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Start Composing Music
Music 1

Written by
Patric Standford

Level HE4 - 40 CATS

 This course has been written and illustrated by Patric Standford.
Cover image: Violin, 1911-12, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973),
Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia

Open College of the Arts

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Wilthorpe Road
Barnsley
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Copyright OCA 2008

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy,
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(Open College of the Arts)
About the author

Patric Standford is an award-winning composer, a teacher and lecturer of

repute, a writer and music journalist, occasional broadcaster and a musician who
has played a major role with many British musical organisations – he was the
chairman of the Composers’ Guild and British Music Information Centre from
1977 to 1993. He is perhaps best known as a composer. His 1st Symphony gained
the Premio Cittá di Trieste in 1972, and a large scale oratorio Christus Requiem
earned him the Yugoslav Government’s Arts Award after performances in
Skopje in 1976; his 3rd Symphony has the Ernest Ansermet Prize from Geneva, and
he received the First International Composers’ Award in Budapest in 1997 for a
choral masque The Prayer of St Francis. He has awards from Spain, Finland and
Belgium. The BBC commissioned his 5th Symphony in 1986. He worked as an
arranger for West End shows in London, composing and directing light music
recordings and an album for the jazz group Continuum, and ghost writing for
Rod McKuen’s classical American recordings. A regular visitor to Hungary and
France as a jury member for choral competitions, he taught composition and
orchestration at the Guildhall School of Music in London for 15 years, moving to
Yorkshire in 1980 to become Head of Music at the Leeds University college at
Bretton Hall.
Contents

Introduction
Course overview
Course outcomes
Starting the course
Music theory
Notation software
Keeping a listening log
Project and assignment plan

1: Exploring rhythm
Introductory note
Project 1: Percussion solos
Project 2: Duets
Project 3: Three and more instruments
Project 4: About structure
Assignment 1: A composition for a group of untuned percussion

2: Exploring melody and scales

Introductory note
Project 5: Pentatonic melody
Project 6: Analysing a solo composition
Project 7: Exploring different scales
Assignment 2: A composition for a solo woodwind instrument
3: Rounds, descants, polyphony
Introductory note
Project 8: Rounds
Project 9: Descants
Project 10: A contrapuntal trial
Assignment 3: A little polyphony

4: Exploring counterpoint
Introductory note
Project 11: Inventing free counterpoint
Project 12: Two-part inventions
Assignment 4: A contrapuntal composition

5: Exploring harmony
Introductory note
Project 13: Elaborate cadences
Project 14: Improvisation on a dominant
Assignment 5: Harmony in the round

Appendix A: suggested reading

Appendix B: suggested listening
Introduction

Course overview
It is widely thought that teaching the creative process in any of the art forms,
whether through the medium of visual forms, language or sound, is not only
near impossible, but quite unnecessary. Being a creative artist is, perhaps like
medicine and teaching, a natural gift. People are themselves created in just such
a way that unknown forces propel them into a need to express themselves in a
particular fashion. Nothing can teach the instincts with which an individual is
born.

But acquiring the craft required to achieve the imagined goals can be assisted
greatly by forms of instruction that make the journey rather easier. Being a
beneficiary of the broad experience of a good teacher (that is, one who has found
some successful routes through a forest of mistakes!) can point the way more
directly. Students can then move more quickly through their own forests of
mistakes and discoveries. They should do so on a firm foundation.

In this course, an exploration of the craft of musical composition begins with

limitations. Even the frustrations of being confined will challenge ingenuity and
should provoke the discovery of unexpected solutions. With limited means, the
creative process must be at its most inventive.

Throughout the course, challenges to ingenuity and inventiveness will lead to an

approach to composition which has breadth. The constant questioning of
contrasting means to achieve an end is an important ingredient of compositional
skill. Trying a quick passage slowly, a loud passage softly, or changing the
instrument playing it all – these aspects of ‘lateral thinking’ are all part of the
composer’s skill. Becoming aware of this process and being able to apply it to all
creative situations will, it is hoped, be the most lasting outcome.
In addition, there is a wealth of practical information and demonstration
designed to broaden a composer’s horizons.

