Patience - Brain power will increase with time

I had my first piano lesson with Gail this afternoon. We worked through two pieces from the Suzuki piano school book: The Happy Farmer by Robert Schumann (the one with syncopations I was talking about) and Hungarian Folk Song by Bela Bartok. She told me that mature students should practice two pieces a week, as only practicing one usually leads them to become fed up with it. I found that most of my attention was focused on where I was putting my fingers and I was concerned that I was training myself to memorise finger positions rather than actually read and play the music. She told me she was pushing me pretty hard by getting me to play the pieces start to finish, and that this can be a real brain strain for beginners. I learnt the C major scale with both hands going in the same direction to have the thumb-under technique ready for when I start learning harder pieces.

I almost completely rewrote the bar of the Britten arrangement that I spent all of the last composing session on. I must have been deliberating over the guitar part last time, because when I looked at what I had for the string quartet tonight it looked rushed. I referred to the actual melody of At the mid hour of night (as I do when in need of inspiration) and new parts for the 1st and 2nd violin and viola grew from there. I am still unsure about the length of this phrase and the broader structure of the piece. This is in part due to the fact that I can't hear what all the parts I've written sound like together. For the time being I'm going to continue composing bar by bar on paper, because I feel that if I keep at it then I'll gradually develop the brain power to hear all the parts in my head. This is probably a good time for me to pull out a fantastic book called Hearing and Writing Music by Ron Gorow. It contains many exercises for developing the ability to hear music in your head.

Mahler 8 - Love as the creator

I spent 40 mins composing a single bar of the Britten arrangement tonight. The main difficulty I faced was in picking it up from where I left it last time - about three quarters of the way through a phrase. I'm never exactly sure where a phrase should end; most times I probably end them prematurely. This isn't a major concern though, as these composing sessions are about getting all the ideas down and evaluating them later. You have to work hard to gain a wealth of material, whilst not worrying too much about how it will be shaped into the finished product. In terms of obtaining a finished product, it is useful to have a deadline to work towards. At this stage, the Britten arrangement isn't established well enough in my mind for me to think about a deadline. Once I spend more time manipulating the initial motives and phrases, a broader structure or outline for the piece might start to materialise.

I experienced some more Mahler played by Vladamir Ashkenazy, Sydney Symphony and several choirs and soloists at the Opera House last night. It was Mahler's Eighth Symphony, which is renowned for the hundreds of singers and musicians required to perform it. The choral parts were the highlight for me. I was really impressed with the choirs' precision and control. From the softest to loudest dynamics, their tone was always consistent and clear. I also intend to write a review on this performance, so I'll save any elaboration on the actual content and my reaction to it until then.

Piano lessons, Robert Schumann and syncopation

When I first picked up the manuscript paper with the Benjamin Britten arrangement on it tonight I noticed that I had composed 2 new bars without Finale. I was so tempted to hear them that I got up and started walking towards the computer to program them in. After taking a few steps (roughly halfway along on the journey from lounge room to bedroom) I realised how mundane and time-consuming that was and sat back down with guitar, pencil and paper. Good move, because I ended up breaking the time limit commandment again by continuing to write after my 40 mins was up. At that point I had just started a new bar of guitar and already knew what I wanted. I didn't trust myself to remember it without writing it down.

I have been thinking a lot about the melodic line of each instrument and trying to have less movement over time. I think what I am doing is mainly homophonic because the guitar is involved and I like lots of chord changes, but the guitar is now getting closer to four-part harmony than the usual tugging on the neck with barre chords. I've also picked up a few new chords from playing Bach.

I'm starting piano lessons next week! This is something I've wanted to do for a while, but I only recently thought to ask a great piano player that I already know. I told her that I want to learn classical piano and that all I can do at the moment is play bass in the left hand and chords in the right. To get the whole two hand thing working we're going to start with scales and the pieces in the Suzuki books. I had a look at volume 2 earlier and the highlight was a piece by Schumann. His use of syncopation is instantly recognisable. They come out gentle and slippery compared to the more measured, jarring syncopations of Stravinsky. The staggered moments at the start of the Britten arrangement that I mentioned in my first post have been a constant source of inspiration for new material. I hope that my syncopations come out as a pleasant suprise when they are eventually played.

Mahler review and recount writing

I’m yet again faced with the trap of having too many ideas at once and not acting on any of them. It isn’t really a trap anymore, given that I know it’s there. Ugh, the internet is not coping with my mass video uploading, so this entry is being created offline. This I can cope with. Computer/internet power is a much lower priority than a more comfortable workspace. I’ve had plans for my workspace for a few months now. If I had gotten started on it sooner, it probably wouldn’t need as much work as it does now. There’s no video blog until I start looking a bit less sloppy.

