Can you be a good composer without being a good pianist?

Christopher Dunn-Rankin , had you paid attention you would see that nightscape is answering/questioning me. :w00t:

when you play the piano for many years, the hands are faster than the head. When you sit down to imporvise, or play to... get some ideas, you will end up, either, repeating yourself, or repeating what you have played in your life. It's not easy to escape that. Except if you don't actually play the piano.

For me composition is not slow imporvisation at all! (sorry Robin). I organise everything before hand, and may end up months in advance in order to find the right form, the right pitches etc, to my purpose. Then I start actually composing. On paper, and not on a piano.

And, no matter how you dissagree with me, I do know what I'm talking about. ;) You may think I'm not right, and maybe I'm not, but I do know what I'm talking about!

I noticed that a lot of my improvs at the piano are the same for the reasons you stated. But sometimes I am also able to overcome these limitations. If I drink the right amount of wine, I can put my head and fingers into a different mode. I do not advise self-medication for all, but for me it sometimes works. For some musicians, it seems that they can not compose at all without their cannabis. A good glass of my homemade wine and I am set to go.

But most of my composition is a slow drawn out process as well. Each note to be savored like a good glass of wine.

On 6/9/2007 at 9:17 AM, nikolas said:

I think I've already posted but here goes again:

Proficiency in playing piano, I highly doubt it. I mean, I don't see any reason of being able to play Chopin, or Rachmaninov in the piano in order to compose.

Knowledge of playing the piano, in order to try out things, certainly useful.

BUT, the main thing:

It is useful while learning techniques and learning composition, not for the actual composing.

Once you've tried and succeeded and are ok with what you know, you don't really need to try out everything on the piano. On the contrary, one should avoid improvising on the piano to write a new piece.

And as an example: I don't have ANY kind of keyboard in my house. Nothing at all. Not a piano, not a midi controller, not a synth, NOTHING! Do I miss it? Hell yes! Would I use it>? Like crazy for the game music I write. For the PhD? Sorry, but nope, I wouldn't! I just know how to write straight to paper (with a pencil that is, not Finale), and how this will most probably sound. Call me crazy if you will, but since I don't have proof, everything, absolutley everything, posted here, the game music, the orchestral stuff, the live stuff, all were composed without a keyboard or any kind of instrument. Just my mind, and my notes (drafts)

 

do you think composing by pen & paper is the best music composing method?

On 6/17/2007 at 1:16 PM, nikolas said:

Christopher Dunn-Rankin , had you paid attention you would see that nightscape is answering/questioning me. :)

when you play the piano for many years, the hands are faster than the head. When you sit down to imporvise, or play to... get some ideas, you will end up, either, repeating yourself, or repeating what you have played in your life. It's not easy to escape that. Except if you don't actually play the piano.

For me composition is not slow imporvisation at all! (sorry Robin). I organise everything before hand, and may end up months in advance in order to find the right form, the right pitches etc, to my purpose. Then I start actually composing. On paper, and not on a piano.

And, no matter how you dissagree with me, I do know what I'm talking about. :) You may think I'm not right, and maybe I'm not, but I do know what I'm talking about!

 

While composing, between 2 processes: sound first, then note & note first, then sound. Which process is better in your opinion?

5 minutes ago, riwhfin said:

do you think composing by pen & paper is the best music composing method?

You can ask @PeterthePapercomPoser for that haha. For me it acts as the susidary method for composing. I mainly use PC and IPAD for composing now, but also have a sketchbook to jot down the ideas and roughly sketch and develop them in the book.

8 minutes ago, riwhfin said:

While composing, between 2 processes: sound first, then note & note first, then sound. Which process is better in your opinion?

For me it's always the sound first in my head, then I will jot them down as note form. I seldom write the initial ideas as note form earlier than the sound in my head. It's only when I will have to work on the passages I will use pen and write them as note, otherwise I will let my subconscious to do the job and provide the product for me, given how lazy I am haha.

Henry

I think piano skills are a must to be successful---for  most people.

  Louis Spohr, Berlioz....these people were geniuses.

 For the rest of us, keyboard skills greatly assist in realizing musical ideas in a practical, efficient way.   I have functional piano skills, but wish I had time for 2 or 3 years of lessons.  

   I simply cannot imagine composing without the piano.