Course outcomes
Upon completion of Composing Music 1 you will be able to:
• write short pieces for untuned percussion;
• compose melodic lines, add descants and explore less familiar scales;
• write counterpoint more freely in two and three parts;
• make some explorations with harmonic progressions.

Starting the course

What to do first
Begin by reading the introduction and then look through the whole course. Make
a note of any questions you might have and consider a rough timetable you can
work from to complete the course.

Student profile
You will find in the Student Handbook a form called Student Profile. Use this to
tell your tutor a little about any past experience you have and how confident you
feel about learning some of the skills. This is an important document. It is your
first link with your tutor and gives you the chance to introduce yourself. Give
your tutor as much information as you can about your previous experience, your
reasons for exploring this subject and what you expect to achieve from taking the
course. OCA tuition is on a one-to-one basis and so it is possible for our tutors to
angle their advice to meet individual needs; but only if these are defined in the
Student Profile.

Your tutor will write to you, introducing him/herself and suggesting a date for
the submission of your first assignment in line with your timetable. Please note
that this date is given as an indication and that there is a degree of flexibility. If
you feel you can complete the section earlier, then by all means do. If you feel
you need a little longer, that's fine. If, however, there is going to be a
considerable delay we would appreciate your contacting the tutor and giving an
anticipated date for the submission of your assignment. The most important
thing is that you gain the maximum pleasure and satisfaction from taking the
course.

When you submit an assignment your tutor will comment and advise on your
work and answer any questions relating to the course.

Once you have looked through the course and sent off your student profile, you
can begin to start your first project.

Music theory
The OCA expects students on its Composing Music courses to have a basic
grounding in Music Theory. It would be extremely difficult to achieve any
progress with the craft of composition if there was an additional need to
interrupt the series of projects frequently to explain the fundamentals of musical
notation. To this end we are recommending the AB (Associated Board) Guide to
Music Theory by Eric Taylor, published by the Associated Board of the Royal
Schools of Music. Part 1 of the Guide is particularly relevant to Level 1 of the
course, Part 2 is an essential background to Level 2. The chapters in the book are
referred to as appropriate before each Section in the course, and it is expected
that the student will read and revise this material before proceeding with each
group of projects. It will be most advisable to invest perhaps a couple of months
in making sure you are thoroughly familiar with Part 1 of the Guide before
commencing the course. Do discuss this with your tutor if you feel you need
more information.
Notation software
You will need a means of hearing your own work and sharing it with your tutor
so that recommended revisions may also be returned to you and played. The
best means to this end is to acquire a good music software package, and set up
an email connection so that the software files can be sent direct to your tutor.
This is a matter that should be discussed with your tutor as it is important that
you should both have compatible software. Here are some suggested
programmes to find out about:

Sibelius Software
www.sibelius.com
Finale Notation Software
www.finalemusic.com
These are two of the best and
most widely used professional
and student programmes – but
they are quite expensive. If you
expect to continue composing it
would be well worth the
investment.

Others include:
• Score Writer
• Allegro
• Noteworthy Composer
• Overture and Cakewalk
It will be worth finding out more from school, college and university music
departments or from friends, and doing some research through websites
(www.hitsquad.com/smm/cat/NOTATION)
Keeping a listening log
For the Composing Music courses, the learning log will primarily take the form of
a listening log. It is vitally important for all composers to have a solid experience
of music through its major developments: from Ancient, Oriental and Medieval
music, through the Renaissance and the age during which Opera and Church
music rose to a peak during the 17th century, to the repertoires of the Classical,
Romantic and Modern times. There is so much to hear, and so much that can be
learnt from listening and, where possible, borrowing or somehow acquiring
copies of the music heard. Nor should reading about the history of music, as well
as its techniques, be neglected There are both recommended reading and
listening lists included as relevant to each section of the course, but these will
only be a small representation of all that is available from libraries or the internet.

