Manuscript paper a better composition tool

I did some composing tonight after a five day break. I have been spending a lot of time with family dealing with the death of my pop. It is the first time something tragic has brought my mum's side of the family together and in a way we are lucky for that. My pop was an amazing man and was very proud of his family. We had such a good relationship and though that makes this a very difficult time, it also reaffirms faith and hope for myself and others in the future. This amazing urge towards perseverance has been brilliantly demonstrated to me by my family during this time and I feel like I have gained courage just from learning more about them and their history. My aunty, Helen O'Keefe Crehan has created an amazing DVD tribute for the funeral tomorrow. I strongly believe that being constructive and creative during difficult times is important and takes courage. Expressing yourself takes courage, but it is so worth it because it strengthens your connection with other people. She also created a DVD for nanna and pop's 60th wedding anniversary that can be viewed on youtube if you are interested in learning some of the history.

I decided to stop composing on the computer and get the pencil and paper out for tonight's session. During the 40 mins I copied down the first bar of a new section from the computer screen and composed the second bar! I think I will get quicker at it over time. My biggest problem with Finale was that I would be too tempted to guess what notes could come next, rather than think them through. It can do so much for your musicianship to use your instrument, voice and handwriting as the composing tools.