Making A Start

Having now completed my first music course with the OCA (From the Present to the Past), I can now begin my second level 1 music course - Start Composing Music. I learnt a lot in my previous course, not just about music but about how to study, and distance learning. Now I'm comfortable with those concepts and this method of working, I can get straight into this course without further complications.

My course materials arrived a few days ago, on Thursday 10th October. I also received the materials for my level one photography course that I'll be studying concurrently with this one. I am still deciding how best to juggle these two courses and manage my time effectively, but I thought I'd make a start on composition. The first port of call was to get proficient with my notation software Sibelius 7. I spent the weekend with a comprehensive video tutorial course for the software called Sibelius 7 Essentials available from Lynda.com. This is a comprehensive but easy to follow course which quickly made me feel comfortable using the new software. I would highly recommend it to anyone else starting composition who has not previously used Sibelius 7.

Even though I have Grade 6 ABRSM Theory of Music, and am nearing completion of my studies for Grade 7, I still felt very apprehensive about writing my own music. Even though I have played piano for many years, I have never attempted my own composition of any kind. I think this is because I'm reluctant to 'have a go' without any kind of direction or specific training. With the first exercise in front of me, I looked at the example percussion solos, and immediately thought I would struggle to write anything as good or complicated as that. I found myself pleasantly surprised then when a side drum rhythm began to form in my head, and I began to write it in the software. It didn't take too long before I had an eight bar piece that I'm pleased with, featuring rolls, flams and dynamics as well as a logical structure and rhythm. I called the piece 'Side Drum Surprise' as there is a surprise in the piece akin to Haydn's Surprise Symphony, and I suppose also due to my own surprise at the ease with which my idea flowed onto the (virtual) page.

My next steps is to further develop the design of this learning blog, send my personal profile to my tutor, and continue with the first exercise.