Composition Competition!

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Jen

You know how I’m always encouraging you to improvise and to try composing? I know some of you are reluctant to agree with me. And believe me, I get it! I spent a great deal of time telling myself all kinds of stuff:

I can’t do this

Even if I did do it, it would be garbage

No one will like it, not even my mother

But eventually I did start up and keep at it. And I’m still bashing away at making music for myself and for others. Do I suffer from comparisons? Of course! Do I still find every flaw? Obviously! And do I do it anyway? Darn tootin’!

So, I’m excited to pass along that the Scottish Harp Society of America just announced a tune writing competition to celebrate it’s 40^th Anniversary! It’s hard to believe that since 1982 SHSA has been around, encouraging people to play Scottish music on the harp. So, what an excellent way to celebrate than by adding to the music and sharing it with others?

The theme for the tune writing competition entry is “Celebrate SHSA!” The judges are all noted composers, arrangers and performers including Corrina Hewat, Jo Morrison, and Martha Hill. Entries should be a piece for solo harp (of course!). There are some rules and guidelines you should follow and you can find them on the SHSA Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/ScottishHarpSocietyofAmerica

Entries are due 1 November so there’s plenty of time to create something wonderful and perfect for the harp. And there’s a prize – $500 for the winning entry. So it’s worth reading the rules and getting started!

If you’ve not composed before (or if you’re feeling a little faint at the idea of writing a tune) here are some tips to help you get going:

1. Give yourself some quiet time – it’s hard to hear the music inside you if all around the outside you is noisy!

2. Give yourself some more quiet time – it’s hard to hear the music inside you if inside you is noisy!

3. Use your trusty recorder – just sit behind your harp and play the strings. Let your hands wander. If you hit on an idea you like, explore it. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes – there’s nothing there yet, so it can’t be wrong and it’s a “throw away” recording to be used only to capture ideas and then pitch out.

4. Be your own safe space – tell your inner critic/harridan to take five and give you a minute. Of course it’s not great yet – you’re just getting started! It will shape up as you develop it. And you don’t need that kind of negativity anyway!

5. Change things up – if you only come up with stuff you don’t like, change it. Change the key you’re in. Or change the mode. Or randomly set levers and see what you get.

6. Don’t forget to laugh – you’re meant to be having fun, so have some laughs (probably at your own expense, but so what).

7. Start over and over again. I can’t tell you how many ideas I have come up with that were just pointless. Or variations of the same great idea I had before. No worries, you’re endlessly creative, you just might not know it yet. Just start!

8. Be like a “real” writer (or composer). You’ve probably heard it said that everyone has a novel in them, but a real writer actually does the work to put it on paper! Don’t just think about it. Allocate some of your practice time each day to generating ideas (and capture them). Once you’ve got a little traction, you can put the ideas together to make a tune.

You have it in you! You can do it! And it’s wonderful to celebrate a momentous event like 40 years of shared love of Scottish harp music.

Are you going to give it a go? I’d love to hear about it – whether you enter the competition or not. Let me know – compose a comment!

Composition Challenge – Whew!

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Jen

You always amaze me!

Here we are at the end of the Composition Challenge – and WOW. Just WOW!

First, THANK YOU for all of you who sent compositions, a noodle, an idea. I am so gratified to be entrusted with your art.

For those that sent something but were not ready to share with the world, I encourage you to keep going! And eventually I’d further encourage you to share, share, share! It always amazes me how receptive people are to new music – but you won’t know if you don’t share and ask the question!

And, believe me — I know, that sometimes the deadline sneaks up on us and we are a little bit flat-footed. So if you’re not quite ready to share, but you will be in future – you keep working on it and let me know when you’re ready. I’ll be happy to share my platform with you!

I’d also like to remind you of one really important thing. Like playing, composing requires p-r-a-c-t-i-c-e! We have talked before about ways to get that practice in – improv, noodling, brute force. I guarantee that it gets easier with practice. It does. With practice it will feel less like you’re forcing it. Less like pulling teeth. Less like work. And with time and practice, it will feel more like joy. More like expression. More like breathing. Why yes, it might even begin to feel like music is literally oozing from your pores! But you have to let it.

Here are some of the amazing things some of you were willing to share. Some carefully composed (or carelessly composed!) and some noodling. Some a combination of the two.

