Composing Tips?

[karlhenning]

Greg, should we worry about a friend of ours who "desperately needs" a trip to Tokyo? ; )

[greg]

Greg, should we worry about a friend of ours who "desperately needs" a trip to Tokyo? ; )

Yeah, I don't think Saul would that interested in visiting there. 

This does not hold true at all, in my experience.  I play/sing (or others play/sing my music) to audiences several times through the course of the year.  In the first place, the audience is a composite of people with greatly varying musical experience & sophistication.  In the second, a solid majority of the audience have always responded positively — even when (in many instances) the response includes the phrase "I'm not sure I understood all of your music."  In the third, the critical component of the response is, far more frequently than not, respectful and interactive — never dismissive.

A nice thing that you have going is that you can play your own music at the recitals provided. Now, if you only wrote orchestral music-  !

[(poco) Sforzando]

First, I wouldn't concern yourself too much about competitions at this point. That contest you're aiming for is going to have entrants with far more experience and training than you, not to mention larger portfolios. It sounds right now as if you're just getting started, and orchestral work in particular is demanding as it obviously requires knowledge of each instrument and how they work together. If you set too high a goal for yourself, you have no chance of reaching it. Take small steps.

You say you're having trouble getting things written. You work for a half hour and then give up. I'd say you have to avoid the pitfalls of both being too hard on yourself and too easy on yourself. If you're too hard on yourself, you worry about everything you produce, and you can't let go and feel free; if you're too easy on yourself, you're either insufficiently self-critical or you avoid sitting down and getting any work done.

I would suggest telling yourself you are going to write music for maybe 45 minutes a day. No more, no less. It does not matter if you think it good or bad. It will look different in a day or two anyway. Once every few days, use your limit to look again at what you wrote. You may see unexpected possibilities with something you produced days ago. Or if not, it's only 45 minutes out of your day.

As for criticism, you do need it. It would be best if you could find a good teacher, but barring that, I wouldn't show your work to anyone and everyone just yet. Find a few people whose opinions you trust - people who will have useful ideas and won't let you off the hook, but who will treat you decently and with good humor too. The best criticism doesn't just find fault, but opens up new possibilities and lets you grow. But of course you have to be receptive to the criticism too. If you're defensive about it, or worse, you take the attitude that anybody who criticizes your work fails to recognize your genius and is attacking you merely out of spite and envy, then it's a lost cause.

See if that helps at all.

[Saul]

Yeah, I don't think Saul would that interested in visiting there. 

Yes, I'm not a fan of Sushi!

[greg]

First, I wouldn't concern yourself too much about competitions at this point. That contest you're aiming for is going to have entrants with far more experience and training than you, not to mention larger portfolios. It sounds right now as if you're just getting started, and orchestral work in particular is demanding as it obviously requires knowledge of each instrument and how they work together. If you set too high a goal for yourself, you have no chance of reaching it. Take small steps.

You say you're having trouble getting things written. You work for a half hour and then give up. I'd say you have to avoid the pitfalls of both being too hard on yourself and too easy on yourself. If you're too hard on yourself, you worry about everything you produce, and you can't let go and feel free; if you're too easy on yourself, you're either insufficiently self-critical or you avoid sitting down and getting any work done.

I would suggest telling yourself you are going to write music for maybe 45 minutes a day. No more, no less. It does not matter if you think it good or bad. It will look different in a day or two anyway. Once every few days, use your limit to look again at what you wrote. You may see unexpected possibilities with something you produced days ago. Or if not, it's only 45 minutes out of your day.

As for criticism, you do need it. It would be best if you could find a good teacher, but barring that, I wouldn't show your work to anyone and everyone just yet. Find a few people whose opinions you trust - people who will have useful ideas and won't let you off the hook, but who will treat you decently and with good humor too. The best criticism doesn't just find fault, but opens up new possibilities and lets you grow. But of course you have to be receptive to the criticism too. If you're defensive about it, or worse, you take the attitude that anybody who criticizes your work fails to recognize your genius and is attacking you merely out of spite and envy, then it's a lost cause.

See if that helps at all.

Cool, thanks.

[karlhenning]

All of Sforz's post is good, but most especially:

The best criticism doesn't just find fault, but opens up new possibilities and lets you grow. But of course you have to be receptive to the criticism too. If you're defensive about it, or worse, you take the attitude that anybody who criticizes your work fails to recognize your genius and is attacking you merely out of spite and envy, then it's a lost cause.

[greg]

Yeah, some people are lost causes because of this...