From Kindergarten onward, we’ve been programmed to picked: To be chosen for the playground kickball team. To get the SAT scores that’ll lead to a good college. To receive the grades that will get us into our major. To win the interview that’ll land a job. For almost the first three decades of our lives, […]
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Top 3 Reasons Composers Should Focus on Commissions
I know you WANT to get your music commissioned and performed. But, just like with the audience bell curve, it’s crucial to understand WHY if you’re going to make your maximal impact. “Because that’s just what composers do” is NOT a good enough reason to seek commissions and performances. Here are the three big reasons […]
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The Courage to Commit
A few days ago, composer Dan Forrest asked a great question in the American Choral Composers Forum: These are two great questions: How do you know you’ve found “a really beautiful and worthwhile musical idea” How do balance the “courage to commit to an idea that might be good” vs. “enough awareness” to abandon an […]
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Onions and Ogres—and Music
So what DO onions and music (and ogres) have in common? . . . Layers! Layers are the key component of “melody and accompaniment” textures I wrote about earlier this week. This week I’ve been thinking a lot about texture — the layers of activity in a passage of music and the relationships between these […]
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Five Tips for Writing a Good Piano Accompaniment
So you’re writing a piece with piano accompaniment. You’re probably wondering, “What do I do with the piano?” Many singers and non–keyboard-playing instrumentalists find it easy to come up with melodies, but when it comes times to create a keyboard accompaniment, they get stuck. Even pianists themselves sometimes might feel a little overwhelmed. Here are […]
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Farmers Beat Composers at this One Thing
If you’re like most composers, when you sit down at your desk or think about what you’re going to work on tomorrow, you probably think some variation of “It’s time to compose!” You may get a little more specific, like “I need to write this passage” or “that movement” or “this cue.” But generally that’s […]
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The Bell Curve Lies about Your Impact
As creators, whenever we share what matters to us, especially what we create, we feel vulnerable. Here’s a key principle that can help soften the blow. Whatever you share will receive a spectrum of responses — it’s a classic bell curve. This bell curve lies about the worth of your work. Or, rather, if you […]
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Own Your Voice: Workshop Replay (8/31/21)
In the above replay, we discuss: How Artistic Voice is bigger than “style” or “technique” The four parts of an Artistic Voice — “The Chorale of the Empowered Composer” Stories (the “Soprano”) Process (the “Alto”) Technique (the “Tenor”) Relationships (the “Bass”) The typical reasons composers do NOT own their voice, but rather hide . . […]
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