Recently, in the past year or so, I've been taking a stab at composing my own music. And it's been a tough journey!
20th century composer John Cage recalling a conversation with his mentor Arnold Schoenberg:
"After I had been studying with him for two years, Schoenberg said, 'In
order to write music, you must have a feeling for harmony.' I explained
to him that I had no feeling for harmony. He then said that I would
always encounter an obstacle, that it would be as though I came to a
wall through which I could not pass. I said, 'In that case I will devote
my life to beating my head against that wall.'"
I know exactly what Cage meant by this, but I too will beat my head against any wall I come up against. I may knock myself out, but I'll dream of what I'll compose upon regaining my consciousness.
So my idea for 52 in 52 was birthed from a conversation with a friend. He has an aspiration for writing fictional short stories, and has been reading on how to develop his craft. A suggestion he ran across said something to the effect of, "try writing one story per week for a year. I dare you to write fifty two bad stories." And that's when my light bulb illuminated.
For the past year, I've dealt with frustrations in the learning curve of transitioning from player to composer...it hasn't been a natural one for me. This has resulted in lack of motivation to write, lack of inspiration on the occasion that I find the motivation, and a plethora of unfinished projects that just stalled out.
A music mentor of mine spoke of this condition on his blog. "For me, the feeling of 'inspiration' is a rather fragile state...My belief: craft, work ethic, and commitment are the real keys to creativity." You can enjoy his blog at www.randyhoexter.com
Starting at the end of this month I begin writing, and posting what I'll call "one complete musical idea" per week. I won't set a standard criteria based upon length(i.e. 3'30" pop song), and I definitely won't limit myself to any specific genre. It just has to be a finished product...one that could be used for either or both standalone entertainment or an audio bed for other media.
No comments:
Post a Comment