What should I write for as a begginer

I'm a begginer composer, I've tried composing, but I'm not very good.

Instead of going for a full orchestra like I'm doing, would you recommend I start off with? Solo, trio, piano, section?

What instrument(s) do you play ...?

Perhaps you could start doing something for your own instrument ... (Piano maybe) ...

maybe some Duo like Flute/Piano, or Clarinet/Piano....

I don't know how capable you feel yourself to compose, maybe even a small orchestra piece ... is up to you.

Experiment. See what works for you and what turns out best. I would recommend not starting with a major symphonic work quite yet, but you already knew that.

I'd start short in your experimental stage so it doesn

Alright. How about I do different sections, try and get orchestration down for woodwinds, than brass, than strings, and I'll go from there. Thanks :]

No, simpler. Write a duet/write a trio. If you can't do that, you shouldn't write for larger ensembles.

Alright. How about I do different sections, try and get orchestration down for woodwinds, than brass, than strings, and I'll go from there. Thanks :]

Flint's right. Do something smaller. Maybe combining an instrumentation from various sources.

One way I started my compositional journey was homework assignments in my classes. A lot of times, she gave us a popular melody, and told us to harmonize. The homework was usually focused on a specific chord progression that we'd be studying at the time, but other than that, we could use our own instrumentation and accompaniment style pattern. Looking through my folders, I've got "row, row, row your boat" in western saloon style, "mary had a little lamb" with a very romantic string backing, "Amazing Grace" with a ragtime piano, etc etc. I think this is a good thing for a lot of beginning composers to try, because it forces you to step out of the box on what genre/style melodies typically lend themselves to. It's also nice for exploring the idea of "if I want a certain type of accompaniment pattern, with these instruments, how do I achieve it?" Which lets you get accustomed with instruments/families, while composing quick, little 10-20 measure pieces where the melody is already set. Just an idea.

Whatever you do - don't start with solo pieces (except,perhaps, piano).

Personally, I find writing gets easier as the ensemble gets bigger...kind-of. Don't quote me on that ;)

I actually think it doesn't matter too much. The important part is just to write something. Maybe you won't be satisfied with it, maybe you'll throw it away again immediately, whatever, but you still made some experiences of what you're able to do and what you have trouble with. Sure, maybe starting out with a huge opera may not be the best idea - but then, I do know people who did start with much too large things, and maybe gave it up again after a while and it still taught them a lot for their later pieces. But I guess it will be a more satisfactory experience for you if you do something that you -will- be able to finish, so I guess the advice to keep it short, simple and for a small instrumentation does make sense.

But I also agree with SYS' suggestion of writing for an instrument you (or maybe friends of yours) can play, since this will allow you to actually experience the practical side of a performance (even if only by yourself).

But really, just writing anything will be better than pondering for a long time what would be the "optimal" thing to write - since that probably doesn't exist.

OMWBWAY - Like writing harmony for an already made melody? That would work. If I don't have a melody, I'll try that.

Robin - Alright, that's one thing I was confused about. Some people say yes, some say no.

Gardener/SYS - the only instruments I play are bassoon, which I've only done about five times and can't get a hold of one now that school's out, and tenor sax, which isn't normally in an orchestra.

Would you reccomend playing trumpet and/or clarinet parts on the tenor, since they're in the same key?

Flint - I'll try some trios and some quintets for now, thanks for the advice.

Why does it matter if the instrument is in the orchestra or not? There's nothing wrong with writing for tenor sax, if you want to.

I'll echo Gardener's sentiment... write for something you can play. Don't get hung up on the "MUST WRITE FOR ORCHESTRA" thing, especially since the odds of *any* orchestra playing new works makes such an effort futile.

You are a beginner - the most important thing you can do is make sure your works get played (perhaps not "performed", but at least "played"). Without that feedback, your education will take much longer.

