As a composer, how do you work?
I tend to focus on the melody first. Sometimes I will write with my saxophone by recording ideas on my phone and build the composition from there. Sometimes I will write the whole thing at the piano.
Most of the process will happen at the piano. Once I have a strong idea of where the melody is going I will do everything else at the piano. The harmony, arrangement etc. I find the tunes that I am happiest with come through very quickly sometimes in one sitting.
I find it hard to be inspired to write all of the time so another exercise I find helpful will be to focus on a particular musician who’s compositions I’m into and try to replicate what it is I like about their style in my own composition. Most of the time you end up with something that sounds nothing like what you have been listening to but its a great starting point for growing your own set of music.
Also using composition to improve areas of your musicianship you are working on. Maybe you are getting to grips with a certain time signature or a specific mode of harmony. Incorporating these things into your writing will really help in getting more fluent in these areas.
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