Sketching a composition

Hi everyone,

I think many of us have learned the hard way that writing a piece of music without any sort of plan often gives, well, unsatisfactory results. :) Lately I have been exploring different methods of planning or "sketching" a composition before I put it onto staves.

For example, I have sometimes tried using a pad of unlined paper and creating a rough timeline of how I want motives to exist and interact between different instruments. E.x. - a section of a work for bassoon and piano with motives a, b, and c might look something like this (sorry if there are spacing issues; I have used the | symbol to break the sketch into groups):

Bsn. a a' b b' | [frags. of a] | c a --->| rest or cpt.---> ||

Piano counterpoint ------> | b b' c a | cpt.----> | [augmented c] ||

Note that I said "motives," not "themes" -- I think this method doesn't work as well for planning the exposition and development of longer melody lines. (Also please note that I made this example up on the spot with no musical content in my head :D)

Anyway, what I would love to see here is a discussion of how you sketch your compositions. Please be as specific as possible! If you plan entirely in your head, what sort of things do you think of, and when? If you actually sketch things out on paper, what materials and formats do you use? Do you have any sketching "tricks" or "shortcuts" that ease writers' block or speed up the process? I'm sure examples (for sake of better understanding) would be appreciated.

Hopefully a discussion like this could be helpful to all of us since this is such an important process in composition. I hope you will contribute!

I don't recall ever using paper. Usually, I decide upon the texture and how to transition between different textures before writing anything down. This is usually inspired by some sort of picture. For example, someone rushing to catch the train might help me rememebr a hectic presto passage.

Then, I usually hammer out notes on the piano (improvise) then record later. These could be motifs, or harmonizations. I play the piano, so this method's much easier. It also helps me get the notes and articulations correct.

I usually plan the form, create a theme

then work from there.

the music turns out completly different from planned but I like it

This is a good discussion. I usually go to the piano for help. I take a blank piece of paper, and play out melodies and chords. Afterwards, I would write the chords down at the bottom and the melody on the top (I do this becuase I don't have any manuscripts).

For example:

C D D F G G G -- Melody Line

(Something like that)

G D C C C D C -- Chords Lines

C A A G G B E --

For modulations and procession to other themes, I use the method you use, basically have like {Theme 1a} - {Theme 1b-Theme 2a}.

I don't know if it helps you, but that's my way of sketching out a composition. I usually like to plan everything out, meaning that I know where all my notes and melodies are going to, throughout the entire piece. But like virtualshock said, if you are more adventurous type of person, you can create a theme and a form and develope things from there and on. As long as you know what you are doing and where you are going with it. Hope that helps :D

Best regards,

-James

I never plan. As I write, I write what comes to mind as being the next logical thing to follow. I just am that way, I was never the type of person to have a plan, so my writing of music reflects that. I usually begin with either a theme or an accompaniment. From there, I either play around with it on the piano or another instrument, or I just dive right in and start writing the final version. I have yet to have a 'draft' of sorts for any piece that I have written.

My method of composition ...

1. Improvise until a few satisfactory themes pop up. Write them down, and keep them well. Even if you don't use them, you will need them in future compositions.

2. Plan the basic form

3. Write down a sketch on a piece of blank music paper as ideas come to my mind. It is usually very messy, with very few noteheads. I usually only write down lines (upward, downward), tempo, the mood, the instrumentation, and specific points (climax, modulation, etc)

4. At this point it would be straightforward to write the real score.

So my build order is

Improvise -> Find theme -> Find form