You will spend a lot of time making errors; that's the nature of learning. It's better to have immediate feedback of those errors than letting them continue because they've never been pointed out to you.

Alright, I might try some sax work in the near future then.

For now, I have some ideas down for a trio. For woodinds, would you reccomend something with three instruments of the same family, or three different instruments?

Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon

or

Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon?

Ok, good advises have been given to you, I don't disagree, I just want to add, if you choose write for something "small", DON'T choose a strings quartet, I would say that writing a (good) strings quartet is very difficult, even more difficult that a Symphony for large orchestra, .... parts have to be very, very well written .... so don't choose strings quartet.

if you don't play piano, and you only play bassoon/sax maybe you could write a melody for the bassoon harmonized with a strings section, (like a "nano" Concerto for Bassoon) ... you won't have the difficulties I said about the quartet....

Try to achieve "beauty" before "complexity" .... doesn't matter if it looks/is easy, but if sounds good, you did it, is well done.

EDIT: uy, many posts were sent while I was typing....

I won't do strings, thanks SYS. I have no idea about anything to do with strings.

But I still have the question, is it better to do

Oboe, English Horn, Bassoon

or

Flute, Clarinet, Bassoon?

Ok, if you don't feel comfortable with strings ....ok,

mmmmm Flute/Clarinet/Bassoon sounds better to me, ... you have 3 different colors, (of course, English horn sounds very good) .... but as a Trio, why not Oboe/Clarinet/Bassoon ? .... (or maybe you want to reach high notes with the flute ? )

Flute/Clarinet/Bassoon then.

I started with and would recommend starting with choir, for a few reasons:

1. Homogeneous texture. You don't have to worry about timbres or what will blend with what or if this section will be heard against that, it's all essentially just one instrument.

2. Easy go-to source for creativity. Generally with choirs, there's some words you're setting. Words that already exist as a poem or passage or something else beforehand. So if you're in a rut, just look at the text: what mood/feeling does it suggest? And go from there.

3. Length: A 2-minute symphony will leave audiences and players feeling gypped. A 2-minute choral piece will be a nice addition to a concert program. And 2 minutes of music is not a difficult amount to write.

Now, of course, before you jump into choral writing, you have to know voices: their ranges, their capabilities, etc. But there's plenty of wikis (such as those on this site) to tell you this vital information.

After you write for choir for awhile, you'll have a better handle on what chords you like and the type of melodic and harmonic content you're most satisfied with...THEN you can extrapolate and write for instrumental ensembles, taking into consideration a few new things such as timbre instead of that plus all the basics at once.

If you play tenor sax, it couldn't hurt to write something for tenor sax, especially if you own one. Mussorgsky's "Picture's at an Exhibition" has a movement that features sax solo, as you probably know. You set your own limitations, if you want to write for sax, write for sax, don't worry if it's not standard. I heard a bagpipe concerto(yes, bagpipe and full orchestra) the other day, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I never knew there was such a thing. Talk about non-standard...

I started with and would recommend starting with choir,

I completely agree with Dev here, as he makes a great point. In my opinion, with a well written choral piece, a choir can sing just about anything that can be arranged for orchestra (give or take volume and range restraints.) Yes, there are many exceptions, but it can allow you to write just about anything you'd like and have it be performable (even if bad), with enough practice by the singers. Also, because of lyrics, you'll have a much easier time evoking a certain emotion than you would with just instruments, having to draw all the emotion into a wordless melody line.

It's also significantly easier , at least in my experience, to find a vocalist, as opposed to finding a specific instrumentalist. Also, a vocalist always has their instrument, so if you have a friend who sings and can sight read well, it's as easy as handing them the piece and asking if it's a reasonable part. Most times, they can tell you just by looking at it whether it will be easily singable, or singable with practice, or near impossible, and in a matter of seconds no less. The same would go for good instrumentalists, but the difference is in giving a vocalist the starting pitch, and they can sing it through right there. The perks of always having their instrument with them...

