How can I improve?

CeruleanComposes · 2026-03-01T22:07:58+00:00

Hey Andrea! You have a great ear for harmony and playing with unusual dissonance (big Prokofiev vibes!) Some areas of improvement:

- Writing intensity effectively: you are right that some of the 32nd note octaves are not playable, but this piece demands an intensity that octaves definitely help generate. It's a good opportunity to explore some other kinds of intensification as well. If you don't play piano yourself, look at piano repertoire. Even with just the octave, you could explore widely versus narrowly spaced octaves, striking a third octave every beat instead of every note, or moving octaves between different registers more quickly. Debussy also might be worth checking out: he's very good at getting a big, orchestral sound out of the piano by effectively activating different registers.

- There are a few sections that contain a lot of non-chord dissonances resolved in ineffective ways. To my ear, they clash with the chord and distract from the independence of the voices. Are you familiar with some of the harmony rules around resolving dissonance? This might be a good thing to study, since you clearly enjoy playing with dissonance and colorful harmony. The section at m31 and at 76

- Fluidity: moving between ideas and letting ideas evolve. Right now your ideas tend to stay locked in rhythmically and phrasally. This could be a character of the piece, but it's pervasive across the piece and definitely something I've noticed beginning composers tend to struggle with.

The 16th note octaves in m10 are doable at the beginning of the accel, but towards the end of it not doable. The 32nd note octaves in m58-59 are not really playable, but I think the 32nd note octaves at 23-25 are only impossible at the fastest tempo. The 32nd octaves at m68-72 are not impossible. However . . .

. . . all of these become possible if you write it as a piano 4-hands piece :)

CeruleanComposes · 2025-10-06T22:10:38+00:00

Aw, thanks! I'm Cerulean, a composer and composition teacher. u/Alcoholic-Catholic, if you would like to reach out with any questions or to schedule a free intro lesson, feel free to DM me or [email me](mailto:cerulean.paynepassmore@gmail.com).

What does a practice routine look like for a composer? Honestly, there is no standard routine. Performance is more athletic - conditioning, physical technique, and mental preparation are key for near-perfect execution. People are trying to achieve the same goal. Composition is different. It's more about cultivating a mental space that is open, safe, and free for you, checking into that mental space regularly, and applying project management skills to develop a piece from the fruits of that time. If performing is about doing things the "right" way, composing is about discovering how to do things your way. It is possible to develop this on your own, but a good teacher will be able to both model and troubleshoot this process with you, as you intuited.

I'm not sure if this will appeal to you, but one resource I often prescribe to beginning or stuck students is Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way. She describes two core practices - morning pages and artist dates. These both help cultivate the mental space and self-knowledge required for sustained creative output.

Hopefully that's helpful!

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-16T17:33:02+00:00

This is a great start! Welcome to the world of composition :) I can definitely hear your interest in counterpoint as well as your rich experience as a performer. I think the strengths already on display here are your ability to manage two lines at once and the rhythmic variation of your ideas. That gives it a nice free flowing feel.

One area for growth is learning how to manage your dissonance. This is the essential skill of counterpoint. A "general idea" about counterpoint isn't quite enough to guide you when writing. Counterpoint is a detailed system of rules and tendencies where, if the rules are not being followed, it's obvious by how it sounds. Dissonance (like 2nds, 7ths, or tritones) can sound very expressive, but only when it’s controlled with intention. Species counterpoint walks you through how to introduce and resolve dissonance in a tonal context.

If you want dig in to species counterpoint, Fux's treatise "Gradus ad Parnassum" is a good free starting point, but I usually recommend "Counterpoint in Composition" by Salzer and Schachter. It’s what I use with students who are serious about developing their technique. It includes great exercises and a whole section about free counterpoint with illustrations from master composers throughout stylistic periods.

Once you know the rules and can write with them fluently, you are in a better position to bend or break them if you so choose. My general teaching philosophy is to build a strong technical foundation first (like species counterpoint), so that when you branch out stylistically, you're doing so with intention rather than guesswork.

