VERY BIG PROBLEM COMPOSING!!

Hi. I have this really big problem. I can write some really nice sounding music but it can take me days to think of even how just a few lines should sound. I have a very high standerd of quality so any old melody wont do. It has to be something memorable. today, I layed down to take a nap and right as I was about to fall asleep, I started hearing my bass clarinet concerto in my head. I heard the entire thing. I have only just started writing it and the whole thing suddenly popped into my head. I have read how mozart could hear entire pieces in his head before he wrote them. I think this was the same thing. the only problem is that after I woke up, I could hardly remember any of it.

So what do I do? the whole concerto is finished. the only problem is that I can't remember how it sounds.

A common problem, I'm afraid. My composition and theory teacher says he still struggles with this. My problem is similar, I hear very complicated music, but simply can't figure out how to notate it, and before long it's gone.

Hopefully it'll come back to you!

I have the same problem. It does help me, anyway, to keep a notepad and/or pocket tape recorder by my bed in case I get inspiration and want to jot it down.

Hope you can hear it again!

Happens to me as well I keep a notebook and a couple loose leafs of staff paper at the side of my bed. Though I usually don't hear melodies, it comes in feelings, and rythms.

I always keep a tape recorder by my bed. Some nights I leave it on and I found out that I sing in my sleep.

thanks. I will definately do that.

It happens to me all the time. It's not very easy to correct, but the faster and better you are at notation, the easier it is for you to get those ideas down before they go away.

And a tape recorder is a very useful tool. Even if you're just noodling, recording it and re-listening gives you some great ideas.

I had a really strange dream a few nights ago:

I think it took place in the 1940s, and it was in black and white! Strange, as I usually dream in colour. Anyway, I was on stage with Duke Ellington's band playing clarinet (of all things), and I had composed all of the music. I remember the audience loving it, and I felt very proud of myself. I was very distressed when I woke up and found it to be only a dream; especially since I couldn't for the life of me remember any of the music!

OMG i HATE this when it happens to me. I could be composing a perfectly awesome piano concerto and finish it in my head during swim practice or something and then by the time i get home i've spent so much time trying to remember it, i've forgotten it. Always remember, if you forget something, don't try to remember it really hard. It'll come to you. If you continue to chase the fox, it'll just keep on running. :P

Ack. This happens to me all the time. I dream about music, but cant remember it.

Bob, you've got some cojones showing up around here after what you did.

:huh:

what'd he do?!

He stole things.

Whatever.

I guess it depends on what kind of shorthand works for you. You can sing into a recording device, you could play into a recording device, or you could notate -- and as Nico pointed out, the degree of specificity can vary. If you're just trying to get the idea for a big beautiful orchestral theme (with accompaniment) down it probably suffices to write the melody and the bassline and then something like "clarinets and middle strings pulse with syncopated chords" and move on from there. Details like voicings and voice-leading are things to worry about later. It's analogous to the difference between sketching an outline versus painting a whole picture -- or, perhaps, analogous to the difference between a big broad brushstroke on a canvas versus detailed work with tiny brushes.

Of course, if you're having trouble getting the music from your head down onto the paper in the first place, that's a separate issue. I think there are a couple of threads about that very problem in this board.

Interesting. Never had a dream about music; I'm usually awake.

Most of the time if I can't write it down right away I try to repeat the same melody keeps on over, and over through my head, then associate some images for keys to the mood kind of like Nico said but slightly different... I'm a more visual learner. After about 10-20 times its basically stuck.

I then try to write it down as soon as possible. It could be a day or week later.

I found the more music I listen to the better I am able to notate the music when it comes time to write it down. I really strugged for a while with this, the music would not come out as I intended. Things really got better once I started listening to a few ear training tutorials.

Interesting. Never had a dream about music; I'm usually awake.

I'm the same...though I'm a total insomniac and often spend a lot of time working stuff out while trying to fall asleep. Works well with my "cerebral contextualization" concept...

I'm the same...though I'm a total insomniac and often spend a lot of time working stuff out while trying to fall asleep. Works well with my "cerebral contextualization" concept...

Strangely enough, I often think of things inadvertently when I'm the busiest like cramming for exams. Then when I'm not busy I have trouble composing. Sort-of-like the opposite of sleep :)

Well, at least its nice to know someone with a similar situation....

Sometimes I "hear" little snippets of guitar solos in my head, but they're gone in only a few seconds. I've read that practising interval recognition and perfect pitch (if you have it or successfully obtain it) help immensely.

I don't hear melodies or harmonies, and looks like I am the only one hear is able to admit that :P I do however, experience sensations relating to texture, and often I will be able to hear the entire thing from a textural point of view. My simplest way of getting things down is to scribble key lines, the type of harmony I am feeling (maybe clusters or wide harmonies) and write lots of notes about what it is I imagined. I am certainly not a composer who hears an entire work in ones head like Mozart may or may not have done. I am always a little skeptical when people say they heard everything in one big flash, considering the brain can only process when listening, up to 4 separate ideas. I do agree that it is quite easy to sit quietly and hear an original tune in ones mind, but to hear an entire piece, all the inner parts etc I'm a little more skeptical, I think that it is there subconsciously and then you work through it like a craftsman.

I don't hear melodies or harmonies, and looks like I am the only one hear is able to admit that :huh:

Don't worry; on the rare occasion I actually do "hear" something, it generally isn't very good, anyway. :shifty:

Hi. I have this really big problem. I can write some really nice sounding music but it can take me days to think of even how just a few lines should sound. I have a very high standerd of quality so any old melody wont do. It has to be something memorable. today, I layed down to take a nap and right as I was about to fall asleep, I started hearing my bass clarinet concerto in my head. I heard the entire thing. I have only just started writing it and the whole thing suddenly popped into my head. I have read how mozart could hear entire pieces in his head before he wrote them. I think this was the same thing. the only problem is that after I woke up, I could hardly remember any of it.

So what do I do? the whole concerto is finished. the only problem is that I can't remember how it sounds.

Hi !

It seems that most of us have the same problem. Here are my solutions, it may work for you.

Most of my best musical ideas are coming during dreams, so I understand why it is important.

We can listen complete work which is just disappearing when we wake up.

But, there a moment, just before you are awakening. During this moment, you are between dream and consciousness.

The "tip" is to stay in that "phase" as long as possible.

When I stay in that moment, I can listen, and listen again, so I memorize what is "happening".

The thing is that you can train yourself to do that.

With more training, you can "compose" during this phase too, and stay between dream and consciousness. This moment allow you to access powerful resources. (Like a supercomputer)

It is not easy, but if you practice each day, you will do better and better.

When you are in that "phase", you have to try to listen many time the music, so it will be recorded in your memory after wake up.

Another thing is to concentrate on the music; you should not begin to think about what you are going to do after wake up!

Most of the time, now, I remember very well the music of my dreams. My brain is working all night, I am sure about this!!

I have a Pocket PC near my bed for the recording. So, after wake up, I just have to sing in my Pocket PC.

It works better if I sleep at least 8 hours, you should sleep enough if you want this to work.

You have to train a lot, because a part of the