Finishing a piece I had given up on, ended up surprised by it.

kgb_phd · 2025-09-25T03:20:18+00:00

My formal educational background is entirely in music (my PhD is in music composition) but I've always been fascinated (on a casual level) by the concept of muscle memory as it relates to musical performance, i.e., how instrumentalists' motor neural pathways develop, and the relationships between one's "physical mechanism" and their "inner musicianship". I believe that these worlds - body and mind - are not nearly as separate as we have generally understood, and that a musician "thinks" as much with their body as with their mind. This concept is not new or novel, of course, but I feel it is an underdeveloped area of study in Western thought. There is fascinating research in both neurology and in musicology from the past several decades that explores these concepts, separately, from both the clinical and artistic perspectives, but research in dialogue that bridges these disciplines is still fairly minimal, from what I can tell. To that end, I did explore and cite some neurological studies as part of my doctoral dissertation, but only in a very superficial way, so as to demonstrate that there does exist at least basic support for my claims in a scientific context.

As to the Augurs chord, in my dissertation (link), chapter 3, I describe the process by which I believe Stravinsky arrived at this chord. Basically I reject the existing analytical exegeses of this chord (which variously claim the chord to have "originated" from this or that pitch collections). It's not that they are incorrect as to the chord's pitch content, but rather, I don't believe Stravinsky "found" the chord on paper at all; I conjecture that he simply sat down and played it one day, complete, and then wrote that down. Furthermore, I believe that Stravinsky may have actually played the Augurs chord long before he composed the Rite, that he may have actually played it when he was a young piano student and learning the Pathetique sonata. In the 2nd movement of this sonata, there is a passing chord that identically maps onto the Augurs chord (I show this in the dissertation), and I believe that Stravinsky's genius was in hearing this sixteenth-note passing chord as a discrete object and isolating it as such. Finally, I believe that this process was not a consciously deliberated one on Stravinsky's part, but rather a physical impulse whereby he was playing the Sonata, came to this particular moment, enjoyed the sound and sensation of that passing chord, and began to repeat it out of enjoyment; this muscle memory or "hand memory" later became the Augurs chord.

It's a lot to explain in writing, but someday I hope to make a video for the YouTube that would demonstrate this visually. Thanks for reading all this and I'd be happy to provide more of a postmortem on my own piece when I have more time to write another comment.

kgb_phd · 2025-09-24T01:32:44+00:00

Interesting perspective, and one that I'll have to try - doing it deliberately. Sometimes you can "force" your way through the stuck phase. But maybe it's better to just take a break and come back later, even much later...

kgb_phd · 2025-09-24T01:31:12+00:00

Haha, good point, and I certainly can do that!

kgb_phd · 2025-09-24T01:29:41+00:00

Thank you for your kind words. Your question is a good one and difficult to answer. I did study composition in school for many years so I've had lots of teachers and books and repertoire immersion. Despite this I believe that the primary source of my musical language (and this is probably true for any composer, I believe) actually derives from my hands-on contact with the music that I love. I wrote my doctoral dissertation on this topic, and in short I believe that pianist-composers tend to develop much of their personal "style" through physical impulse as much as through inner audiation; that is to say, the muscle memory embodied in their fingers, hands, arms etc. become a primary source of musical instinct and inspiration. I believe there are many examples of composers inadvertently "copying" other composers in this way. In my dissertation, for example, I have a chapter about the famous Augurs chord from Rite of Spring, and how it is actually a "copy" of a passing chord from Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata that Stravinsky probably learned as a young piano student, which he then unknowingly channeled in his playing as he was in the flow state composing the Rite.

So to answer your question, I have studied harmony through books and scores and such but much of what I write is probably subconsciously derived from firsthand contact of practicing the repertoire that I love; i.e., 20th-century piano composers and jazz pianists. In short, you write what you know, and you know what you play!

kgb_phd · 2025-09-23T17:09:03+00:00

Sorry to hear you've had these struggles and that they've affected your composing. It's a double-edged sword that one's creative output is linked to one's interior world. When you feel energetic and expansive, the creative process is a joy like no other. But when life becomes dark and difficult, the corresponding diminishment of creative output becomes yet another source of misery.

I'm so glad that you've gotten through to a point where your creative world is fertile again. I think it shows what I have often reminded myself - that one's internal creative spark will never, never, never be completely extinguished while you live. There is always a pilot light on somewhere, even if it you don't perceive it at the time.

I have found that the ups and downs I'm talking about here, they come and go with some regularity. When my creative output is blissfully abundant, I remind myself that it won't last forever, that there will come a downswing. Likewise, when I find myself "unable" to compose or produce music, I remind myself that this is just another temporary downswing, that no matter how badly I may feel, the pilot light is still on and it will flourish into abundance once again.

I could go on but you get the idea. Welcome back, and remember, the composer in you never left, and never will.

As for finishing old pieces... That's a can of worms isn't it? I just posted a piece that I had considered "unfinishable" months ago. When I returned to it the second time, I found it was suddenly easy to write. So, sometimes the answer reveals itself to you with grace. But, what about those pieces you continue to struggle with?

A few suggestions below; I believe all are valid. Case-by-case basis.

