Composing Separate Sections Of A Piece/how To Connect?

Hello everyone!

I've found recently that my main problem when composing a piece is that I write small portions of it at a time, and end up having a hard time connecting the dots. For example, I might come up with an 8-bar melody as the main "theme," a development of that theme, and an ending, yet nothing in between to connect them.

My question to you then is this:

Have any of you experienced similar problems?

How did you overcome this sort of "writer's block?"

That's for me also the hardest part of composing a piece, and somehow I manage to join the parts, I'm not sure what to tell you, how can I describe it... just be open for many things, transition might need to be larger of what you'd like, or it may even need a whole segment between, maybe it can be very fast and sudden and it will work, anyway, just keep searching your transition, (sorry I can't explain better)

This is an age-old issue that can be resolved in a number of ways. Arguably the easiest is to use a form. Start with one theme in one way, then repeat it again in a slightly different fashion. 2-4 times is usually good. Then move on to the B section. You can do this via a key change such as a 5th or 4th or going into the relative minor/major key of the first melody. There are tons of ways to do this and it isn't locked, that's just one way. Depending on what form you use, you can return to the A section after that in a varied sense or move on to a third melody. Forms is something I myself would like to learn more of, but there's lots of material out there. Consider analyzing works from the Classical and Baroque period, which are form-heavy.

As for moving between the sections, there are a number of transitional elements you can use. For orchestral, it could be a cymbal roll with a crescendo, or a timpani or drum roll with the same, or even subtle dissonance or augmentation of the chord in the last two half of the measure. For electronic, it can be things like sweeps or effects. Sometimes the music might just "pop" straight into a new phrase without ceasing, while others it might go through a 4-8 bar transition where you might wander around or have an extreme variation of one melody- or even just random fragments of melody that eventually lead into the next section. There's a bunch of chord theory that addresses transitions and cadences, which might be beneficial to look at.

Keep compos(ed/ing)!

-Samulis

If there isn't agreement between the parts no amount of transitional material will make them fit together. You have to be cognizant of how sections are going to fit together while you are writing them.

In any case, if you have a theme, development, and recapitulation, what need do you have for intervening material?

Sometimes the parts aren't supposed to fit together, such as in programmatic/media music where the mood needs to change. That's where transitions come into play. If you're writing art music as I think you suggesting, U238, then yes, you probably wouldn't need such transitions, but I wouldn't know since my specialty is program music.

Sometimes the parts aren't supposed to fit together, such as in programmatic/media music where the mood needs to change. That's where transitions come into play. If you're writing art music as I think you suggesting, U238, then yes, you probably wouldn't need such transitions, but I wouldn't know since my specialty is program music.

I bet you're 14.

What I mean is, I hope you're 14. That leaves room for improvement, that way I don't necessarily have to not like you

1.  Write A section and B section.

2.  Play around with them until you are thoroughly sick of them and stuck.

3.  Go for a walk and hit the record button on your phone.  If both parts are stuck in your head well enough, you will find yourself automatically connecting the two parts as you cycle between the two in an endless earworm loop.  Quick!  Hum into your phone.  

4.  Go home and pick apart how you connected them and write it down.  

I don't know why, but motion always seems to unlock my brain when it is stuck.  Going for a walk usually helps everything.  

Although, it's also possible that your two ideas are just too unconnected and should really belong to two different pieces.  That's fine too.