Before you disagree with the title of this first blog, I encourage you to read through this and then make up your mind. I am going to start this first post out with a quote that captures the essence of why I began to compose. “Greatness is anywhere someone is trying to find it.” When I began to compose I could not get the thought out of my head that, if Mozart, Bach and Beethoven all started at the same point that I was, with nothing but a writing utensil and blank staff paper, who says that I can’t write the next great Requiem. Really, other than experiences along the way in life, we all come into this world the same way and we all, for the most part, have similar opportunities that we can take to be whatever it is we want to be.
Too many times I have heard someone say, “Zach, I don’t know how you do what you do, I could never even fathom starting and finishing a composition.” I will admit, writing a composition is not the easiest thing in the world and can be daunting, but whenever an individual says this to me (or something like that) I can’t help think to myself, “do you really think that I knew what I was doing when I started?!” When I started I had a much more limited knowledge of music than people think. I wrote my first choral composition using guitar tabs, which, if you don’t know what that is, it is a number system used for guitarists to play. Long story short, I did not even know how to read or write actual musical notes when I started. All I really understood was how music should sound, which I learned through both listening to popular music on the radio and seeing what my friends and family liked as well.
With that being said, I firmly believe that if I started with basically little to no knowledge of music, anyone else can compose as well, if they do so dream. One of the only differences between those that tell me, “I could never do that”, and myself is that I decided not to turn the opportunity down before I tried it. In almost any aspect of life, if one is passionate about something and believes in themself then one should pursue that thing. The genesis of any great individual does not rely on any special talent that one is born with, but rather, their ability to believe in themself and dream of the “impossible” becoming possible. So am I really saying that anyone can compose, sure I am, as long as one has the drive and passion for it.
The next topic of this series: Common Mistakes Made by Beginning Writers
- See more at: http://zacharyjmoore.com/thoughts-composing-anyone-can-compose/#sthash.s5LGmiKs.dpuf
