Reddit Reddit reviews Composing Music: A New Approach

We found 13 Reddit comments about Composing Music: A New Approach. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Composing Music: A New Approach
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13 Reddit comments about Composing Music: A New Approach:

u/jdwmusic · 11 pointsr/musictheory

Here's a couple that I've found useful:

u/HashPram · 3 pointsr/composer

"Composing Music: A New Approach" by William Russo is pretty good. I've been working through it for a few months now as I get time. It's aimed more at people with moderate musical experience than experienced composers but it deals with minimalism, cells, rows, a freer approach to harmony (than Classical harmony), picture music and so on. It approaches each topic mainly by setting you composition exercises - short pieces mainly - with a little bit of explanation, so if you're after something that's heavy on theory this won't be for you.

u/natetet · 2 pointsr/composertalk

Yup. I started with improvised music and found a group of people to play with. From there I just started taking private lessons for 3 years. My teacher didn't quite tell me what to do, but he would direct me to information on techniques and examples to study.

I feel like I recommend these books on here every week, but you should check out:

u/schwibbity · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

If you're talking about orchestral composition at all, you'll need to know quite a bit about instrumentation and orchestration as well. Alfred Blatter has an excellent book on that. As for composition in general, you'll need to read up a bit on music theory, if you're not already familiar with it. This is the book I used in college; it has a variety of composition exercises with various restrictions, and is a great place to start.

u/Andytenberg · 2 pointsr/WeAreTheMusicMakers
  1. Composing Muisc: A New Approach - One of two books I use with all of my students interested in composing/songwriting. Although I use it as a teacher, it is easy to digest in self-study.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226732169/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


  2. The Jazz Language - Whether or not you are looking to compose "proper" jazz, I've found that the jazz idiom is very useful in modern compositions (videogame, tv, radio, etc). This is not to replace studying the classical masters, but to give a musical foundation for how music works. It is also formatted for self-study.

    https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Language-Theory-Composition-Improvisation-ebook/dp/B004L9MG2Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484766792&sr=1-1&keywords=jazz+language
u/groovestrument · 1 pointr/WeAreTheMusicMakers

You're looking for a book on the basics of composition.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226732169/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The title says "A New Approach", but since the book was penned in 1988, you can hardly call it new anymore. Anyways, it's a pretty standard book on guiding you through the composition process. I used it back in the day, and I have all of my comp students use it.

Step one is to work through this book - it's got a lot of great practical exercises and tasks. Step two is to deconstruct some of the compositions that you enjoy (it's more fun that way), and try and notice the tools that they use to get the effects that you like. For example, if you like the way a particular bridge leads to the finale, find out why you like it! It is the instrumentation, the harmony, key change, etc? Figure it out, and then add it to your composition tool box. The last step is to deconstruct music that you know is profound/revolutionary, but that you don't necessarily enjoy. You'll still find some useful composition and arrangement techniques.

All while you are doing the above, constantly compose your own stuff. It doesn't have to be good, but it has to be something.

u/adamnemecek · 1 pointr/edmproduction

This book is all about applying this concept to music composition if that's what you are looking for.

http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-A-New-Approach/dp/0226732169

u/Xenoceratops · 1 pointr/musictheory

Composing does not have to happen in a step-by-step order, and everybody is different. I recommend that you start by imitating pieces that you like. You probably won't get something individualistic or original out of this practice, but it is a good way to get your composition legs. It has been said that composition is the art of limitation. Give yourself parameters to go off of. "ABA form, start with a C minor triad, end with an F augmented triad, and don't use any other triads in between" is a lot more to go off of than nothing at all.

There are books and such too, but they are certainly not necessary. http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-A-New-Approach/dp/0226732169

It is more important that you take inspiration from the world around you and transmute your intellectual observations into musical objects.

u/bloozman5 · 1 pointr/musictheory

Get a copy of this book. It helped me immensely with writing melodies and a lot of other things

u/amphibian87 · 1 pointr/musictheory

William Russo's "Composing Music a New Approach" answers your question very well. Basically the author presents a rudimentary ensemble that can be thought of as a game, with certain rules.

In Chapter 12, titled "Imitation: A Useful Game," he identifies 7 rules and shows examples. Basically one player introduces a "simple figuration of one or two measures," then the next player player either imitates the first figure or introduces their unique figure. Each player is only allowed 1 unique figure, they can rest at any time, and they can imitate at any time (and not necessarily consecutively).

The examples explain it better than the text, but this "game" is basically a band. This helps with the rhythm and melody aspect, while the harmony and structure would probably benefit from a composition or thematic approach.

u/Jongtr · 1 pointr/musictheory

> alternate chords

You mean altered chords?

> It also taught me the modes of a harmonic minor scale, but it never taught why I would need to know them, and when I'm going to have to use them

You don't, essentially. Unless maybe you're playing flamenco or similar folk music. In western music (classical and jazz anyway), harmonic minor is not really a scale, it's the practice of raising the 7th scale degree to give a major V chord in a minor key. It implies a scale, but really that scale only applies to the V chord (which you could say was the 5th mode of the scale, but it's really just the scale of the key with a raised 7th).

You do need to know harmonic minor (as you do major and melodic minor), but its modes are not much use. Modes of major and melodic minor are more useful but, again, their usage is rarely well explained. Jazz improvisation is really not about scales - any more than speech is about the alphabet. ;-)

> Are there books that do teach those kinds of stuff for composing jazz?

There are books on jazz composition, yes. I haven't read them myself, though, so can only google them like you can. Such as [this] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Composition-Practice-Ted-Pease/dp/0876390017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543314154&sr=8-1), or [this] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Music-New-Approach-Russo/dp/0226732169/ref=pd_sim_14_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0226732169&pd_rd_r=5e885315-f22e-11e8-a01b-4d1de731c45e&pd_rd_w=HMCnI&pd_rd_wg=fE146&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=1e3b4162-429b-4ea8-80b8-75d978d3d89e&pf_rd_r=F33VW4NRKC43YC7EBNWZ&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=F33VW4NRKC43YC7EBNWZ).
I do have [this one] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Jazz-Orchestra-William-Russo/dp/0226732096/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543314404&sr=1-1) by Russo, but it isn't about composing at all: it's just a neat little book on arranging. Has some very useful tips on chord types, cadences, jazz harmony and voicing - and recommended for that reason - but nothing on producing original material. The assumed genre is the kind of key-based (functional) harmony you hear in big band jazz.

Likewise there are a few books on jazz theory - some controversial, all interesting, but maybe not that useful for composing.

Otherwise, I'd echo what 65TwinReverbRI says: study the kind of jazz you want to write. Listen and copy. If that's too hard (and it may well be!) get sheet music, Real Books, etc. Copy the sounds you like, put them together your way. In a nutshell, that's how all composers in any genre work.

u/gopher9 · 1 pointr/musictheory

As an amateur composer, I can recommend this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Music-New-Approach-Russo/dp/0226732169

This book will guide you from very basics.

u/sanganeer · 1 pointr/piano

If you are already comfortable with reading and playing simple material on the piano with good technique, etc. You might start with the second book in a series--Bastien's, Alfred's, John Thompsons, etc. But honestly it'd be good review if you're just coming back to it to start with the first book in a series to improve your fundamentals.

If you're not interested in learning to read music for piano much, I can't really think of a book that works with that. Maybe this book. You might just try putting together chord progressions using music theory and ultimateguitar.com. Just chords and a bass note to begin. Fancy stuff later.