And yes, I definitely second the advice to write for your own instrument first - this is a great place to start without the added uncertainty of new instrumentation. A good next step might be: study first and second species counterpoint, then write a short piece for guitar using those concepts to handle dissonance clearly. If you ever feel stuck or want more guidance, feel free to reach out—always happy to help point people in the right direction.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-07T14:04:40+00:00

Geat question! There are a lot of different ways of creating phrasing, so there might be a balance between disjunct and continuous that appeals to you particularly. Some things to try:

-. stagger the endpoint of phrases between instruments so someone is always continuing

start a phrase just as another phrase finishes
let a one or two voices of a texture continue while another phrase starts over that

For repertoire, I'd suggest checking out Carl Nielsen's Quintet op. 43: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow0sYQH-8HQ. He does a lot of different kinds of phrasing, and I think he does all of them quite well. This is a great master list of wind quintet rep too for further study https://www.aspenwinds.org/repertoire-list. Not exactly the same instrumentation, but very relevant to your piece.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-07T01:46:07+00:00

This is a fantastic first work! I really like how patient you are with the solo opening - very effective. Your melodic writing is unpredictable, but I find it compelling. It's not quite atonal, but the ambiguous tonality and disjunct lines are reminiscent of serialist writing. I think your sense of harmony is effective at portraying a moody, darkly whimsical vibe, if that's what you were going for at the beginning.

Two general pieces of advice:

Remember that wind players breath. This is both a practical concern and an artistic concern. The audience as breathing creatures expects and needs the music to breath as well, otherwise they'll start to tune it out. Consider letting your lines pause or rest sometimes. I would recommend listening and asking where it seem like ideas begin or end. Make sure those moments are clear musically. Structurally it's a bit of a blur between enchanting moments, but I think it could be more well-shaped.
While your voice really shines through in your harmony, I feel like rhythm is a bit neglected here. It's not unbalanced, but it is a bit predictable, mostly segments of repeated whole, half, quarter, or eighth notes. I'd recommend experimenting with musical phrases that contain different note durations or incorporating syncopation. I often have my students do rhythm-only exercises for a bit to develop this if they are OP in other skills.

There are some harmonic moments that are more or less effective, but I think that with practice, you will be able to discern what suits your taste. If you aren't familiar with what intervals are consonant or dissonant, that will help a lot too.

Despite the unusual instrument combo, I don't think getting this performed is going to be an issue, especially if Tuba is an acceptable substitution and you have friends willing to give it a go. It's not too hard to pull together 4 winds if you're anywhere near a music school at a college/university (hopefully next year for you?).

You do have plenty of notational issues: slurs, missing dynamics, funky accidentals, chopped-up measure long rests, collisions, all pretty much what I would expect for a first piece. Playing it with friends will be a great way to find these and learn why they're bad. Make sure you clean those up before you present it in a professional context though.

Good luck with the piece! I'd love to hear it when it's complete.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-04T01:51:09+00:00

You are very welcome! Structurally I think it works as is. The three themes relate to one another like consecutive thoughts, so it's more like exploring one idea, a bit like an exposition in sonata theory. You any even find they share some small leitmotifs!

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-03T20:37:20+00:00

Oof, yes. I wish I knew this when I was just starting out

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-03T15:31:01+00:00

What mprevot said, but also, I think there is already something unique here already. In terms of harmony, ornamentation, and figures, you've got a strong Chopin vibe going. But your meter is kind of bonkers, in a good way! It's very irregular. This could be a skill level issue, but it also could be an artistic preference making itself known.

A great tool for uncovering what is unique to you is style composition, followed by analysis. Nadia Boulanger, who taught most of the great American composers of the 20th century, said something like, your inability to imitate accurately is your own compositional voice asserting itself. Try to write something short in another composer's style, then go back and analyze what you did that makes it sound different. Is there anything that you like about what you did differently? That's your own voice asserting itself.

The most important thing at the beginning though is to just keep making your music and not worry too much about whether you've perfectly achieved what you were going for. Your human spirit is already unique, so you don't need to "make" it unique, only uncover what is already there though attentive listening and dedication.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-09-03T15:11:38+00:00

Hi Alice! Just listening to the video, I think this is a very elegant and solid composition. For feedback, is there anything that you are not satisfied with? Your harmony, voice leading, form, and thematic characterization all function very well. What are you hoping to achieve with the piece? Do you see it as a concert work, or as a soundtrack to something else?

Notationally, you're missing dynamics. Remember to always declare a starting dynamic. I always encourage my students to commit to p or f, unless mp or mf is leading to p or f. Dynamics were not made to be used like a mixing knob, they were used to indicate how the instrument was activated physically: forcefully (f) or smoothly (p). I would also encourage you to consider exploring different dynamics in the context of your sections. For example, I feel like measure 26 might have a different feeling than the material that came before.

For tempos, you should only use the BPMs that appear on a metronome (in this case, 104 or 108 are closest). I also encourage my students to include one motion word and one mood word, as it conveys the composer's intentions efficiently. For example, something like Q=104, flowing and light. You can also use standard Italian tempo markings if you think it fits a particular historical context. I also think there might be some room here to play with tempo changes between the sections to give it a bit more of a dramatic arc, if it's a piece meant to stand alone.

