A Scratchy Start

The weekend gone by was a bit of a struggle.

Homework consists of writing an 8 bar melody for our choice of stringed instrument, rearranging a given piece for 2 stringed instruments and arranging ‘Toccatina’, one of Kabalevsky’s Children’s Pieces, for a string ensemble. We have been given the luxury to choose which stringed instruments to score for.

I found it very hard to actually start any of these tasks.

Writing a piece of music has always been a very organic experience for me. I may be walking, riding my bike, looking at the moon…. when a melody comes to me. I hum the melody out loud so I can actually listen to it and work on it some more. Other times I like to go to my piano, play a few chords, start on a chord progression and work out a melody on top of it.

I like improvising on my piano. There is something to be said about becoming familiar with an instrument, understanding it and writing for it. From its range to its timbre, understanding its raw qualities and its humanness…. These all contribute to how you use the musical instrument to achieve the soul of a composition.

I am presently struggling with a couple of things:

• writing for instruments I am not familiar with

• sitting down and knowing I have to write/arrange a piece of music

• writing under the constraint of so many rules to follow.

It’s 1.22am on Tuesday morning and I’ve just finished reading over the Touched by Olivia grant I prepared earlier. Tomorrow night I have a Touched by Olivia committee meeting and then I must come home to complete (and start) the homework.

I am a restless composer.