How do I compose faster?

This may seem like a nonsense question, but how do I compose faster? Ever since school started, I've been really busy and all, but I still really want to compose. I'm working on a piano trio right now, but it seems like I never make any progress no matter how hard I try. Anywhere from shortcuts and tricks in Musescore to changing the way I look at composing, please give me some ideas. I really feel like I could do much more if given more time! 

2 hours ago, latebeethoven_addict said:

This may seem like a nonsense question, but how do I compose faster? Ever since school started, I've been really busy and all, but I still really want to compose. I'm working on a piano trio right now, but it seems like I never make any progress no matter how hard I try. Anywhere from shortcuts and tricks in Musescore to changing the way I look at composing, please give me some ideas. I really feel like I could do much more if given more time! 

I am probably the worst one who can answer this questiob since I always compose real slow!! I omce spent 6 years on a work even though there were many things happening between. Just keep going and keep in mind that you will finish the work one day! Also I think quality is more important than quantity! If you sacrifice quality to faster progress I am sure it's not worthwhile! Maybe you can listen more music and review more here? It definitely helps your composing!

Henry

Thanks, but as a budding composer, I feel my output needs to increase. My dream is really to make classical music known and appreciated by the world, and to do that I first need to get better at composing. But besides, quality, quantity is also important! 

Also, particularly for symphonic pieces/chamber music, it really takes a lot of time to write! 

Step back and evaluate your composing process..   Are you  spending excess time, 'finding' the right notes, correcting things?  Perhaps set a goal of composing a short piece in a specified time.  As an exercise, doesn't have to brilliant..  Progress - not perfection is the goal.. Is there a way you can shorten your process.  copy/pasting/transposing sections.  If notes have the same rhythm - copy/paste, then fix the individual  pitches  etc

Sometimes as we work to perfect our music, we run into which choice do we make..  And that can take longer then we did when we were younger.  Because as the piece grows, we could have taken a better choice earlier in piece, and now we must go back and rewrite something.  Now I'm not a classical composer, so there are certainly many issues in addition..  

As individuals we each are uniquely different..  If you have perfect pitch, a photgraphic memory.  Know a number of composing techniques or devices, it perhaps come quicker.  After spending many many years working on music..  I will play a part and then be able to correct what I play looking at orchestra type score, or sometimes just looking at the piano roll.  My hands seem to know where to move the notes..  

Be patient, it will take as long as it takes.  Be on the lookout for guidelines,  and techniques to adapt to your work..  

How well is your knowledge in things such as harmony, counterpoint, and form? I would say having a great and in depth knowledge in this topics can help!

Also, what trios inspire you, and do/have you analyzed any of the pieces! By doing so you can figure how trios are written, and if you choose to, model your work on those pieces!

As the poster above me asked: How well do you know your theory and the craft of composition? If it is simply that you're feeling stumped, or struggling to get it to sound how you want, then this is usually the source.

I would also recommend you get a MIDI controller to input notes into Musescore that way if you don't already. It would be painfully slow trying to input it with mouse and keyboard. Your piano trio may go faster if you use a DAW and kontakt libraries instead of musescore. Then, you can just record your piece in real time, and with pianos, you don't have to worry about keyswitches and other MIDI annoyances.

8 hours ago, latebeethoven_addict said:

quantity is also important! 

Honestly, it really isn't. Especially if your goal is concert/neo-classical stuff. It is better to put out 5 pieces per year that are amazing, then to release 10 middling ones just because you feel you have to hit a certain number.

Even from the most iconic composers, only a handful of their pieces are really well known to the masses. In many cases, the composer spent anywhere from weeks to years writing them. 

Even bands, who typically are doing way simpler music than classical; each new album is a result of 1-2 years (or more) of songwriting and selecting the best ones for the album. Back in the days of record deals, labels would demand an album of X number of songs within a short time-frame, which is partly why "Girls, Girls Girls" is the only decent song on that album. Also, remember that Carl Douglas's only song of note was 'Kung Fu Fighting' 50 years ago and he wound up with a net worth of 5 million.