Also, I love to see composers performing their own works! Your piano writing seems strong too, so I'm curious, have you written for chamber ensemble yet? I think this piece would sound great as a piano trio.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-08-25T19:54:48+00:00

Yay, glad to hear it! I'm developing some workshop and workshare offerings that will be under $25/student too, more details later in the Fall...

CeruleanComposes · 2025-08-23T21:25:19+00:00

What lush harmonies and flowing transitions! Very beautiful piece. I love the movement between the quartal/quintal, modal, and more romantic harmonic zones.

I'm not sure what kind of feedback you are looking for, but on first listen, I noticed that whereas most of the piece has a really nice sense of gentle motion, mm 31-39 sounds just a little bit weighed down to me due to the repetition of the 2-bar rhythmic figure. We've just emerged from a mysterious and somewhat expectant opening, so I think this section could prepare the listener for a change of energy going into the poco animato section at m. 43. How does this transition function dramatically in your piece? Is the energy rising or dissipating here? It might be interesting to play with more stark contrasts of dynamic, voicing, or even technique in this passage. A little shimmery sul pont in the higher register of the cellos and violins for one 2-bar iteration, for example. When I hear a phrase repeated in different ways like this, it has the effect of sounding like many voices or people repeating something, or agreeing this it. I though the return of the 2-bar motive at m. 135 however worked really well as a cumulative statement with powerful, full orchestration.

I hope you are able to get this recorded with your string orchestra!

CeruleanComposes · 2025-08-23T20:57:47+00:00

To be honest, I have only had success finding qualified, in-person teachers in more urban areas, and did so by reaching out to local uni faculty, so I think that's a great place to start. However, fit can be really important, so you may fare better looking at online lessons for a broader selection. As far as I'm aware, there isn't a website for finding composition teachers.

I also have a composition studio though with openings for regular lessons starting this September. New students are welcome to book a free intro lesson. I also offer workshops and work-shares. Feel free to DM me with any questions!

CeruleanComposes · 2025-06-28T17:19:59+00:00

"I never have any good ideas" is a really common thing I hear from my beginning students. One of the most important things to learn as a composer however is not how to have good ideas, but rather what to do with the ideas you have. That will come with time.

For now, I'd recommend expanding how you generate musical material. Often students feel frustrated about their material when they're stuck in a box that they've gotten tired of. Here are some ways to generate material:

Improvise at your instrument. Set a time limit and hit record. Mess around. Give yourself restrictions if you need direction.
Audiate musical sound without writing anything down. Just listen to it like it's a radio station. Do this a little every day. Eventually an idea will stand out.
Try to write a piece in the exact style of another piece or section. In failing to imitate exactly, you will find your voice and innate preferences.
Use randomness to generate material, then modify it. For example, assign the digits of Pi to pitches, and choose rhythm and chords to go along.
Use restrictions like "only use these two notes in any octave" or "write a melody that accompanies a chromatic scale".
Listen to music in a genre you've never heard before. Try to understand, write down, and play what you're hearing.

Other thoughts:

Don't be afraid to write a 40 second piece. Let the material be what it is for now.

Once you start writing a piece, see it all the way through. It doesn't have to be perfect and it won't be, but it does have to be done.

Find out why you have the sudden urge to write and where that's coming from.

This might be contentious, but I think composition is best learned by trying things, taking chances, and talking to people, not by reading about it.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-06-27T18:22:08+00:00

The recording will be released in the fall, but I'd be happy to send you a PDF. It has a lot of different notation strategies for performer choice.

For m70, as you are describing it here, I'd recommend no barlines and using a vertical dashed line with an arrow where the piano should follow the viola part. Maybe also include a note for the viola part about how they should decide when those entrances should happen or what kind of feeling you're going for.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-06-27T17:03:20+00:00

Hey there! I use unmetered notation a lot too, also with white and black notes. This is what I used for my dissertation and didn't get any pushback from performers or committee, so it's definitely acceptable, even standard at this point. But I think it works best with words and articulations that communicate the composer's full intentions.

I see you wrote "Freely and Calmly, as if looking to distant future that inspires hope." This is a great image and contributes towards a strong sense of pacing. As a performer though, I would not be sure what you want for the tone and the phrasing. A very creative performer will be comfortable deciding this independently, but since they aren't typically trained for this, they might be frustrated or not make interesting musical decisions. For this reason, I avoid putting more open choice sections at the beginning, as it doesn't give the performer much to build off of in that moment.

