This post today is for all you musicians out there that are interested in getting started with music composition and/or arranging. I originally was going to compile this into a larger post covering everything to do with my music composition/production process, but I had so much to say, I thought these thoughts needed a post of their own. :)
To start, I think the
most important thing we need to realize as Christian musicians is that God gave
us our abilities, and each ability is extraordinarily unique. Although instructive comparison can be
beneficial if done right, there is little room for comparison otherwise. God created diversity; there are no two
humans exactly alike. He gives only good
gifts, and the abilities He places in our hands are personalized specifically
to us.
Learning to write
music is a daunting aspect. You cannot—I
repeat, cannot—base your success on
how your work compares. When you first
begin writing, you’re not going to be a Mozart or a Beethoven or a Chopin;
that’s not the way it works. Like
everyone else, you’ve got to start from square one.
I began noodling
around with music composition in middle school, where I would come up with
little motifs and jot them down by hand.
It wasn’t till my junior year of high school when I got serious about
writing, and that only happened because one of my greatest role models
personally asked me to take a Song Writing class from her. I was petrified, and even more so when I
realized that I was in a class where 8/9ths of the other students were juniors…
in college. 4 years older! I was petrified. How could I possibly measure up to them?
As we got into the
class, I discovered a couple of things: 1) no one really knew if they were any
good at it, and 2) the age difference meant nothing. We all had to determine at the beginning of
the semester that we would allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Before long, our class fostered an environment
of honesty, encouragement, and support.
Our first composition
assignment was to each compose a melody for the same lyrics. What came out if it? 10 new tunes to the hymn My Jesus, I Love Thee. Most
of these (including mine) were never developed, but one turned into a gorgeous
SATB arrangement that was later used to bless the church. My point?
You never know what will happen until you try! Only one of the students—to my knowledge—went
farther than the classroom on that first assignment.
My teacher was never
discouraging or demeaning of our work, and this was key for my development as a
writer. If you’re serious about writing
music, get an experienced writer to encourage and help you along the
journey. A church family that is willing
to let you use your music in the church is also a gift. You will receive lots of helpful feedback
when you let others hear your music.
I’m not going to
preach the “believe in yourself” message, but I wholeheartedly entreat you to believe God gave you this ability for a
reason. If you are physically
capable of writing music, you have an ability. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have a gift, but that is not for you to decide;
that is for God to reveal as you walk this journey.
Failure is a natural
part of learning any new skill, and music composition is no exception. After experiencing success in writing for
violin, I hit a brick wall in November of last year. I had spent almost the entire semester
working with a college professor to write a violin solo, but when I surveyed
the end result, I hated it! I had worked so hard and the results were
mediocre at best. This taught me that
not all of my efforts will be successful—and
that’s okay! God uses failure to
keep us humble. Life isn’t supposed to
be a breeze, so you cannot expect smooth sailing all the way. View failure as growing pains: they’re
necessary to your development. Don’t shy
away from failure! Reflect on what happened,
learn from your mistakes, and keep going.
And finally, the most basic advice I can give
you as you start out: just start. As with many other things, it’s a leap of
faith. You have to trust God with the
outcome.
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