The first is titled Noodling BADGE from Barb Costello –

Then we have Sue Richards Herself, using the technique Sue shared and I posted last week –

Then we have Ca’ the Meows – a playful take on a classic –

and our last share this week is from me, Dimitri’s Revenge, from my deep and abiding love of Shostakovitch but in a mock Celtoid style –

Be sure to give these pieces a listen and a play through. And PLEASE – leave comments – be lavish with your praise for the music and the sharing (and frankly the bravery!) of the people who contributed. I know all who shared will enjoy your feedback and encouragement. And remember, if you do take these pieces on and begin to play them for others – attribute the work. A little acknowledgement is nice to receive and a little respect is well deserved!

*All rights held by the composers and shared with permission. Please give credit where it is due!

** If you particularly like one of these and have a hard time getting it downloaded, let me know and I’ll think of a solution!

Composition Seeds

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Jen

Next week we’ll be sharing our compositions – so exciting!

How’s yours coming along? Some of you have sent me delightful peeks at what you’re working on. Some of you are already done.

What’s that? You haven’t started? You don’t think you can do this? You have no idea how to get started?

!!!

No worries! You CAN do this. Please, please, please do not talk yourself out of giving this a try!

I realize this can be daunting. It can be intimidating. You may sit on your bench repeating over and over in your head a low moan: Ican’tdothisI’mnotacomposerI’mnotabrilliantartistIhavenogreat ideaswhydidIevenconsiderthis! *

Here’s the thing, it might be intimidating because, unlike a writer or a painter, you have few constraints. A writer has only the single sheet of white paper. The painter has only to consider the single canvas.**

But we musicians? We have time and space, pitch and rhythm, tempo and time signature, timbre and technique. We have oodles of variables and we haven’t even started thinking about what shape we might be headed toward!

So, to help you along, I’m going to help you narrow your scope. Remember, you don’t have to write a masterpiece! Just compose something. You’re not Mozart or Shubert or J.S. Skinner! And remember, those guys may be known for their masterpieces, but they all started somewhere! We are all beginners at some point (side note – avoid people who forget this important fact! They are toxic – you can do this!).

Remember the major parts of a tune – you need rhythm and pitch. Find that overwhelming? Start with one and then overlay the other on top of it.

I brought you some rhythm seeds that you could start with if you don’t know where to look – to get your creative juices flowing! Use whichever ones you like or add more – there are literally loads of options! They look like one composition (maybe they are?) but feel free to cut/paste as you like – or throw them all away or pick and mix! It’s your composition!

Keep it simple – there are only seven notes in a scale (in modern western music) so that’s fairly limiting in and of itself!
While we’re keeping it simple, stick to a single scale. Like light and happy? Use a major. Feeling dark and moody? Use a minor scale. Feeling stressed? Use a pentatonic scale!
If you’re stuck, use a simple time signature that you’re used to playing in. Like 4/4? Then use that. Always seem to be thinking in 6/8? Then use that.
No source is too good for you! In the comments last week Sue Richards shared a great starter idea. If you missed it, she said,

” Recently on the Nordic FB group, we learned from Mark Harmer how to write tunes based on your name. Here’s the thing:

So my name, Sue, is EGE. Richards is DBCAADDE. So I made a tune out of that. You choose the time signature and key, and develop a LH. It’s pretty cool! I’ll try to post the tune I wrote. I also added my husband Bill: BBDD for the second half of the tune. Good luck, be creative!”

Another way to get rhythm and pitch is to listen to yourself saying something (which might become your lyrics?). You can use the rhythm of your words and the pitch of your voice as a guide to what you tune might shape up to be. Use a favorite poem or saying as a starting point.
Finally, please do not compare your output to anyone else’s. This is not a competition! It is a challenge to each of us to get out of our own way, to try something different and a little bit stimulating! In no way should anything about this make you feel bad (well, unless you told me (and yourself) that you were going to do it but you’re letting yourself slide because it’s a little uncomfortable!).

If you find you are still getting in your own way, sit down on your bench, BREATHE, turn on your phone recorder (the one with the really big red “DELETE” button which is ever so useful!), and tickle your harp. And when it starts to giggle – you can giggle too. Then you’re having a fun time and you’ll probably enjoy the whole thing (just a little…even if you won’t admit it out loud!).

How’s your composition coming? Remember you can send a video, an audio file, sheet music, a photo of the napkin you wrote it on. Still stuck and want other suggestions? Let me know in the comments below! When you’re ready to send me your composition (which can totally be in draft form, it’s not a race after all!) – let me know in the comments and we’ll get these collected for next week!

