I’d had it with music. Composing was too hard, too frustrating. I couldn’t figure out how to get the sounds I heard into my head onto the paper. Worse—I wasn’t even sure if I should put those sounds to paper. So I became an editor. Or rather, I added the editing minor to my undergrad […]
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How Chess Captures the Essence of Why Composing Is Hard
When I was in elementary school, my siblings and I went to the chess club at our local library. (This was back when playing chess would make you a “nerd.” Or, at least, back when I might have cared about being called a nerd.) Chess club solidified my hazy idea of what all the pieces […]
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My Biggest Musical Embarrassment
I was mortified. I had been invited to conduct my Calvin and Hobbes–inspired piece, “Go Exploring,” during a reading session of a visiting ensemble. The musicians were struggling with the music I had written in general and with a certain 7/8 bar in particular. They had been rehearsing the piece without a conductor, and then […]
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Have You Fallen into the “Technique Trap”?
As musicians, we learn a lot of technique in school. It’s what we’re graded on. It’s often what we value in others or ourselves. It can be easy to think that technique is the be-all, end-all. At the very least, focusing on technique feels comfortable. It’s what we’re used to. It feels like something we […]
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Are You Hiding Beneath “Better”?
Some musicians constantly buy new gear, because they think it’ll make them a better musician. Others constantly try to develop new skills, because they think theirs are not good enough. And it’s true. Yours could probably use some growth. Yet new gear and improved skills are just a security blanket. Every day— Someone who orchestrates […]
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How Learning To Cook Is Like Composing Music
I love to cook. My favorite part is chopping vegetables and inhaling their aroma as they sauté on the stove. When I was younger, and when I want to try something new, I would follow recipes. Often, though, I simply mix together and season what I have on hand. I can do this because I’ve […]
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Have You Ever Had “Right Note” Syndrome?
As composers, we all know that ideas, technique, and process are inseparable:Ideas are the specific musical gestures we imagine.Technique is what we have internalized—physically, aurally, and theoretically—about music in general.Process is how we use that technique to bring our ideas to life.When these three align, composing is a joy.When they’re not, it sucks. And, stuck, […]
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Why Should Anyone Care about Tonality?
Tonality is a musicological debate about style disguised as a theoretical debate about pitch organization. Whether it’s Schenker’s arrogant, narrow nationalism or Tymoczko’s generous, imaginative catholicism, the debate around what defines “tonality” is, at its core, a question of repertoire. No one would argue that the music of Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms is not tonal. […]
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Why, yes, even today I can write!
As I explained in my last post, when you say “I can’t write music today,” you’re probably not referring to an ability, but to an outcome or aspiration. And you’re probably correct. As BJ Fogg explains, “you can only achieve aspirations and outcomes over time if you execute the right specific behaviors.” So, you probably […]
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Well, maybe I can write today…
Composing is not magic. It is a behavior. More specifically, composing is a collection of actions and behaviors—improvising, sketching, notating, revising, etc.—that may lead to a deliverable outcome—a printed score, a live performance, a mastered track, etc. Beneath these behaviors lie deeper motivations. Some people compose to make money. Others compose to have fun. Or […]
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