How a Composition Comes Together

     Many people ask me, " how does a composition come together?" How can you see an image or think an idea and morph it into a musical piece? I can't tell somebody how an idea comes together, the creative process varies from person to person. I can only give people tips and hope they find their own way of creating art, giving the reader a starting process. Maybe this writing can help the reader. I hope it does.

     I am a really big into philosophy, so we will begin with a question and try to think through it, hopefully this can set you off on the road to creativity. It is much more exciting than the yellow brick road. And the composition process is more enjoying than trying to map out a plot for a short story in you writing class. Ready? Here we go.

    I will begin by describing a scene to the reader....... There is a beautiful girl that is waltzing down the hall way at school, hair flowing elegantly back and forth, wearing green stockings that cover her legs. She is dressed in a fashionable skirt and the colors are very appealing to the eye. Her voice is very mild, calm and collective. When she speaks her tone seems to have a melody that is carried with it. Alright we are done. What do you think of when you see this creature of our imagination? We will think like a composer.

     I have only taken composition classes on the high school level, but almost all of my compositions begin with an image, idea, or an emotion that I try to describe. We can pull some juicy adjectives from the first sentence, and associate them with musical components. Beautiful and waltzing are mentioned in the first sentence. With this being said, since this girl is beautiful, lets pick out a key signature. We could, to demonstrate her beauty, write this composition in a major key. In converse, we could also write out a nice little melody in a minor key. Now, we are starting to get closer.

    Next, we have the word waltzing. I wonder- waltz - what shall we use. Ah! We should pick out a nice time signature, and since this beautiful girl is waltzing down the hall way I will choose to use a 3/4 or 6/8 time signature. Man, we are literally picking every little detail out and describing it musically. Composers, as we all know, are writers of musical sentences. Is music like literature? Maybe I have found what I will write my next blog about.

     Alright, maybe her green skirt makes you feel something that you can't explain in words. Well now explain it with sound. I will choose to use a nice catchy melody, maybe switch keys, and raise the dynamics putting emphasis on this green skirt. Ah! We are getting closer to having a complete idea.

    Thirdly, we will begin this section with a decrescendo, hoping to convey her mild calming voice. Also, we may go to the parallel minor. This could ultimately shift the overall mood of the piece. Could her voice do this? Absolutely it could. This could be the part where you really notice the diversity in this girl. With this being said, lets do this to convey just how unique and eloquent her voice really is.

     Finally, we will finish the piece with a nice turn back to the beginning. The structure may be a little insane, but I hope this short blog gets your mind pumping. To add to authenticity of the blog, I literally just free wrote this blog using the first ideas that popped in my head. Essentially I just took you through my actual thought process.  This analyzing always helps me, so remember to think like a composer. Try to describe images, ideas, or emotions with music.