I experienced a live orchestra for the first time last Thursday and again on Saturday. During both I witnessed Vladamir Ashkenazy and Sydney Symphony fully realise the tsunami pinnacle of Mahler’s First Symphony. I have been trying to write a review of these concerts over the last two nights, but words escape me. I have so many ideas about the concerts. Too many, you see. I want to write an essay, not a review. Maybe I’ll have the sense to just write about what happened when I pick up the pen again tomorrow.

Last night I wrote a recount of my visit to Wollongong’s shopping centre. This proved to be a good way to get material for songs and those other outlets for dark, private and depraved thoughts. I love hearing those kinds of thoughts that other people have, but I don’t trust any expressed through “becoming a fan” on Facebook. Even ironically becoming fans of things is getting old. C’mon guys, sign out and draw more attention to yourself.

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.

Finding flow in the songwriting process

I went well over 40 mins writing and rewriting the poem about my grandfather. The rewriting was on the stuff I'd come up with over the last couple of days. I decided to change it so that it featured more third person and the verse structure was simpler. I think I'm just about finished. I didn't expect to get to this stage tonight, but I got on a role and ended up doing about 80 mins worth of work. The key was to start with a vague concept of what each verse was going to be about and how they would colour the refrain: "there's always something to leave behind." Then, once I had established what the rhyming pattern was, it all poured out of me.

I decided to try and complete the last verse tomorrow. It will have a couple of extra lines to give emphasis to the twist on the refrain. In the first four verses, the refrain "...leave behind" refers to the inevitability of moving away from things in life, or being moved away from. In the last verse I want the refrain to refer to what you leave behind in death being the consolation.

I am not going to broadcast this poem over the internet or by any other means because it is written for a specific occasion and there are some things that should be kept as a one off. It is for my family, not for peer review. I just wanted to share my breakthrough regarding the actual writing process and am pleased to say that I will be writing words in addition to music more often. Put Pat Pattison's Writing Better Lyrics on your shopping list. It will show you a lot.

Heaven on Earth

The acoustic metal composed yesterday sounded dark and cold on the electrics at the Tetanus Rig jam this evening. The addition of Sally Wiggins' melodic drums got us fired up to try and write more as a group. What I said about the lack of confidence in material written on electrics wasn't an issue tonight, because all three of us seemed to be taking the sensible creative step of "let's keep moving and edit everything later." When there's a week between jam sessions, there can be a concern about not remembering how to play the stuff we worked so hard to come up with. I don't find this to be such a big deal when composing more regularly though, because I am just as content to be coming up with something else.

I wrote some more for the poem about my grandfather. It has distracted me from my folk song arrangement, but that can wait. I do have to stop myself from editing it as I go, because it is the difference between getting stuck on one line and writing five verses. I wasn't too worried about my clunky verses tonight as I know I can edit them later. I was just concerned that it might be too philosophical and self-indulgent. I decided to stop after 20 mins and put it away until tomorrow.

I was thinking about Christian heaven just before and wondered how well equipped a believer is for what happens before death? I know that Christianity has some worthwhile things to say about living with others on Earth, but that largely gets overshadowed by its answer to the BIG QUESTION. I would like to think that in the end life just slips away one loving memory at a time. That you could catch a whiff of every season and every object of your affection one last time before saying goodnight.

Acoustic metal and songwriting ideas

Songwriter's songwriter Nick Wilson and I had a much needed writing session on the acoustics this afternoon. I felt like we were challenging ourselves with the parts we were coming up with. I am looking forward to testing these out on the electrics at the Tetanus Rig jam tomorrow. The reason we prefer to write the guitar and bass parts acoustically is because it allows us to squeeze more musical arrangement out of a song's lyrics and melodies. Many times we have left a jam on the electrics unsure of the bogan riffs or arpeggiated chords that we have come up with. Anything that compromises the importance of structure or development over repetition will get junked.

Group writing and collaboration can also be a strange mix of the spontaneous and the deliberate. I often say that improvising in a group really exposes a musician's ability and breadth in listening. This is even more true for group composition because there is a higher level of mental engagement required. This is the essence of flow (which I mentioned in the previous post), where an individual's strengths are being used to overcome a challenging task. The sensation of losing track of time is one you often get from being in a state of flow [1]. Our writing session today suprisingly lasted roughly two hours.

