If you play piano, choose any five finger position, five notes. If I might suggest, don’t begin with c,d,e,f,g. Start with d,e,f,g,a or the five white keys up from e or f. Play with those trying to find melodies, harmonies, etc. that please YOU. You must please yourself first, if you try to please someone else you might as well let them write that music because it won't be your music. Make some of your pieces start and end on the same note some of them start and end on different notes. Use all of the notes of the five, for the last note in different pieces.
Watch out for repeating yourself, if you find a figure, rhythm, etc. that you keep coming back to, try to avoid it for a while. Write down those things you find that you really like, work on those. If you know what it means, watch out for 6/8 and 9/8 rhythms, getting into a lilt is alright on occasion but it’s a banality trap if you don’t watch out for it. Don’t be afraid to change meters either. Don’t be afraid to try anything because it’s too far out or too far in.
When you've had enough of those five notes, find another five notes with a different pattern of half and whole steps (different mode) or add another note to the five you had in the beginning. Proceed as above until you gradually add more notes.
Virgil Thomson advised composers with writers block to compose one piece of music a day. One whole piece a day. He said eventually you would find the music you wanted to keep. Improvising, remembering what you've improvised long enough to repeat it and get it closer to what you want, you can compose lots of pieces. Maybe you should record the sound of your stuff you like at this point instead of writing it down.
And if your instrument isn't piano, use what you have. If you don't have anything, get a plastic recorder that plays in tune and use that. Use recordings of second parts if you want harmony. Record one of your melodies you like and try to fit a second line to it. Don't worry about rules yet, you've got to find out what you like.
After you're tired of these five note melodies, expand to six notes, then seven, then more. Work those notes hard like you did the five.
When you're done with seven notes, you're probably ready to start writing stuff down and working that way, but never forget that the dots and lines on the page are just recording the sound of the music. The music is the sound, not the note names, not the rules in theory books. Theory books can help you expand and organize your ideas but they can't tell you how to write your music, you'll be continually violating some rule in some book to write the music you want to. No one followed those rules all the time, even the composers whose work the rules are based on. Keep up and expand your improvising, looking out for figures and patterns that you keep repeating, you don't want to get caught in that trap.
Update: When you start studying theory, I'd advise beginning with a beginning book that teaches you counterpoint or to play from thorough base. Jeppesen's Counterpoint and Schoenbergs, are some of the best for modal and major-minor counterpoint, respectively. Or, if you begin with harmony, Helen Keaney's book is a good way to start. It can help you concentrate on playing sounds instead of writing out harmonization on a base, which isn't very useful if you don't have the ear training to hear what you're writing down. If you play a guitar or other fretted, plucked instrument, there are books but I've never taught anyone how to improvise an accompaniment on one so I can't advise one. Here's a free online resource that seems to have some sound advice.
No comments:
Post a Comment