I started with and would recommend starting with choir, for a few reasons:

1. Homogeneous texture. You don't have to worry about timbres or what will blend with what or if this section will be heard against that, it's all essentially just one instrument.

2. Easy go-to source for creativity. Generally with choirs, there's some words you're setting. Words that already exist as a poem or passage or something else beforehand. So if you're in a rut, just look at the text: what mood/feeling does it suggest? And go from there.

3. Length: A 2-minute symphony will leave audiences and players feeling gypped. A 2-minute choral piece will be a nice addition to a concert program. And 2 minutes of music is not a difficult amount to write.

Now, of course, before you jump into choral writing, you have to know voices: their ranges, their capabilities, etc. But there's plenty of wikis (such as those on this site) to tell you this vital information.

After you write for choir for awhile, you'll have a better handle on what chords you like and the type of melodic and harmonic content you're most satisfied with...THEN you can extrapolate and write for instrumental ensembles, taking into consideration a few new things such as timbre instead of that plus all the basics at once.

*raises hand* I agree with Dev here! I am STILL writing mostly choral music, and now that I am moving away (excluding piano music, which I wrote first... since I played piano... well, I still do... but whatever) from just choral music, I have found writing for instruments SOOO much easier, and I can even implement some choral techniques into my writing.

Also, Choral writing teaches diversity, since EVERY piece (depending on the piece of Text you are setting to...) requires a different approach! You'll learn a lot.

An exercise after you have set a couple of pieces would be to set the SAME (SHORT) POEM multiple times, trying to come up with a completely different result every time. ;) It's fun (sometimes monotonous...) and useful!

I started with and would recommend starting with choir, for a few reasons:

1. Homogeneous texture. You don't have to worry about timbres or what will blend with what or if this section will be heard against that, it's all essentially just one instrument.

2. Easy go-to source for creativity. Generally with choirs, there's some words you're setting. Words that already exist as a poem or passage or something else beforehand. So if you're in a rut, just look at the text: what mood/feeling does it suggest? And go from there.

3. Length: A 2-minute symphony will leave audiences and players feeling gypped. A 2-minute choral piece will be a nice addition to a concert program. And 2 minutes of music is not a difficult amount to write.

Now, of course, before you jump into choral writing, you have to know voices: their ranges, their capabilities, etc. But there's plenty of wikis (such as those on this site) to tell you this vital information.

After you write for choir for awhile, you'll have a better handle on what chords you like and the type of melodic and harmonic content you're most satisfied with...THEN you can extrapolate and write for instrumental ensembles, taking into consideration a few new things such as timbre instead of that plus all the basics at once.

Wow, way to go Dev! Your post is a huge hit!

I totally agree with this as well. I really got into composition through choral writing and have never really left for the most part. I have ventured out and tried some other types, from full orchestral film scoring to solo guitar (and i love it all), but I keep coming back to choral writing because it continues to be more exciting for me than anything else.

Its also a lot easier to find a choir to perform a piece than it is to find pretty much any other set of performers...even a bassoonist, a flutist and a clarinet player (the choir is usually already holding practices).

Whateva you feel comfortable with

Wow, lots of choir requests! This will also go on my list. I'll have to do some research first, I already have a hard copy of ranges, but I'll still have to figure out the basics.

And so you all know, I don't plan on having anyone play my stuff for a long while.

Anyways, here's my to do list

- Quintet (Hades for symphony of the gods. Inspiration just keeps coming, so I'm not going to stop. Writing this piece on pian, a first for me!)

-Woodwind trio (some ideas down, just short to get better)

-Choral work (highly reccomended by many)

-Opera/Musical scene (when I get better, just singers with instrumental background. Not a whole opera or anything, just a short piece.)

To be fair I tend to have dynamite ideas 100% of the time.

Yes, my next project after I finish my with my two projects is a short (5-7 minute) opera scene!