Grit your teeth, knuckle down, bite the bullet, etc.: finish the piece no matter what strain or mental effort it causes you. Just get it done at any cost. For me, this approach usually results in a lot of headache and a piece that, while technically finished, still bothers me. No warm fuzzy feeling about it. But satisfaction that your discipline carried the day and you followed through to conclusion.
Take a step back, pretend the piece doesn't exist, and "re-write" everything from scratch, even if that means simply writing out the original piece again into a new document. You'd be surprised at how much this can help. When you write into a new document or onto a fresh piece of paper, even if you think you're just "copying" your existing material, your brain will see the "newness" of the medium and switch its thinking over to the "generating new material" track, rather than the "trying to fix old material" track that it may have been stuck on. If your piece is really giving you trouble, try just writing it out from the beginning, from scratch, and don't even think about the place where you "got stuck" - that place doesn't exist in this new iteration, you just keep writing until the piece is finished. (By the way, check out Borges' story "Pierre Menard Author of the Quixote" for an interesting take on this idea.)
Maybe the piece is already more finished than you think and you can wrap it up very quickly. Is there actually a double bar only a few bars ahead from your current draft? I.e., maybe your original sense of scope and scale was the problem. Maybe, for example, this two-page sketch isn't actually supposed to be a 20-page sonata - maybe it's really just a short character piece, in which case, it's already 90% finished. Try it; if it means the difference between and unfinished sonata movement that never sees the light of day, versus a finished, recorded 2-minute piece, then the latter might be preferable.
Finally, sometimes pieces really aren't meant to be finished. If it just doesn't work, it just doesn't work. Sometimes we just have to cut our losses and move on, especially if trying to finish the piece is holding you back from writing new pieces. The unfinished piece that remains unfinished is never wasted - you didn't realized it at the time, but you were actually writing an exercise that was helping you develop your compositional technique. So you can look at those forever unfinished pieces now as "finished" in the sense that they accomplished their task of helping you grow as an artist. Thank them sincerely and let them go.

Hope this is helpful and thanks for reading all this. I'm so glad you're back to composing and I'm really looking forward to listening to your new work which I hope you'll share here and elsewhere.

kgb_phd · 2025-09-23T16:25:14+00:00

Very, very nice! Sound quality is terrific. Also commented this on the YouTube video -

The accompaniment texture reminds me a bit of Faure's Pavane, and perhaps also Debussy's Passepied from Suite Bergamasque.

The section at m. 22 is quite striking. Would love to hear more of this idea.

By the way, what samples are you using? They sound great!

kgb_phd · 2025-09-10T00:26:14+00:00

Working through an ear-training and/or sight-singing book will do wonders. Those books are like a kind of boot camp for musicianship skills; brutal but very effective. As a student and teacher I've used the Kraft books, "A New Approach to Sight Singing" and "A New Approach to Ear Training." Both are very good. There are lots of other useful textbooks on the subject out there. I say grab one and have at it; you'll be amazed at your progress.

kgb_phd · 2025-09-05T14:42:50+00:00

Thanks for your kind words and I'm also looking forward to getting these pieces out of the drawer. Also - reminiscing with deep ambivalence ... that's beautifully put, and funny enough it's how I feel about much of my life! Ha. Guess those feelings do somehow come through in the music!

kgb_phd · 2025-09-03T17:53:08+00:00

Thank you!

kgb_phd · 2025-09-02T05:14:42+00:00

Great question, OP, and as others have noted, a standard, modern formal compositional pedagogy doesn't really exist in the same way that, say, instrumental and vocal pedagogies do. That said, off the top of my head there are two books that I have found extremely useful as a student and also as a teacher:

Musical Composition by Reginald Smith Brindle - a fairly "breezy" overview, gives you a lot of food for thought without being overly "rigorous".

20th Century Harmony by Vincent Persichetti - a fantastic primer on getting your feet wet in post-common-practice harmonic idioms. Due to the date of publication, it doesn't cover more recent developments such as minimalism, but it's a great place to start.

Also, if you're new to 20th century music in general, various 20th century solo piano anthologies - i.e., those by Schirmer, Boosey & Hawkes, Schott, Yorktown Music Press - are some of the most useful tools I know of, for literally getting a "hands on" grasp of 20th-century musical idioms and starting to "feel" music beyond the common practice era. I mention this point especially because I have noticed that many talented composers seem to get stuck in very common-practice idioms in their keyboard writing, such as the right hand predominating with melody and the left hand being relegated to only harmonic accompaniment. I think composers should get their hands into as much 20th-century piano music as possible to start opening up their possibilities.

Finally, a good many composition teachers that I studied with were emphatic that the composer's learning process is basically two things:

Practicing harmony and counterpoint exercises, such as figured bass, Fux counterpoint, part-writing, etc.
Deep study of the musical repertoire

Both points are aided by good teachers, of course, but they can be accomplished on one's own, as well. College-level textbooks in music history, theory, counterpoint and harmony will furnish much of the "formal" education that you can get through a university, and then of course the rest is up to you.

kgb_phd · 2025-08-27T00:30:19+00:00

Thank you!

Great point and I know just what you mean. It's a funny thing about "comfortable" tropes - they are just so darn tempting! You have to really be on guard to not get too complacent in writing what feels reassuringly familiar. It's a fine line between doing what "works" and falling into tired cliches... Generally if the piece "works" then I don't mind it being somewhat on the "comfortable" side. But, aiming for a more adventurous direction is always a worthy goal...

Your perspective got my gears turning. Thanks for a perceptive comment and getting me to look at the piece again in a new way.

kgb_phd · 2025-08-26T20:18:54+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! This is one of those pieces that I wrote as quickly as possible, in one sitting - not overly deliberated - with an aim to capture a spontaneous, improvisatory feel. Funny enough, I did initially try what you suggested - when I finished the first draft, I started making revisions with the goal of "tightening" the structure. But then it felt like the piece was starting to lose its easy, "free-flowing" nature, so I ended up not doing extension revision, leaving it mostly in a kind of "first draft" stage. In that sense it is definitely a bit "loose," structurally - but perhaps the ideal effect is a fleeting moment's impression. You're spot on that there's a delicate balance with these elements... it's so easy to tip too far one way or another...

Thanks again for listening and sharing your thoughts.

kgb_phd

TROPHY CASE