Welcome to my blog

I have created this site in order to provide performers, listeners and composers with a description of a composer's experiences with the creative process. The posts will provide discussions of the inspirations, challenges, and successes of a composer from the inception of the piece to the culmination in performance. I will provide a link to where you can see and hear the works in progress. Comments and questions are always welcomed. They will not posted unless you grant me permission.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Checklist for Composers

I recently came across a blog post by Brandon Nelson on Thoughts Before Composing a Piece that can serve as an excellent checklist for composers, not only before composing, but also during the composition process, especially when one feels stuck. When one is composing, we often feel that something is not quite right but may have trouble pinpointing the problem. This is when I encourage my students to use the table of contents of my book, A Composer's Guide to Understanding Music as a point of reference and ask themselves "How is my use of _____?", where the blank is filled in with the subject of each chapter. Brandon Nelson's blog post is even more detailed than my table of contents, and serves as another way of reviewing or making decisions about composing.