How I compose: From Zero to "Plausible Digits" in less than 15 mins (jazz composition process)
Chronicle of the process of composition - From Zero to "Plausible Digits" in less than 15 mins
In this video, I captured the whole process of composition for me.
In this case, I went from having nothing in front of me, to composing Plausibe Digits in less than 15 mins.
I wish there was more talking, but this is really how it happens: I'm stopping, testing things, trying to hear melodies in my head, then playing them and keeping them or disregarding them.
Usually I have a starting point.
In this case my point of departure were 4 chords, which are basically the turnaround in Fmaj with some "slick" substitutions (or so I thought), which got to:
Fmaj(add4)
Dm13
Ab/Eb {substitute for ii)
Abm/C {substitute for V7, I call it the Bartok chord)
So the whole thing is roughly :
| F | Dm | Ab | Ab-/C |
I wondered what they would sound like when I thought of this progression, and I turned on my camera to record the whole process.
First I was just trying to hear the chords in time, then I was testing out melodies, trying to find out what I can hear on those chords (which are slightly uncommon, but also connected to a common turnaround), trying to find the blues within it, and selecting what melodies I want to keep or throw away. There is a lot of repetition to hear things again and evaluate them or to find the melody that escapes my grasp. I like to hear things 5-6-....-10 times before I decide that I like them.
However, the whole process is fairly quick, the whole thing is done in 15 mins in this case. I add a secondary melody on top of the same changes later. Usually I go over the whole thing again on a different time or day, to maybe tweak the harmony again or add a section.
Also, my cat Igor was helping all along the way. He is the composer's assistant.
Hope this helps you out there, keep writing music!
Are you looking for inspiration, coaching, or simply unique music or future art? The check out www.aleksfadini.com