Happy Composing!

*I realize this is hard to read (it was a little bit hard to type) but it says, “I can’t do this. I’m not a composer. I’m not a brilliant artist. I have no great ideas. Why did I even consider this!” – All TOSH!

**Yes, gross oversimplification, but the idea isn’t to turn you into a writer or a painter!

The March to Autumn – Composition Challenge

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Jen

Think back. Way back. Think back to February when everything was “normal” (whatever that might mean). We were starting a Composition Challenge. Remember that? And then, in the middle of that came the beginning of where we are now. And we were focused on other things – like staying healthy and safe and helping each other get through the beginning of a hard time we are still working our way through.

Earlier in the year we talked about theory and technique and practice and ways to work up our own compositions and I challenged you to develop a composition of your own and I hoped you’d share them. We talked about noodling (here) and ostinato (here). We crossed into March (little did we know what was coming) and talked about the theory that would help you cultivate noodling into a composition (here). Then we endured a time change and we talked about the utility of noodling when you’re tired (here).

But then we were all consumed with trying to care for ourselves and others and the composition challenge seemed to be a little naff in light of people sickening and dying.

Nevertheless time keeps passing and it occurs to me that we should not have abandoned the challenge. After all, making music is helping us hang on to our sanity. Making music gives us succor and allows us to share with others to make their lives just a little bit better.

So, let’s rejoin our game!

Your composition does not need to be complex or complicated. Instead we want to celebrate the process of becoming comfortable with generating musical ideas and putting them together. You can perhaps put together completed ideas, or possibly just fragments. Give ostinato a try (keep in mind that this can be humbling). Poke around the modes and roll them around in your (figurative) mouth, keeping the tasty ones and building from there.

Let’s spend the rest of September working on this. That’s two weeks – plenty of time. It has been my experience that, if you don’t spend all your time telling yourself that this is hard and you can’t do it, you will put out loads of ideas. Some will be keepers. Some will be dreck. And that’s ok! I’d suggest you just set your voice recorder to go (I prop mine up on a music stand) and let your fingers do the walking! Don’t have a voice recorder? Just download a free app and you’re good to go.

But don’t be timid – give it a go. You won’t know what you’re capable of until you try! I’d also like to encourage you to share – this is a warm and generous group and you probably will never find a more welcoming and accepting audience. Perhaps you generate some fragments but don’t feel like you’re successful…but you might find that someone else has also made some fragments – and wouldn’t it be exciting if those fit together to make a tune?!

We’ll finish up Sunday 4^th October – send an audio, a video or a score (fancy-schmancy or handwritten!) and we’ll share them soon after – just in time to enjoy for autumn! If you have questions or need some help let me know. Looking forward to what we come up with!

March is National Noodle Month – I’m SO Tired!

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Jen

Who knew?! Yes, March is National Noodle Month, and with the return to Daylight Saving Time, we’ll need it!

I always warn you about the time changes. Especially those of you that live far from the equator where you gain or lose multiple minutes of daylight each day. The imposed time change is hard on people, and we are no exception.

But you’re in luck! If you’re playing along with the four week composition challenge, you’ve now established noodling at every practice session. That noodling might just help save your practicing while you adjust to the new weird daylight that isn’t happening when it is supposed to.

Because…

you can noodle when you are tired.
there’s no right in noodling. And possibly more importantly
there is also no wrong in noodling either!

It’s just the thing for when your brain and your hands are just not up to working together. Or working at all. Perhaps best of all – noodling is still playing, so it totally counts as practice!

One of the first things I learned as a fledgling harper was the pentatonic improvisation. I typically share it with my students in their first or second lesson (they might use a different verb than share – a verb like impose or coerce!).

If you’re not familiar with pentatonic improv, the pentatonic scale has five notes (from the Greek – penta (five) and tonic (note)). On the piano (if you’re so inclined) the black keys make a lovely, easy to find pentatonic scale. On the harp, set yourself to the C major scale and PLAY ONLY THE WHITE STRINGS! This will give you a lovely pentatonic scale from which to easily work.*

Go ahead, give it a try. I’ll wait.

What you’ll notice about a pentatonic scale is that there’s no “ugly”. You truly cannot make a bad noise if you stay in the scale (that is, play only the white strings). Everything you play within the scale sounds pretty good.

