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 –