Tonight I dedicated my 40 mins composing time to lyrics and it went better than I anticipated. I am trying to write a reflection of my grandfather's life and how much he means to all of his family. For a while I have had a vague idea of the verses describing different stages of life, where they all colour the refrain: "there's always something to leave behind" in different ways. I was happy with the ideas I came up with for two verses tonight, even though I didn't quite nail the word choices or the rhythm. One of the biggest things I've learnt is that it is important to get the ideas down first and then polish them later, rather than getting stuck and labouring over one line before giving up entirely [2].

I mentioned a couple of ideas that I must attribute to the following:

1. Sydney Psychologist Aleks Srbinoski's program Fulfilling Happiness (I composed the music in this program. Visit http://www.fulfillinghappiness.com/ and scroll down to the "Sample 1" link to hear some of it)
2. Pat Pattison's Writing Better Lyrics - http://www.patpattison.com/home/

Pitch lessons and Bach

I finally got to composing at around 10.30pm this evening, after returning from my first rehearsal with the Illawarra Choral Society for the year. We began hectic preparations for a performance of Bach's Jesu, Priceless Treasure and some of the chorales from his St. Matthew Passion. I also started learning some Bach pieces on classical guitar at my first lesson back this year. Why all this Bach? I see it as an important part of my musical education. What better way to learn about four-part harmony and the twelve-tone system than to analyse a Bach score? I haven't done any analysing yet, but already I am suprised with how my sight reading has improved from singing Bach tonight.

I have decided to dedicate 40 mins a day to composing. This might not seem like much, but if I didn't do this I would compose for 3 hours one day and none the next. Self-discipline has to take precedence over the delights and dangers of creative flow ("flow" is a psychological concept that is worth looking up). I didn't make much progress tonight. I got stuck on trying to work out the dynamics of one bar and when I finally got to composing the notes for the next one, my time was up and I had to force myself to stop.

I had some thoughts while listening to Mahler's 5th today. I wondered if his dramatic genius had something to do with his unique ability to synthesise vastly opposing themes and motives, so that the rivalry between them became the foundation for a movement. This could be an idea to keep in mind for both the overall structure of a piece and the orchestration from bar to bar; however, I don't think it works without having an advanced understanding of texture and detail. I have the feeling this ties in closely with visual arts as well.

Composition Diary

I have created this blog to document the thoughts and actions involved in creating my music. On the one hand, this is a feeble attempt at gaining self-discipline and on the other, a way to keep track of music composition techniques that I might usually take for granted. Hopefully this is a worthwhile resource for other musicians as well, particularly those who may be interested in performing my music or simply learning more about music composition.

During December last year I began working on an instrumental interpretation of At the mid hour of night, which I came to know through Benjamin Britten's version from Vol. 4 ('Moore's Irish Melodies') of his Folksong arrangements. The song is sung from the perspective of someone who is remembering and trying to recapture the experiences they shared with a lover who has passed. The mood of the music and the text is regretful, but contemplative. The persona finds solace in the midnight sky and in song (the respective subjects of the two verses), as these things allow him/her to still feel connected to their lover.

My arrangement is for two classical guitars and string quartet. The dynamics are always a major concerrn when writing for classical guitars, as their sound tends to get drowned out by most other orchestral instruments. Being a guitarist myself, I naturally want the guitars to be a prominent element of the work. In order to achieve the correct balance I have to use the string quartet sparingly, so that the guitars have a chance to seep through the cracks of the entire instrumental mass. When I say sparingly, I don't mean to turn any string players off this piece. Every instrument is important to me and the players should all get their turn in the spotlight. I have been searching through the scores of composers such as Mahler and Debussy in the hope that their amazing treatment of the string section might rub off on me. Maybe delicately is a better word than sparingly. I can work with that.

My starting point was at lifting the 9/8 time signature and Eb major key signature from Britten's arrangement. Since then I've just freely composed little bits here and there, only thinking about the actual melody when in need of some inspiration. My main focus has been on instrumental colour, rhythm and of course, dynamics. For the opening (see excerpt below), I tried to recreate the celestial mood of the first verse's text with the instruments. The second guitar plays harmonics, while the first guitar, viola and cello pluck around an Eb major chord. The rhythmic and dynamic changes in the first guitar part create the effect of a stumbling start to a waltz-like dance. In fact, I like the idea that the memory of this funny dance incident could be what takes the persona's mind back to their beloved.

Fig 1: Opening bars of At the mid hour of night arrangement