Isn’t that freeing? Now you can noodle with abandon, regardless of how tired you are, because nothing, literally NOTHING you play will sound bad!

And because nothing will sound terrible, you have no reason not to click your recorder on while you noodle. After all, you have a delete button so if there’s nothing inspired, no loss. And you have a record button, so if you listen later and hear amazing – you’ll be able to reconstruct those musical thoughts and build them into a composition (or just keep them as something to amuse yourself).

All that from a little noodling when you’re too tired to practice! Give it a try – and see if having a fun, easy poke around the harp doesn’t maybe give you a little energy boost. Maybe even enough energy to practice when you’re tired.

Keep noodling even after you’ve adapted to the time change – it’s a great addition to your practice and it’ll get you used to collecting your thoughts!

* of course there are other pentatonic scales on the harp (or the piano) but the ones I’ve presented here are so easy that you’ll have a scale that requires no effort to find. If you prefer something other than the G major pentatonic scale, go for it!

Theory Moment – Noodling Support

Posted on March 2, 2020 by Jen

So, we’re beginning week three of our composition challenge. How’s it coming along?

Hopefully you’ve found some stuff you like in your noodling and have begun to string some of those ideas together. And hopefully you’re enjoying the creating and not pooh-pooh-ing every idea you have generated!

Some of you may be ready to keep going in your compositions and to add some harmonies. There are lots of ways to do this. You could generate countermelodies or simple harmonies. Or you might want to stick in some chords to build harmonization. Here’s where being familiar with music theory could help you along.

Come out from under the bed. Music theory isn’t scary! It sounds scary, but it really is just a way to talk about what we already know (yes, of course, we could make it scary – but why?!).

What might help you with your noodling composition? Maybe knowing what scale you’re using? Is it one of the frequently used scales (major or minor or one of the other modes)? Or have you used (or made) a different scale? Once you know that, you can begin to fit some chords that will enhance your melody*.

Scales are defined by the relationships of the notes in them.

Whaaa?

The intervals (whole and half) are the way scales are “measured”. Intervals are the distance between notes (if that doesn’t mean anything to you, no worries, it will eventually – you just keep noodling…and reading!). So, a Major scale is Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half. The Major scale is also called the Ionian mode. Meanwhile, a (natural) Minor scale (or Aeolian mode) is defined as Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole. The Dorian mode is another popular scale which starts on the second with the intervals Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole. A number of traditional tunes from Scotland, Ireland, England (and others) are Dorian. We’ll stop (for now) with the Mixolydian mode which starts on the fifth and is defined as Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole (note it’s very close to the major scale). This is the bagpipe scale so loads of Scottish (and Irish) tunes are in this scale.

What about the chords? Well, that’s sort of up to you, but if you were looking for a “rule of thumb” you might consider that for the Major (Ionian) scale, you might like using the I (root/tonic), IV (the fourth), and the V (the fifth). You could actually use this for everything, and it’ll probably work. But if you’re clearly in the Minor (Aeolian) scale, you might try the I, the VII, and the vi. And if you’re in Mixolydian, maybe the I and the VII.

Of course, there is no wrong. There might be jarring or sweet or “interesting” or perfect or harsh. This is when it’s time for your trusty recorder. Get your ideas down and listen to them over and over and over. Do they actually sound like you thought they did? You might find that what started as jarring becomes less harsh and more interesting as you listen to it more – all because you’ve become accustomed to it. And you might find that what seemed perfect is actually a little uninteresting…

So don’t throw out ideas. Capture them. Nurture them. Let them marinate in your ear and in your mind before you decide what to do with them.

What have you heard? What did you do? Did you modify your growing melody or it’s developing harmony? Let me know in the comments.

* this post is not meant to be a comprehensive theory lesson. There are many theory resources available in bookshops and online. But this isn’t meant to be an excuse to hide in a book – go forth, be bold, make mistakes, make memories, have fun, just enjoy…the theory words can be fitted later – just make some music!

Putting the Ah in Ostinato

Posted on February 24, 2020 by Jen

Ostinato as meditation – you know, like in Ahhhh-stinato!

One thing I love about ostinato is its origin – it is from the Italian…for obstinate! Which is exactly what you need to be to get this very useful element locked into your head and your fingers. An ostinato is a pattern that repeats and can be a repetition of pitch or of rhythm. And while some people find them terrifying, there’s another way to look at them.

