Composition
Relevant blog posts
Album Distribution Starter Guide
So you've got your music recorded and you're ready to distribute it? That's great! There's a lot to learn about distribution, but this starter guide will help you get off to a good start to getting your music out there!Overview of Topics Copyright Digital Distribution...
Understanding Performance Rights Organizations
DISCLAIMER: This blog is a general guide on PROs. This is not intended as legal advice. The information on this page may be incorrect or outdated. Please confirm any information in this post with an attorney and/or the relevant PRO. For transparency, the...
Introduction to Score Reading
It's important for all musicians to be able to read from a full score and to know about common ensembles, even ones in which they don't play. This primer is meant as an introduction to score reading and orchestration. Post Navigation Navigate to your area of...
The Care and Feeding of Composers
While all musicians will play music by composers that are well established and often dead, many will also have the opportunity to perform new works by living composers with the composers present. While this can present some of the most exciting opportunities in...
Coping with Writer’s Block
If you're on the creative end of the arts, you have probably at some point felt creatively "blocked," as though you reached a brick wall and can't figure out how to break through. Here are some tips for avoiding and countering writer's block: You Don't Have to...
Coping with Failure
One of the most paralyzing fears for many artists is a fear of failure. However, we often fall into the trap of fearing failure and dreaming of success without really defining either term. In my experience, too few artists really live with the...
Contemporary Concert Music Listening Guide
This list is chiefly assembled from various lists by other composers and musicians. This list is to get you started in listening to 20th and 21st century composers. It is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a taste of some of what's out there. JOHN...
How to Prepare a Professional Score
With so many excellent compositions submitted to contests, calls, and colleges, adjudicators have to look for ways to thin the herd. If your score doesn't look good, chances are that it will be cut before it's given a really earnest listening. Attention to detail in...
Resources
- Commissioning Music: a Basic Guide from Meet the Composer
- An Individual’s Guide to Commissioning Music from Meet the Composer
- Music for Dance: Composer-Choreographer Collaboration from Meet the Composer
- Orchestral Music Preparation Guidelines from the Major Orchestra Librarians’ Association
- Database of Female Composers: See the Database | Add Yourself to the Database
- Database of Non-White Composers: See the Database | Add Yourself to the Database
- Rob Deemer’s Metronome Markings & Metric Modulations Chart: Concise Version | Omnibus Edition
- Rob Deemer’s Composition Duration Calculator