Thank you for continuing to produce such wonderful and profound content. You are one of my biggest compositional role models!

That's really great advice about writing mentally rather than at an instrument - it's so easy to get into the habit of fishing for notes at the piano and not looking for the bigger picture. On the other hand, though, I've found that just getting my hands on an instrument that I intend to write for to be helpful for getting a feel of what works well on that instrument, no matter how limited my skills on it, and often the tactile connection with it provokes some ideas, anway.

We're on the ground floor of this fantastic channel

I've watched many of your videos, and they are always fascinating to me. I always get some revelation that helps me advance musically. Thanks!

Thank you for a lucid distillation of your compositional practice. I read and write a great deal of poetry, and I find much of what you describe here resonates with the kind of painstaking, yet rewarding, practice of writing verse. While I do not disdain the contemporary taste for poetry that celebrates the immediacy of composition and a free form (or the arbitrary limitation approach you mentioned with reference to Perec's La Disparation), I find what you describe in this video far more representative of the composition of more structured genres. I like especially your discussion of the prospective element of composition; it always surprises me how complex layers of imposed structure are resolved in new and interesting ways once one starts writing - and it becomes almost a eureka moment when I work out that a dactyl or spondee, or a particular metrical length will simply not work given the conditions established. Anyways, sorry to carry on here, I meant only to thank you for sharing with such detail!

" So I hope that's a reasonably lucid explanation of how I go about my work" that's about as lucid as it gets...

That's super cool. Thanks Samuel!

I was wondering if you have any method to develop your inner ear? Maybe it could be an idea for a video :) Of course i understand that there is no standard way of doing this and that it takes years to develop. Great video by the way!

That's a very good video! thank you for the useful tips!

Interesting analysis Samuel! The process of compositing without an instrument (system of reference) seems to rely on auditory memories, techniques, methods, predetermined aesthetic/political intent of the work. Both memories and methods are in the realm of the already known and experienced. An alternative approach involves a desire to explore the unknown/unheard, and this requires working with instrumentation and/or abstract cognitive ideas. I remember a saying in jazz: ‘if you can’t hear it, you can’t play it’ and I suppose the reverse is also relevant: if you haven’t played it (external audiation, technique, craft), you can’t hear it (internal audiation). New approaches need to be discovered, and discovery requires exploration. It would be fascinating to hear your perspective of the composition process through an analysis of the distinctive qualities/approaches associated with intuitive vs cognitive creation. Great work as always!

I am a painter. I can see similarities in your process. Very interesting video, thank you for sharing!

Absolutely love this!

Finally found someone who composes in exactly the same way as me.

I was looking for a video like this because it just seems writing music is so painstakingly, to think that early composers had to write note for note somehow knowing which ones would go together in which pattern. How it wouldn't take years to compose a single symphony is beyond me. At least these days you can enter notes on a computer and synthesize various instruments.

Thank you so very much. 😊

thanks for some great insight. subscribed

Very lucid explanation indeed! I respect your structured approach to composition. You put great amounts of forethought into your compositions it seems. That would challenge me, because I am anxious to see fruition from any small idea that is catchy. When I find that one little guitar riff, or that one melody and lyric, I try to shoehorn everything around it. The initial idea grows stale by the time I’ve developed other components of the piece. You emphasize a thoughtful approach to composition that helps me rethink the way I approach songwriting. Thank you for your explications of classical music. When listening to a piece I enjoy, I ask myself “What the hell makes this enjoyable! It’s just notes after each other-why does it not seem as arbitrary!” Your theoretical analysis provides reason as to why most of the time this is not be the case.

Excellent considerations

So interesting! Because me as composer couldn't care less about instrumentation when catching ideas for new pieces. My intentions are in fact quite opposite. I want my ideas to be fitting the larges number of instruments as possible, so it can be easily arranged for different groups of musicians.

I write the same way!! I knew I wasn't alone! I began to do this from the age of 14. Just recored a string quartet that I wrote all the pieces just stream on consciousness. Didn't even listen to them until they were complete. I just posted the 1st movement on my youtube channel. Someone said "wow! That must have been a lot of work!" I thought well... No.. Not at all. Not writing the work. That happened in a few days. The hard part is entering the notes into Finale. Hiring the players. Booking the studio time. Thats the hard part! Very much enjoying your channel! thanks --Tyler Vrooman

this guy speaking FACTS

great composer.

the cool thing about "composition instruction" is that anyone who made this explanatory video, if they were to, the method would be COMPLETELY different for each of us. we all have our rituals I've noticed, food, drugs, drink, meditation, etc. ad infinitum... creation is so interesting because its impossible to describe it. thanks, as always. this was super interesting.