The fabulous Maeve Gilchrist is a wizard of ostinato (check out her book Rhythm and Hand Separation Exercises and Etudes Book 1). She has worked hard to master all sorts of patterns and she is rock solid. One of the things I love about her playing is the unexpected things she can weave over that bass pattern – and you the listener can just sit back and enjoy, buoyed and comforted by that underlying rock of sound.

Because ostinato is difficult time consuming to get solid, many people avoid it. But it totally worth the time. A real challenge though, is to first focus on the ostinato itself. It is very easy to think you’ve got it when it’s not quite there. And it does take a little grit and determination – because it’s like other foundational elements – it has a hard slog in the middle where you feel stuck. But you will get there if you keep at it.

Nope, I’m not going to tell you it’s worth the time because it’s useful or builds strong finger or hones your rhythm (although it does).

Ostinato is a great tool, once nailed down, to check out.

What?!?!?

Yup, think of it as a meditative thing. Once you have got the basic idea inculcated, you don’t really need to watch the pot (so to speak). And that frees up space capacity in your brain so you can do one of a couple of other things:

Just rock the ostinato and let your mind wander around. Make it a meditation. Really.
What might be cool if you put that pattern with it? Where would you go? How might you get there? This could lead to noodling and eventually to a great improv, some really useful vamp or an entirely new composition (which you could also do by looking at great art, a la last week’s post).
Once you have the pattern down, you can mess around with the pattern itself – see where that leads. You might find more cool stuff down that rabbit hole.

Start with an easy pattern – maybe an Alberti bass or find a pattern from an technique book), jut to get the idea. Keep working it. Maybe think about it as you noodle on the 4 week challenge we set last week. How might you noodle over that pattern? Give it some time and you’ll see how it can become hypnotic – go with it. Let it ride, find the ahhhhh and see where you end up.

And let me know where you end up in the comments below!

Why should Mary Poppins have all the fun?

Posted on February 17, 2020 by Jen

Do you remember that scene in Mary Poppins where they join hands and jump into a sidewalk painting? They become part of a new world that was wondrous and fantastic. It was great and they were totally immersed in their art – LoL.

There is a frequently suggested exercise for composing that is the same idea.

Composition seems to come so easily to some. Not to me. But I do know people who seem to compose a new tune with each breath they take. I’d hate those people if I wasn’t so enamored with them!

This disparity in apparent ease can quickly and easily become an insurmountable wall. The barrier between us and them. But it doesn’t have to be. Because composition, like anything else, improves…with practice.

Even if you don’t want to be a composer, you might want to give composition a try. It’s certainly not the same as playing and simply by dabbling, you might learn a lot.

But let’s say you do want to give it a try – to make some small thing that is truly yours. Here’s a way to go about it –

Try this exercise. Find a piece of art that captivates you. Any piece of art. Could be a work by the Old Masters. Could be a photograph or a sculpture or interpretive dance. Or an ad on a bus stop. The form is irrelevant – that it piques you is essential!

Now, sit at your harp. Turn on a recorder. Look at (or think about) the artwork and just noodle. NOODLE – DO NOT COMPOSE! Noodle only. Keep your recorder going. Keep thinking about the artwork and what about it captured you. Just keep noodling.

Any time an “I can’t” surfaces in your mind reply with, “Thank you for your input. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” Then take a deep breath and jump right back in and keep noodling.

If you’re having a hard time, set your harp to C and play only the white strings. Think about the art. Keep going.

Will this result in a composition? Probably not…the first time. But keep at it. Make it a part of your practice time. Set 10 minutes aside each day. You will find that it becomes easier to do it the more you stick to it. When the art isn’t speaking to you any longer, choose a new work.

Will this turn you into Williams or Telemann or Bach or Schumann? Maybe not. But it might just set you free from constraints you didn’t know you had. For example, I did an impressive impression of Cage one day! (Cage is credited with copyrighting silence as a musical composition entitled 4′33″)

So, a challenge. Let’s give this a try. Choose a piece of art that inspires you. Then for the next four weeks, follow that plan above. At the end of four weeks (that’s 14 March) send me a picture of the art and an audio file of what you’ve come up with. This isn’t a contest, so your work doesn’t have to be complicated or polished – or even finished. We’re just encouraging each other to be bold and experimental and creative and open to sharing. We will all win by trying!

Are you in? Shall we jump in with both feet and see what happens? Let me know in the comments below –

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Category Archives: Composition