Save money on sheet music — write your own! Awkward page turn? Rewrite it! These may not be the first reasons to compose music, but they are among the side benefits.
I have been an AMSF member for about 10 years, and I have played piano, cello, and viola (planned) at various AMSF events. I have also been interested in writing music for much longer than that — from around age five, which, as I like to say, has given me time to improve.
As early as elementary school, I was bringing my carefully hand-written attempt at a little Bach-inspired “two-part invention” to a piano lesson — all of four measures. Stuck already, I asked my teacher what to do next.
“Write whatever you want to write,” he said.
“I don’t know what I want to write. What do I do?”
“Just write whatever you want to write.”
This was going nowhere. Pressed, he said, “Well, you could repeat your phrase,” which happens often enough in musical compositions. I wanted to ask, “Then what?” but figured the answer would be the same — “Write whatever you want to write!” That ended that conversation, but not the roadblocks.
It turns out that even repeating my phrase was a problem, because it was in irregular meter. I didn’t know anything about irregular meter, so I couldn’t square things up no matter how hard I tried.
Fortunately, what seemed like a mountain at the time shrank as I learned more over the years.
I took up the violin and played through high school and college. I also studied organ for a few years and played at services and several weddings. More recently, I studied cello until halted by the 2020 pandemic. Undeterred, one of my “pandemic projects” was learning to read viola clef (alto clef), one of the main obstacles for violinists who also want to play viola.
As for musical composition, earning a Master’s in Orchestration in 2015 from the Berklee College of Music opened new possibilities beyond writing for piano. Since then, when I encounter solo musicians or ensembles, we now have a mutually beneficial opportunity. These expanding prospects have led to publicly performed works for string orchestra, wind ensemble, harp and strings, oboe and strings, solo trumpet, saxophone, horn, unaccompanied viola, saxophone quartet, string quartet, viola quartet, string trio, brass quintet, voice, and others.
How grateful I am to so many people who have provided opportunities to write for them or who have connected me with others looking for fresh music. Although I have also sold some music through online sheet music sites, by far the main satisfaction is in interacting with players and hearing what they do with my compositions.
Orchestration involves writing for all kinds of ensembles, not just for full orchestra. For example, in converting a piece for string quartet into a piece for brass quintet, what to do with the extra player? One could send the extra player out to get coffee and donuts for everyone! Fortunately, orchestration techniques provide many more options.
In addition to AMSF, I play in a community string orchestra called Ritorno a Musica, a church string ensemble, and have been drafted into a string quartet to play my Frenetic Quartet. I did not realize I would have to play what I wrote! I am also a member of the Friday Morning Music Club Composer Group, which puts on concerts throughout the year.
And yes, more than once I have rewritten parts to accommodate page turns. It has been a chance to make performing easier for harp players, string players, accompanists, and others.