YOUR QUESTION:

09/22/2019 20:56:39

Hi Trevor! I'm really happy you are taking questions again but a little sad you took down the old ones (or maybe I just can't find them).
This is an advice/wisdom question. I'm an improviser. I've occasionally written tunes which feel like they write themselves and often come out of weird emotions. Now I'm in music school and being asked to write _compositions_. I want to be able to do this, but I find it incredibly hard and painful. At every point it feels like I have to make really hard decisions (what now?) and I come up with things that are probably worse than if I just improvised. I've wasted days writing snippets, hating them and scrapping them.
I like doing harmony and counterpoint exercises and studying classical works. I like improvising things that sound like they have form. I've had fun arranging my tunes before.
You're really good at composing a lot of different things, so I thought maybe you'd have some advice.
Thanks a lot for doing this,
a fan of yours

MY ANSWER:

I did indeed delete all the old Q&As; just felt it was time to start afresh.

Firstly, consider that composition and improvisation are really just the same thing placed over different time spans. It’s entirely possible for you to record yourself improvising and then notate it. You can even iron out the bits that didn’t work or “rewrite” things to go the way you’d wished the improv had gone. Viola! Composition. Perhaps think of improvisation as a conversation whereas a composition is a story that is developed over several drafts. Those weird tunes you’ve written are compositions. It’s possible you are being asked to be more specific with your writing. That’s the blessing/curse of composing, it is both authoritative and ego-centric and depending on your personality those might be difficult traits to handle. Think of it as a psychological challenge. What are your favorite pieces of music and how can you achieve what those pieces achieved? I’m not talking about harmony or form. I’m talking about the spiritual structure; the conviction; the emotional language; the blood behind the music. Try to find that.