Hi! I was wondering if you could maybe share some experiences on how your evolution from writing at an instrument to writing at your desk went. Did you actively train it? Could you perhaps also share some exercises on how to train this? Thanks a lot! Really interesting channel!

What is your *goal* while you compose? What do you aim at? Do you want to produce a certain experience in the listener? Do you want to produce a certain emotion in yourself? How do you decide that a change is an improvement or that something is *done*?

Great virtue in not having the exact sounds in front of you. Because there inevitably will be periods of adjustment and in those adjustments come potential fresh directions..... However I consider myself a composer even though I improvise everything I do sometimes with the aid of a graphic score, occasionally to expand the repertoire! It's such a fascinating process. Endeavouring to precisely hone a piece as it unfolds on the piano, recording it and seeing if the piece is up to scratch.

Great video. I've always been curious about this myself. It's actually not completely divorced from the methods your average rock artist uses. I guess the biggest difference is that the spontaneity of rock music makes going right from idea to execution more realistic. One thing I found interesting is when you describe developing the ability to basically hear what you're writing in your head. Something I know, from years of writing songs with other musicians and playing in bands, is that anyone who takes what they do seriously can easily play by ear or plan out a riff in their head then translate it to an instrument. That comment does no justice to how mind-blowing I found this. Can't wait to hear your breakdown of "Leck mich im Arsch" haha. Cheers!

Man, I couldn't be happier about finding your stuff. I really admire your work and the fact that you are, also, a youtuber, and do this incredibly interesting videos. I'd like to add spanish subtitles to them, 'cos I want to show them to people here in Argentina. Would that be possible? Cheers!

He blinked more than every viewers combined of this video!!

346 BPM 346 Blinks Per Minute

* sees title * me : when you find out you let me know

Hello, I was wondering about one thing: doesn’t the fact that you know when starting a new piece that you will probably revise or rewrite it later block you, it make you too self critical in the moment of composing, or do you tend to ignore this and leave the critique for when you have finished?

Would you have different advice for someone that's trying to composer electronic music? Composing for instruments seems pretty straightforward, but I'm not sure how to make a good electronic music piece with synthesizers and samplers

I'd be interested to know your thoughts on composition competitions. When I was in music school I was encouraged to enter as many as I could. But most of them ended up costing a lot of money for the entry fees, printing, and shipping costs without any benefit. I'd either be informed that my piece wasn't selected or I would not hear back at all from the competition. Is it worth it to continue to enter into those contests?

Samuel Andreyev: Thickness and Relaxation

Samuel Andreyev Hey Sam, I am 16 and I’ve been writing music for around 3 years. And I was wondering if there was certain things you did when you where beginning. I usually write in my excess time at school but half the time the music that I am writing is obscure to me. Until I play it at home, I never really have a clear idea what it sounds like. If you could maybe shed some light on improving this visualization skill it would be much appreciated. And do you recall certain songs for intervals like Amazing Grace for the Perfect 4th? Anyways great vids they help tremendously.

What do you use to draw the four line staves on grid paper?

Hi. I have a question - do you think that by imposing limitations or allowing for something to happen one indulges in binary thinking patterns and music, being the most abstract of all arts actually allows for complete experimentation in that regard - trying out different thinking patterns other than the ones that could be said to represent number 2?

Hey Samuel, can you recommend any methods or exercises for developing the inner ear?

I wish I was able to know how to write for every instrument all I can write for atm is violin and viola

Hi there. I'm a guitarist and write my own songs, riffs and solos etc. Most , if not all, my music comes from me noodling on the guitar, playing chord progressions or improvised licks on the spot, like alot of guitarists. Is this video suggesting that the classical composers did a similar thing, rather than just have their ideas in their head and then write them down on manuscript?

Can I ask why you use graph paper as well as stave paper? Is it for a specific reason or is it just because you only had a certain kind of paper to hand at the time?

Does anyone know the piece play at the end of this video?

Could you recommend some resources for developing an "inner ear"? Are there any books or software that you've found useful for ear training (particularly within one's imagination)?

What about writing counterpoint??

What is the piece played at the end of this video?

Hello i was wondering what the name of your piece at the end of your videos is. Have you uploaded it here in youtube? Regards

Watch at 1.5 speed, You'll still understand and then notice something else...detailed explanation btw

Blink blink blink blink blink blink

what song is playing in the outro?

Blinking drinking game anyone? I'm already dead. The music theory in this video is beyond pro level.

I want to be a public school music teacher by day and a freelance composer by night

How do you develop your inner ear to compose without a piano or midi playback?

Jordan Peterson led me here, and I'm glad he did.

Great video. You blink a lot

why do you blink so much

Do you ever answer the question? I stop watching

Reggin Kcalb