The Composers Notebook Blog

There IS a difference between composing music and writing music on paper. Composing is the act of creating musical ideas. Writing it down is simply translating the musical ideas into a form that can be read by others. Think of the oral tradition of storytelling. The stories were passed down from generation to generation orally. They weren’t written down, but yet, many of those stories still exist.

Why do I even mention this? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to suggest that we eliminate written music. Lord knows there have been many wonderful stories and songs that have died with the storyteller or musician. However, it isn’t necessary to be able to write down music in order to create it. The paper isn’t the music. The music is the living sound. Writing it down simply is an insurance policy that it won’t be forgotten.

I think some people are scared away from composing, because they don’t know how to notate (write down) what’s in their head. Writing down the ideas and composing are two entirely different activities. Allow me to illustrate the point.

I can drive a car, but I can’t fix one. The ability to fix a car, while a valuable skill, is not necessary to use the car to get where I’m going. Granted, the ability to repair a vehicle can have some benefits like saving money and personal convenience, but it isn’t a prerequisite for using the vehicle. 

Likewise, being able to notate one’s music has many benefits, most importantly, the ease of communicating one’s ideas to others and, as stated before, the insurance that it won’t be forgotten. Writing it down, however, isn’t absolutely necessary.

In an age when digital recording is easily accessible, many people have the opportunity to record their musical ideas and share them with others. Resourceful, aspiring songwriters, can plunk out ideas on a piano or guitar and record the session.

People can create their own notation system for their own reference. They can sketch out the ideas on regular paper, without using traditional notation, in a form that they alone can understand. It isn’t useful for other people to read, but it is a way of “storing” ideas so they can be remembered at a later date.

I recently met a songwriter who is interested in pursuing composing as a career. I invited him to show me his work and he showed up to our meeting with several CDs he had recorded AND a large book of graph paper on which he had written lyrics to thirty or so songs. In addition to the lyrics, he had written out the music in a shorthand version that, while it made no sense to me, allowed him to perform his music on the piano. The point is that HIS system allowed him to remember what he’d written.

I sometimes wonder how many people in the world have musical ideas floating around in their heads, but have never tried to share the ideas with others simply due to the fact that they assume composing means writing it down. Some really talented songwriters may be out there who may never explore the possibility of letting us hear their songs.

If a person has original music in his/her head, he/she needs to find the means, ANY MEANS, to get the song out of the isolation of their hearts, minds and souls and into a form that can be shared and remembered. Use a tape recorder, computer, sequencer, personal notation system or anything that works for you. Just get the ideas out of your heads and save them.

You can always learn to notate if that is important to you. I would recommend learning how. It does save time and, in the long run, makes it easier on you and your performers. However, don’t let your inability to write it interfere with your ability to create it!

Sometimes composers, authors and artists have dry spells when they can’t produce work. They lack inspiration and struggle to get started on projects. This desert experience is frustrating for the composer and unfortunately can cause periods where the writer stops working for a while.

When these periods happen for me, I can become disinterested in writing and if I allow that to last too long and give up trying, it can be really hard to get back to work. The solution? Keep working!

“Huh? What do you mean keep working? I don’t have any ideas.” 

It sounds like I’m saying you need to bang your head against a wall. That’s not at all what I’m saying. Allow me to explain.

When you run across a dry spell where the ideas just aren’t flowing or if you are losing interest in your work, try some of the following ideas:

1. Organize your workspace so it is a place you want to go. Place pictures, plants or anything that is pleasant for you in the space to make it comfortable. Keep it free of clutter and keep it clean and orderly. Have things you need easily accessible like staff paper, pens, a tape recorder or keyboard.

2. Put yourself on a schedule. Try to work daily during the same hours as possible. Remember that inspiration is only part of the composing process. It takes time and it takes work. Set aside time so that you do it everyday. 

3. Have balance in your life. Don’t overburden yourself with your work. Work for a couple hours each day. Take time off. Do other things. Don’t live in your workspace. Don’t become bored or frustrated with work. Do enough each day to get your writing done, but don’t try to complete it all at one time. Keep yourself coming back for more.

4. Do some of the non-creative work. Use work-time for promotion of your composing. Use work time for the more mindless tasks like copying parts. 

5. Revisit older works. Take some of your older pieces and re-work them. Take the time to improve upon your past work.

6. “Lift” music from recordings. The skills developed from taking a recording and transcribing the music are necessary and invaluable. The ear training alone makes “lifting” music worth the time and energy. After practicing this skill, you will discover that it will be easier and easier to write down the music in your head.

7. Develop long-term goals. Plan for your success. Think about what type of composer or song writer you want to be in a year, or 5 years or 10 years. 

8. Develop relationships with ensembles or individual performers. Write for these groups so that you can have your pieces performed. 

9. Have specific writing goals and create deadlines for yourself. Deadlines encourage you to complete what you start.

10. Enter contests and write for scheduled concerts. Specific events for which to write also encourage you to “get to work.”

11. Study scores and recordings. Learn from the work of others. Take advantage of the opportunity during your writing time to expand your music writing “vocabulary.” Become more fluent at composing by having more sources upon which to draw. Don’t re-invent the wheel. Rather, learn what’s already been done and then invent a new form of transportation.

10. Read about composers. Take the time to read about the lives and, specifically, the work of composers. Find out how they went about their own writing. Learn about their struggles and triumphs. Learn about their work habits.

11. Study books on orchestration. Get to know the established practices of orchestration. Learn how timbres can be combined to create interesting and unusual sound colors.

12. Learn to play a new instrument and write for it. Get to know an instrument really well. Learn what it is capable of and write something for it.

13. DO NOT plant yourself in front of a piano or computer when you are stuck. Go for a walk. Some of the greatest composers of all time became inspired and came up with new ideas while walking. Something physiologically, psychologically and musically beneficial occurs when walking . . . don’t ask me to explain it, but it works.

I could go on . . .

The point is, when you have writers block, do something that relates to songwriting or composing. I am willing to bet that by continuing to work each day, you will work through the block. Also, remember that “beating a dead horse” gets you nowhere. If you are getting nothing done and just getting angry or frustrated, get up, get away from your work for a little bit. Get some fresh air and come back later. You’ll be more productive and less frustrated. 

Now go out there write some music.