The OCA will assist this with access to CD collections, but the responsibility is
ultimately with you, for no one else can listen for you and gain the experience.

The listing should also include radio listening and live concerts, and especially
focus on music that is unfamiliar to you – whether or not the experience results
in you liking what you hear!. The purpose is to know what is out there, and to
know what the experienced listeners, your audience, will inevitably be
comparing your work with. Also included should be your comments on the
listening, for you will probably have forgotten your initial reactions when later
you come to the same piece again and discover your reactions are quite changed!
Including commentaries on heard experiences therefore is also important.

After any session of listening or concert visit, make sure that you have made a
note of page number or index words as an aid to memory for future reference.
Always read books with a pencil and note pad available; it is almost impossible
to find again a choice phrase, comment or paragraph after you have progressed a
few chapters and closed the book.

Keep the listening log up to date and in good order. It is always possible that
your tutor, or the OCA, or a validating authority may wish to see it alongside the
work you may wish to submit for assessment.
Project and Assignment Plan

1: Exploring rhythm
Project 1: Percussion solos 10
Project 2: Duets 10
Project 3: Three and more instruments 10
Project 4: About structure 10
Assignment 1: A composition for a group of
untuned percussion 20

2: Exploring melody and scales

Project 5: Pentatonic melody 10
Project 6: Analysing a solo composition 10
Project 7: Exploring different scales 10
Assignment 2: A composition for a solo
woodwind instrument 20

3: Rounds, descants, polyphony

Project 8: Rounds 10
Project 9: Descants 10
Project 10: A contrapuntal trial 10
Assignment 3: A little polyphony 30

4: Exploring counterpoint
Project 11: Inventing free counterpoint 15
Project 12: Two-part inventions 15
Assignment 4: A contrapuntal composition 40

5: Exploring harmony
Project 13: Elaborate cadences 15
Project 14: Improvisation on a dominant 15
Assignment 5: Harmony in the round 40

Listening and Reading 90

TOTAL TIME 400

1: Exploring Rhythm

Introductory note
Before beginning each section, it will be necessary to make sure you are familiar
with all the music theory which underpins the section.

The references will be to The AB Guide to Music Theory – Part 1 by Eric Taylor.
This gives a guide to all the theoretical information needed for the performance
of instrumental and vocal music graded by the Associated Board of the Royal
Schools of Music from Grades 1 to 5. Appropriate chapters in other guides will
however be similarly helpful.

You should first read Eric Taylor’s Preface which defines music theory clearly.
This helps to make clear the distinction between the theory of musical notation
and using all that information in the process of composition. This OCA course is
about Composing. It needs the support of a thorough familiarity with music
theory.

Check your familiarity with the content of Chapters 1: The Basics of Rhythm
and Tempo; and the appropriate parts of 3: Continuing with Rhythm and 5: The
Grouping of Notes and Rests.

Your knowledge of Reiterations and Repeats (Chapter 13) will be expected. It

will also be assumed that you are you have refreshed your knowledge of
Chapter 10: Tempo, Dynamics and Mood.

There is also an invaluable Appendix A on Irregular Divisions of Time Values,

and the Glossary of Foreign Words used for Performance Directions will be
invaluable throughout the course.
Focus on rhythm
The course begins rhythmically. The focus is on compositions for percussion
instruments and, to begin with, untuned percussion.

About untuned percussion

Most untuned percussion instruments are allocated a single line stave, and it is
suggested that this be done for all the following:

Place the metallic instruments first, highest sounds at the top:

• Triangle; Cymbal (high and low, suspended and played with two beaters);
• The less controlled cymbal ‘clash’ is produced with two cymbals brought
together, either lightly or heavily.
• Gongs; Tam-tams.

