Hello and welcome to my blog thread that will document the process of composing an original piece for MUED3603 (Composition in Music Education). Today I am writing about completing my "baby steps" activities as way of starting my composition. These activities were created by me in another task to help students move past a blank page and to explore different sounds and styles in a safe space.
If you haven't already seen what my "baby steps" activities are you can have a look here.
The first activity is developing an idea or inspiration for the piece. Here is my plan:
As you can see, I have chosen the idea of a rumour spreading as my inspiration. I think that it is a really cool idea and would work really well in a musical context.
The second activity is working through the choice of a pitch set. Using an interactive website I listened to various modes and have chosen E Aeolian (Natural Minor) as my key. I think it provides a good foundation for the mood of the piece while still having a clear sense of a tonic which I like as this helps to ground the idea of a starting and ending point for my "rumour".
The final activity, uses elements of chance composition to create melodic content. Here is the part of my completed worksheet that shows the chosen note order:
The rest of the activity worked through how to choose the rhythmic elements and add articulation. This is my melody:
I have to admit, that I was pleasantly surprised with the melody that the dice chose for me. I think that has a nice contour, as it almost moves down from E to B and then G which is the "tonic chord" of my pitch set. I also like that it returns back to the E after one note.
Overall, I thought that my baby steps activities worked really well to get a student started in their composition. The chance composition activity was interesting and took the pressure off. I also think the idea of using a theme or specific inspiration for the composition process helps as it gives you something to write for.
I am excited to see where this melody goes and how it develops.
Stay tuned!