How to write better music

 

Feedback 

This is the beginning of a series of posts on composition. My favorite question to ask other composers is “How do I write better music and not just more music?” It’s a difficult question that doesn’t get a lot of satisfying answers. I certainly don’t consider myself an authority on musical composition, but I am a dedicated practitioner. I’ll also be reaching out to other Black House residents to get their perspectives on this subject.
 
For this first post I’m going to talk about actionable feedback. That is, feedback that directs you to make specific changes to your compositions. This type of feedback tends to be very precise and often includes suggestions instead of blanket criticism. This feedback will generally come from fellow musicians. 

 
Examples of feedback that isn’t particularly actionable:
 
“I don’t like it.”
“Something’s wrong with the ending.”
“Ehhh ...”
 
Examples of actionable feedback:
 
“You have too many counter lines.”
“The horn pads are muddying up the texture.” 
“The piece loses momentum after the sax soli.”
 
There's something to be said for the idea that the lay audience's feedback is the only kind that matters. In a certain sense that's true, but in matters of craft, the lay audience isn’t particularly helpful. Generally speaking, most of us don’t really know why we like anything. We just like it or we don’t. The liking or disliking comes first, and then we justify it later.

 
It’s important to seek out peers/mentors to get their perspectives on your work. I've found that this is harder than it sounds. Maybe this is product of living in the Midwest, but many musicians don’t seem willing to pick apart each other’s work directly to their face. Usually the people giving you feedback will like you and not want to upset you or come off as thinking they’re superior. When you ask for someone’s feedback, be sure to let them know that you want to know what’s not working and what can be improved. Otherwise you can get useless commentary like “sounds good” or “depends on what you’re going for.” Humor can be helpful in this situation  “Tell me why this sucks!” is a good way to start.
 
I would argue that as a whole, we may be little too sensitive about our work. While watching a documentary about Anna Wintour, I was struck by the rigorous culture of ruthless editing that goes into producing a magazine. Photographers and editors bring in lots of material and she rejects most of it and they go back and try again. I want my own personal Anna Wintour holding me accountable and requiring that I go back and fix my weaknesses.
 
My favorite personal experience with actionable feedback occurred in a lesson with Bobby Watson. I was soloing over a song when he stopped me and said, “You’re bullshitting whenever you get to the 7th bar.” Insightful, specific, and actionable.

 

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