We offer this in the lab, but have you considered that composing music is an art all on its own? This is a skill we try to train, by giving small parameters and allowing the student to choose what that looks like.
There are so many interesting things about musical composition. What is the beginning? We hear so much music every day but so many of us with a radio haven’t considered how much goes into the pieces we enjoy so much.
Restrictions, or limits that help define this piece of music, are tempo, time signature, key signature, and instrument(s) that may be playing.
Before you get to melody or harmony – that first note might be high or low, high or middle or low range, loud or soft, and it may change over time.
This will be the same process for following notes. Endless possibilities make beginnings easier than endings for most people. It might always sound different than what’s in your mind, but know that all of us face this problem. Inspiration may strike but it must be saved at inopportune times, and we still need to learn to finish those bits.
Musical theory allows a musician to connect melody, harmony, and form. Composition needs to be broken into pieces to be learned. At MTMS, we break composition down and theory so every student has this opportunity.
