Thursday, February 5, 2009

Running into a Brick Wall

"Running into a brick wall" is, in this case, a metaphor for getting stuck, something that everyone who has tried to create something (music, books, art, science, relationships, etc.) has probably experienced. Things may be proceeding swimmingly (i.e., smoothly) up to a point when you suddenly hit a proverbial wall. You feel stuck; you've tried x, y, and z, but none of them worked, and you feel at a loss as to how to proceed.

I wrote about this in part 8 of my "Composition Issues" series that I posted last August, and, because I know that at least one of you is feeling stuck right now, I thought I would revisit and significantly expand the part of my earlier blog post that deals with this issue:

There is no "one size fits all" solution for when you are stuck, so you may need to try several approaches until you discover one (or more) that helps you get out of your predicament. Here are some options to consider:
  1. The "boot camp" approach: Suck it up, cupcake! Call upon your inner Rocky Mountain Bighorn and RAM that brick wall repeatedly until you break through! The main requirements for this are stubbornness on an epic scale and an extremely hard head, ideally equipped with ram horns and a concussion-proof skull. The upside is that it sometimes works! The downside is that it can lead to even greater frustration, which may make you feel like dumping the entire piece into the trash, which I strongly discourage. However, this "extreme stubbornness" approach can work, and it has worked for me at times, such as this: I had written about 30-40 seconds of a solo piano piece that I really liked, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't figure out a good way to continue the piece. I would revisit the piece periodically, until finally, ten years after I came up with the opening idea, I managed to "bull" my way past the section that had become an impediment, and I finished the piece about 2-3 months later. It became one of my all-time favourite pieces, and it has been played by a variety of pianists in different countries, including multiple venues in Japan, and at Carnegie Hall in New York.  It is "Dream Dance," if you want to check it out. 
  2. When feeling stuck, we tend to focus our energies on getting unstuck from that point forwards. If we get stuck at bar 100, for example, we tend to spend days trying to progress past bar 100 in a way that makes musical sense. It may be, however, that the root of the problem occurred much earlier in the composition; we may need to go back several pages to identify the point where things began to go awry – such as bar 70 – and write a new continuation that improves the piece from that point forwards. We may need to scrap (or at least set aside) several pages of music, but it will be worth doing if it results in a better piece. And sometimes the music you removed turns out to fit nicely in a different section, or even in a different piece.
  3. Analyze your music. We learn analytical tools to help us understand music better, but how often do you analyze your own music? You might be surprised at how often composers don't fully understand their own music until they analyze it. The composition process is inherently subjective, which makes it easy to lose perspective on your composition, but analysis forces us to think more objectively about it. Don't just browse the score to figure out where the major sections are; do a full structural analysis that includes pitch centres, cadence points and types, phrase structure, musical character, and formal structure.
  4. Did you start with a plan? If not, now would be a good time to make one. A good starting point would be to analyze what you have written, then make your plan based on that. Plans can definitely be useful, but don't be afraid to change them as you go. In fact, it may be that we are stuck because the music we want to write at a particular point in the piece does not fit with the plan. In that case, change the plan.
  5. Take a break – do something else for a while. Frequently all we need is a different perspective, which may be gained by simply not thinking about the piece for a couple of days.
  6. Exercise. This is one of the things you can do while taking a break. Some scientists suggest that strenuous exercise releases endorphins in the brain that make us feel better. And if you feel better, you might be able to think more clearly about how to get out of the 'writer's block' that you are experiencing. The exercise does not have to be strenuous; many composers kept diaries in which they described taking long walks every day as a way to clear the mind. 
  7. Lower the bar! Stop trying to write great (or even good) music! We can sometimes put too much pressure on ourselves when we do that. You may have to lower your level of expectations in order to finish the piece. You can always return to your composition later if you wish, and improve sections that are less than you feel they could or should be. But frankly, my advice is generally to finish the piece, and then move on to your next piece; your tenth composition will likely be better than your first one, or your first few, but you won't get to your tenth composition until you finish the first nine! Beethoven's first published works, the three Opus 1 piano trios, were not his first compositions; he had written over one hundred works before that. Nobody ever started out writing great music; it takes time to become a good composer.

