25 Ways to Think About Pre-Composition
Most composers have heard of “pre-composition,” and many incorporate it as part of their creative process. How can you make the most of this creative practice?
Here are 25 ways to think about it…
Pre-composition is singing in the shower and on the freeway.
Pre-composition is the hundreds of journals, notebooks, and scattered files you keep, collecting ideas for future use.
Pre-composition is all the late-night conversations you had in your teens and twenties, dreaming about what life would be like and imagining the possibilities.
Pre-composition is the stenographer to your sense of wonder.
Pre-composition is about cultivating meaning. It’s about saying, “This is what I care about and why.”
Pre-composition is about cultivating shared meaning. It’s about saying, “This is what matters to others — and the generous response it inspires in me.”
Pre-composition is sitting in a concert thinking “This piece would be so much better if it did ‘this’ instead . . .”
Pre-composition is the narrowing of options that makes productive choices possible. It enacts Stravinsky’s statement that “The more constraints one imposes, the more one frees one's self of the chains that shackle the spirit.”
Pre-composition is just as much a process of “not that” as it is a process of “this.”
Pre-composition is not a commitment. It is simply using plans to generate momentum and direction. You do not fail at pre-composition if your final piece looks nothing like your plans.
In terms of compositional tasks, pre-composition consists of “consulting,” “connecting,” and “sketching.”
Pre-composition is a time for diagrams and sketches, wild ideas and big dreams.
Pre-composition loves enthusiasm and wilts with judgment.
Pre-composition is a space for lateral, “yes, and . . .” thinking.
Pre-composition makes composition easier.
Pre-composition creates the sandbox in which composition takes place. You don’t have to make your own sandbox; you can use the one at the playground.
Pre-composition doesn’t have to be conscious or deliberate.
Pre-composition consists of every experience you’ve lived up to this point, musical and extramusical.
Pre-composition is selecting a recipe and performing the mise-en-place.
Pre-composition is selecting a recipe and devising your deviations from it.
Pre-composition generates a buffet of choices. Even if you think you’ve put “a little of everything” on your plate, you still end up selecting less than half of what’s offered.
Pre-composition can be overwhelming; it’s okay to scrap it all, then just compose.
Pre-composition can be liberating; it’s okay to follow a formula.
Pre-composition is a safe space: “A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
Pre-composition is like childhood. Just as a successful childhood entails leaving one’s parents, a successful pre-composition leaves itself behind.
How else do you think about the “Pre-composing” phase? What tricks or tools do you use? Share this blog post to social media and let people know…