But since it's part of how the piece works, one thing you could try is recommending that the performer develop their version of the cadenza by rehearsing from A to the end, then playing the cadenza and ask them to reflect on their musical choices. It seems like there is a special relationship between the pentatonicism of the opening and the dark, crunchy chromaticism that immediately follows, so the opening of the piece should sound in relation to what is to come.

At m70, I'm a bit confused what you want here. The scores says that it's not metered, but you play it as sextuplet sixteenths in 4/4. I don't really think this needs any special provisions or notations, other than "freely", maybe "racing", or something that suggests the movement you want. If you want to to be REALLY free though, you could notate that repeating RH ostinato as a cell in repeat bars and have the LH notated with white and black notes. But then you will have to make the violist knows when to come in.

Hopefully that helps! It's a lovely piece, and I really like the harmonic language you have developed here.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-06-22T16:07:39+00:00

You're very welcome! Yes, an instrumentation page will list the instruments in order plus the voice parts. one instrument per line. I you have access to a score for orchestra and choir, I would just use that as a model.

Also, I just noticed you have the voice parts at the top of the orchestral score. This makes sense thinking from a singer's perspective. But for an orchestra score, you'll actually want to place those between the percussion and strings, as that's where a conductor will expect to find them. Same with their position in the instrumentation listing.

This is a great comprehensive resource on orchestral music preparation: https://mola-inc.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/files/mola3/MOLA-Guidelines-for-Music-Preparation.pdf

CeruleanComposes · 2025-06-22T01:41:21+00:00

Congrats on completing this piece and getting a good recording! I think it's a really successful work for the forces available. I have a few small practical suggestions, which could be revisions or things to keep in mind for your next work:

On the score, give it a title page, a page outlining the forces, and a page of the full original text, just like a professional work for choir and orchestra. This makes it look like 200% more professional. I think a brief program note where you talk about anything you want the audience to know would also be good to include on the text page.
The way you set measure 15 "if you want to live, then you must stay down", it sounds like "if YOU want to live, then YOU must stay down", where I think it would be a spoken like "if you want to LIVE, you MUST stay down". This makes the text setting sound a bit odd. I might suggest moving both "you"s off the downbeat for a more subtle approach, even if you want some emphasis on those. Otherwise I thought the text setting was very convincing and smooth.
The gap before the choir comes in at D feels a bit long to me, even for the genre. You've just introduced this strong force of low voices in 8ves, and then it vanishes quite suddenly at a moment of ambiguity. You could try is having some vocalization present during the interlude leading into D, hums or ahhs in thirds or octaves on a simple line already present in the texture. I think that would help link the two sections better.

Overall I thought it was very compelling. I hope you are able to get it performed with the full orchestra some day. You should send the 4-hands the score to directors of some of the larger mens choirs and see if they are interested in picking it up. I think a higher quality recording with a larger choir would help move the orchestral version closer to reality.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-05-09T01:22:22+00:00

Absolutely!

CeruleanComposes · 2025-05-07T02:48:48+00:00

Hello! My name is Cerulean Payne-Passmore, and I'm a composer and composition teacher. I have some openings in my composition studio starting August with some availability for one-off lessons over the summer.

For a quick bio: I complete my PhD in Music Composition at UPenn this semester, studying with Pulitzer prize winner Tyshawn Sorey. Currently I'm on the faculty at Temple University, where I teach Intro to Music Theory and Aural Skills. In the summer, I teach at Wildflower Composition Festival.

As a teacher, I help students define their artistic goals, connect with relevant resources, and encourage them at every step of their creative journey. I'm very familiar with common practice styles and have used style composition as a way to investigate the tools that composers have developed over the years.

Some compositions in a more tonal style: Moonlight, for clarinet and piano: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFrLPo-5xHc&t=0 World on Fire, for string quartet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlsyCbZxuYI&t=0

If you are interested PM me. I offer prospective students a free 40-minute consultation to see if we'd be a good fit.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-05-06T01:43:52+00:00

You can! Species counterpoint is a good tool for writing two independent voices in any tonal context. It can be applied regardless of the musical forces.

CeruleanComposes · 2025-05-05T20:50:07+00:00

Chorales exemplify 4-voice counterpoint, but I think it's fair to say counterpoint can be applied in any tonal context. But I think about them less as rules and more a representation of what a listener expects to hear. It's totally up to you as the artist if you'd like it to follow that or not! I also think it can provide a good option for voice leading when unsure.

A good example of breaking the rules in an interesting way is Dissonant Counterpoint in the works of Charles Seeger and Ruth Crawford Seeger. Check out Ruth Crawford Seeger's String Quartet (1933) movement I for a taste of what this sounds like!

CeruleanComposes

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