I plan on recording some new podcasts.