Post by lerocketrolla on Apr 14, 2013 15:03:01 GMT -5
So I'm in the last semester of my composition degree, and I've been reflecting on what I've learned so far. I realized there were some things I didn't know I needed to learn, but I'm glad I did, and others that I thought were incredibly important, and don't make much of a difference in the end.
Since there's lots of creative people around here, I thought I'd put it here so we can share our experiences. So, for those of us who've had some classes or other kind of formal training on doing whatever it is we do:
1. What did you expect to learn when going into your degree/lessons/autodidactic efforts/etc, that you didn't really learn at all, or at least not at a level that satisfies you?
2. What did you think you absolutely had to learn how to do, which then turned out to not be that important?
3. Is there anything you've learned, which you previously had no idea how important it was?
As for my answers - a work in progress, since I'm still reflecting on this:
1. I expected I'd do a lot of historical writing exercises, from various periods, but it turned out that the teacher I chose, while proficient in and deeply knowledgeable of composition techniques from the renaissance to the present day, thinks it's all a waste of time and would rather have every student develop his own language from the ground up.
This is something that I'm not satisfied with, because most of my favourite composers (Ravel, Bartok, Schnittke, Piazzolla, Tom Jobim, Bernstein) aren't completely individual revolutionaries, they use other people's work and ideas as a starting point and develop their own quirks from that.
From what I've read, this is the opposite problem to what most people face, which is a teacher which squashes their individuality with endless exercises and copies of "old masters", or even him/herself. First world problems, heh. I feel like my teacher's fear of being "that teacher" pushed him too far in the opposite direction, and I can still use some study with models, if only to feel more confident in my writing skills.
2. This one I think is the hardest to specify... it's hard to say something isn't important without thinking of examples where it's critical. Maybe I'll have more when I'm further down the road, but I think I'm still in the phase when everything sounds important.
3. Form, I'd say; most of the composition and analysis lessons I had before uni focused so much on the notes - harmony, melodic construction with talea and color, Gregorian modes, tonal harmony, species counterpoint, dodecaphonic series, whatever - and so little on the big picture... in this I've been fortunate, as I think I've learned the right questions to ask myself about how to organize music - when should something happen, how long should it last, why now and not before or after this or that. Also how to relate harmonic language, thematic ideas, rhythm, orchestration, to the organization of the piece in time.
In orchestration, I got into the habit of checking fingering charts on Piston's book whenever I write trills and other such things on woodwinds and brass, to make sure they're playable - I'm a string guy, and that one time I picked up a flute was painful for all involved - so this way I make sure I don't write something absolutely retarded.
That's mostly it for me, what do you guys think?
Since there's lots of creative people around here, I thought I'd put it here so we can share our experiences. So, for those of us who've had some classes or other kind of formal training on doing whatever it is we do:
1. What did you expect to learn when going into your degree/lessons/autodidactic efforts/etc, that you didn't really learn at all, or at least not at a level that satisfies you?
2. What did you think you absolutely had to learn how to do, which then turned out to not be that important?
3. Is there anything you've learned, which you previously had no idea how important it was?
As for my answers - a work in progress, since I'm still reflecting on this:
1. I expected I'd do a lot of historical writing exercises, from various periods, but it turned out that the teacher I chose, while proficient in and deeply knowledgeable of composition techniques from the renaissance to the present day, thinks it's all a waste of time and would rather have every student develop his own language from the ground up.
This is something that I'm not satisfied with, because most of my favourite composers (Ravel, Bartok, Schnittke, Piazzolla, Tom Jobim, Bernstein) aren't completely individual revolutionaries, they use other people's work and ideas as a starting point and develop their own quirks from that.
From what I've read, this is the opposite problem to what most people face, which is a teacher which squashes their individuality with endless exercises and copies of "old masters", or even him/herself. First world problems, heh. I feel like my teacher's fear of being "that teacher" pushed him too far in the opposite direction, and I can still use some study with models, if only to feel more confident in my writing skills.
2. This one I think is the hardest to specify... it's hard to say something isn't important without thinking of examples where it's critical. Maybe I'll have more when I'm further down the road, but I think I'm still in the phase when everything sounds important.
3. Form, I'd say; most of the composition and analysis lessons I had before uni focused so much on the notes - harmony, melodic construction with talea and color, Gregorian modes, tonal harmony, species counterpoint, dodecaphonic series, whatever - and so little on the big picture... in this I've been fortunate, as I think I've learned the right questions to ask myself about how to organize music - when should something happen, how long should it last, why now and not before or after this or that. Also how to relate harmonic language, thematic ideas, rhythm, orchestration, to the organization of the piece in time.
In orchestration, I got into the habit of checking fingering charts on Piston's book whenever I write trills and other such things on woodwinds and brass, to make sure they're playable - I'm a string guy, and that one time I picked up a flute was painful for all involved - so this way I make sure I don't write something absolutely retarded.
That's mostly it for me, what do you guys think?
