Insights into Music Composition is a guide and source of inspiration for beginning students of music composition. Drawing on perspectives from a range of experienced composers, the book introduces readers to the compositional process, emphasizing how to think about creating a piece of music from beginning to end.
- Emphasizes the creative process, not only individual techniques, allowing students to better grasp the full process of composing a piece of music
- Includes examples of perspectives on the creative process from wide variety of composers, helping students understand how composers think about their work
- Flexible chapter structure allows instructors to adapt the text to their preferred order of teaching topics
Gregory Young is Professor of Music at Montana State University, where he was also Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and Founding Director of the Undergraduate Scholars Program.
Steve Roens is Professor Emeritus in Composition at the University of Utah, where he has also served as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and Director of the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
1. Inspiration and Creativity / 2. Universal Principles / 3. Compositional Process: Getting Started / 4. Development of Musical Ideas / 5. Building Upon Prior Music: Plagiarism, Quotes, Techniques / 6. Technique, Notation / 7. Lyrics, Prosody, Singers (Elizabeth Croy and Cheryl Hart) / 8. Form, Texture, Style, and Harmonic Language / 9. Writing Atonal and 12-Tone Music / 10. Global Perspective: Cultural Influences / 11. Interdisciplinarity / 12. Listening Critically / 13. Diverse Perspectives on Composition / 14. Subjectivity, Sensitivity, and Professor-Student Mentorship / 15. Getting Successful Performances / 16. Online Resources