In other words, if no one is breathing down your neck to get this done and paying you to do so, take all the time you need.

Lastly, since you say you're in school it's safe to assume you're pretty young: Know that the field of professional orchestral and neo-classical music is not a pursuit for low-time preference individuals; it is mainly an old man's game. I lucked out when I was 18, and got my first professional job, but that is an extreme rarity. Most guys don't see any success (financially or otherwise) until they have DECADES of experience under their belts.

So aside from the aforementioned advice, I'd say: Take your time, and just keep chipping away at your pieces. Even 1 bar a day is progress.

Because as the saying goes:

Thanks! 

13 hours ago, mark styles said:

Step back and evaluate your composing process..   Are you  spending excess time, 'finding' the right notes, correcting things?  Perhaps set a goal of composing a short piece in a specified time.  As an exercise, doesn't have to brilliant..  Progress - not perfection is the goal.. Is there a way you can shorten your process.  copy/pasting/transposing sections.  If notes have the same rhythm - copy/paste, then fix the individual  pitches  etc

Sometimes as we work to perfect our music, we run into which choice do we make..  And that can take longer then we did when we were younger.  Because as the piece grows, we could have taken a better choice earlier in piece, and now we must go back and rewrite something.  Now I'm not a classical composer, so there are certainly many issues in addition..  

As individuals we each are uniquely different..  If you have perfect pitch, a photgraphic memory.  Know a number of composing techniques or devices, it perhaps come quicker.  After spending many many years working on music..  I will play a part and then be able to correct what I play looking at orchestra type score, or sometimes just looking at the piano roll.  My hands seem to know where to move the notes..  

Be patient, it will take as long as it takes.  Be on the lookout for guidelines,  and techniques to adapt to your work..  

 

Actually, I am doing a lot of these...like using Musescore shortcuts and stuff...

11 hours ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

I would also recommend you get a MIDI controller to input notes into Musescore

oh...I don't have a keyboard...

Two videos that I found helpful:

My biggest takeaway from this video was the way he plans the structure by assigning emotions to different sections.

Two valuable things from this video are:

1) There will always be more music, so just compose rather than treating every piece like gold.

2) Don't spend too much time on decisions that don't matter that much. Composing is making decisions, and the quicker you make decisions, the quicker you'll compose.

I'm sure there are many helpful videos out there, but these are just the ones that I found valuable recently. Keep in mind that I am a beginner composer, so an expert probably doesn't need these tips.

@latebeethoven_addict said quantity was also important and @AngelCityOutlaw responded that it really isn't.

I (and many others) say that in anything, quantity is important because it helps quality improve. I suggest occasionally composing something small (like a 16 measure piano solo) so you can get practice in a lot of different things, but for that, you still need to find time to actually compose. You can also do specific composition exercises, like composing in rondo form to practice creating contrast between sections, or composing theme and variations to practice different ways to practice creating different realizations of a single musical idea.

As of increasing your output (because I'm sure you won't be releasing 16 bar exercises), don't try to compose high above your current level. I'm not saying to abandon that piano trio, because I don't know you, but keep in mind that you should work your way up in skill. Someone who's never composed anything can try to write a symphony, but if they want it to be quality, they will spend their entire life trying to learn the skills they need for that when they could have just worked their way up.

My suggestion:

1.  Write as much as you can--

2.  Use smaller forces to start with and focus on form, process, technique.

3.  Plan as much as possible before composing at a notation program/daw.    Melodic ideas, chord progressions, form, modulations,...the more that is on paper, the faster the actual writing phase will be, and generally more satisfying.

   By doing these things, i cut the composition time in about half form my first attempt at piano quartet movement to the second (exposition).  The thing basically wrote itself.

    That's called learning, and it can only improve the more I write.

  Improving piano skills has helped me.    Composing/playing sort of feed each other, I find.