The tambourine is a hybrid and might therefore appear next.

Among the wooden instruments would be castanets, and some instruments that
will need more than a single-line stave.

Wood blocks are usually made to two contrasting indeterminate

pitches and would be allocated a two-line stave.

Temple blocks are sets of five ornamental hollow wooden skull- or clam-
shaped blocks in different sizes approximating to a pentatonic scale, and are
most conveniently notated on a five-line stave.
Then the membranes from the highest:
Side drum (or snare drum - snares are ON by default);
Tom toms; Bongos; Tenor drum; Bass drum.

The Drum Kit (Drum Set in America) is usually notated on a 5-line stave,
although notation is generally at a minimum as most jazz drummers find it
easier to improvise than read.

Ex.1

More careful indications may be necessary if you want a realistic computer

playback. Your computer programme may have its own distribution of
instruments over the stave.

The sticks or beaters are of the greatest importance with all percussion
instruments, though ‘clashed’ cymbals do not need beaters, and tambourines are
usually played with the hand and fingers.

There are three types of beaters: hard, medium and soft. The harder the stick,
the thinner and brighter (not necessarily louder) the sound produced.

A metal beater for the triangle is usual. Large soft headed sticks are normally
used for gongs and the tam-tam – but for these instruments, wooden side drum
sticks (for instance) would create a sound quite different from what is normally
expected. Wood blocks and temple blocks would be played with marimba
mallets or snare drum sticks.
Untuned percussion notation
The duration of notes for sustaining instruments (cymbals, gongs, tam-tams)
must be accurately indicated from start to the point of finish, when the sound is
dampened and stopped. The drums have very little resonance, and there is
virtually no difference between a staccato semiquaver and an unmarked
crotchet.

Percussion players take the tremolo to indicate measured notes. The trill on
untuned percussion is a multi-stroke unmeasured roll.

Ex.2

Practical matters
Indications of speed and dynamic are
The speed at wh ich music moves from
essential, even in the rough sketches for note to note is set by indicating the
number of times a fixed note va lue
a piece. Without knowing about how (minim, crotchet, quaver etc.) occurs
quickly or slowly, how loudly or softly each minute. An adjustable apparatus
th a t f irst helped to set the tempo in
the composer intends the performance th is way was the metronome, a
clockwork device patented by J. N.
to be, no adequate judgement can be Maelzel in 1814. Digita l metronomes
made of the notation or what it all adds are now widely ava i lable wit h a
variety of useful applications.
up to. It is not unusual that a composer Read chapter 10/1 in the AB Guide.
may feel it interesting to make decisions
about whether to use a group of
crotchets at a fast tempo, or semiquavers at a slower speed.
In Ex. 3 the sound of each passage is exactly the same – but the psychological
effect of the notation is quite different for both composer and performer. The
expectation of a slower tempo when longer note values are used can be both
useful and confusing! Complexities are sometimes made more apparent with
greater space, yet some composers enjoy making their notation (and their
music) complicated.

Ex.3

Dynamics should be carefully thought through and indicated. A triangle ff is no

match for the cymbal or the devastating tam-tam with the same marking. All
crescendos and diminuendos should have a clearly marked start and finish
dynamic; the player’s technique will be adapted to the different requirement.

The first group of Projects will together make up a substantial series of short
Studies for untuned percussion instruments.

Project 1: Percussion solos

The first undertaking on the course is to compose four contrasting short pieces
designed to demonstrate the different characters of some untuned percussion
instruments. The pieces should not be made to challenge percussion players, but
rather to challenge your own creative ingenuity. ‘Short’ means trying to
maintain interest from 8 to about 16 bars.
The following examples illustrate:

the military character of the side drum,

Ex. 4

the more sombre quality of strokes on a suspended cymbal with a soft headed
stick,

Ex. 5

and the rather comical character of interchanges between the higher and lower
wood blocks notated – as is usual – on a two line stave.

Ex. 6