Hello,

I'm new and not that good at composing.

I play piano and clarinet.

I have one week off school to compose !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what to compose though....

-blues/New Orleans?
-new age type thing with clarinet and piano
-SATB thing for voices (I'm doing grade 6 theory so I'm doing Bach harmony type stuff)
-pop ballad type piano thing

thanks,

please say whichever would be easiest.

I'd also quite like to know a simple way to compose a kind of classical tune, like a gavotte/gigue/sonate , it's time signature/form and rhythmic patterns. Whichever gets chosen, I would like it to be able to be a 'stand alone' piece, not like a "1st movement" or "Allegro" part of a huge piece. Neither a piece that's supposed to be part of a suite. Maybe a theme and variation?

I know it's a bit of a rambling thread, sorry!!

thanks

will

Write what you know most about and the task will be much easier. Perhaps a suite of short pieces in contrasting styles for clarinet and piano would be a useful idea? Decide on a style that you enjoy playing and start improvising on your clari. if you choose to write in modern styles you might use blues, boogie -woogie, tango, rock or many others and you could perform the suite too.

If you have to choose one of those, I'd go for the Newage one probably. If not, just sit at a piano and see what comes out of it.

Are you composing as part of your school course e.g. GCSE? The level you're working at makes rather a lot of difference to what advice is most suitable.

You say you're not that good at composing: what do you mean by 'not that good' - you've done grade 6 theory and are contemplating writing for SATB so that sounds like you have a pretty good grasp of music at least, even if composing is difficult. The students I've taught who I would consider 'not that good' have struggled to even write one line of music! Someone who doesn't have a clue where to start because they've never composed a piece in their life would need different advice from someone who has some composing experience but feels that they're not up to the standard required of your course. If you can give a bit more info on your circumstances then it will be easier to offer advice.