Music Composition

In seven easy lessons

1. Good/Bad Music

Good music is music that does the most with the least material (develops things rather than constantly turning to interesting new material)

Bad music is music that does the least with the most (lots of good ideas that just get started and then move on).

Enjoy

2. Limit your resources

When anything is possible it’s almost impossible to choose what to do. Better to (even arbitrarily) choose limited resources (instruments, scales, chord types, etc.) for making it easier for clear choices.

3. Getting ideas

Greatest source I know of is the phone book. Randomly pick a phone number and then whistle the tune there. It will give you ideas.

4. Steal

Don’t borrow, but steal ideas that you like and make them yours. It’s how all art is actually made. By recombining ideas that we’ve heard and seen. Where else would we get them from?

5. Paper algorithms

Draw pictures that give you an idea of what a piece might sound like. Fit the telephone number idea into it. Make the picture algorithm is you wish.

You need not begin with the beginning then. We call it non-linear creation. Not in a line, but put together by creating things that we know will fit in the final work but not creating them in a straight timeline.

Enjoy

6. Sculpt don’t paint

Painting requires an empty canvas that for many is problematic. Begin by creating lots of materials without making judgments on any of it. You’re creating a large block of marble or wood;

Sculpt your piece from the results by decomposing. It’s much more fun to know you have more than enough materials to create your piece than having none at all and are waiting for previous inspiration (highly overrated).

Enjoy.

7. Structure

The long line. Making longer pieces make sense.

Enjoy.