    Beethoven's Opus 1; clearly not his first rodeo

  8. MEET YOUR DEADLINE, NO MATTER WHAT! This is, or at least can be, related to the previous point. You are on the verge of panicking because a deadline is imminent, and you feel that if you blow it, YOU WILL NEVER WORK IN THIS TOWN AGAIN! Perhaps missing one deadline will not necessarily torpedo one's career, but below are a couple of scenarios that are possible:
    1. If you are a student, some professors may give you a mark of zero if you miss a deadline, while others may impose a less Draconian penalty, such as a grade reduction of 10- 20%; you will not be forcibly removed from your Institution of Higher Learning for missing one deadline, of course. But even so, being penalized for missing a deadline is something that most of us would prefer to avoid.
    2. If writing for professionals, or even non-professionals who have asked you to write something for an upcoming concert, missing a composition deadline is very bad form. The musicians (a) may decide against playing your piece if and when you finally manage to finish it, and (b) may not ever ask you to write something for them again, because you have added the stress of having to quickly reprogram their concert at the last minute, and any printed materials such as programmes and posters will need to be changed. And, if you develop a reputation for missing deadlines, it's a pretty safe bet that others will not ask to compose music for them either.

    Neither of these situations is one that any of us would want to experience, obviously, so what I have done on at least two occasions that I can think of is this: Work like an obsessed crazy person for days on end, writing as much music as possible, all the while asking myself a simple question: Is it okay, or isn't it? If my answer is "yes," or "maybe… I guess so?" then I keep it and move onto the next part of my piece. If my answer is "no," or "this isn't terrible, but it kind of sucks!" then I try to improve it before moving on, or I set it aside and move on with the plan to return to the problem section later.

    But I avoid asking myself if it's great, or, if it's good, then how can I make it better – both of which I constantly ask myself during my normal composition process if a deadline is not imminent – because doing so slows everything down, and the consequences of missing a deadline greatly outweigh the consequences of completing a piece on time that might have been slightly better if I had spent more time on it. And for me, the most surprising thing about going through this process was that in both cases, I actually felt pretty good about the compositions when I had finished, and I continue to be happy with them.
  9. Stop listening, and start imagining. Or, more precisely, stop relying on the playback capability of Finale or Sibelius to give you a sense of what's going on in your piece. Try not playing back your music for a day, then two days, then longer, if possible (it's tough to do; most of us are addicted to MIDI playback!), and see what difference it makes. It may cause you to think more about motivic relationships, or you may begin paying more attention to structure, or set theory, or gestures... You will almost certainly start to think of your piece in a different way if you try this. (This suggestion courtesy of Andrew Staniland.)
  10. Perspective; use it or lose it. This is a quote from a Richard Bach book (Illusions), and my point in mentioning it here is that perhaps the most common reason that we get stuck is that the subjective nature of the composition process makes it remarkably easy to to lose perspective on our own creations. All of the above suggestions (except the first) are ways of overcoming this loss of perspective.

    Another way of gaining perspective on your music is to play it for others (your teacher, another teacher, your classmates, a non-musician) to see what they might suggest — but make it clear that you REALLY want their honest reactions/suggestions, as opposed to a pat on the back. While it can be encouraging to receive compliments on your music, sometimes what we need most is an honest critique. I have received some great suggestions about my music from my wife, who is not a musician. Not all feedback you receive will be equally useful, but even suggestions you reject (or comments with which you disagree) are sometimes helpful if they cause you to reconsider some aspect of your composition, and if doing so makes the piece better. Part of making good decisions is discerning when to take advice and when to reject it.
  11. Listen to other compositions that are in some way similar to yours. If you are writing a string quartet, listen to a few different models and study the scores as you do so. If you are writing for a non-standard collection of instruments, just listen to different examples of chamber music while studying the scores if possible. The models don't have to be of music composed in the last 50 years, but it probably would help if some were. Or just listen to any music, even if it has nothing to do with what you are writing; you may get some ideas that way.
  12. Look at an orchestration textbook. Orchestration texts have information about the capabilities of every orchestral instrument, often including contemporary extended techniques, some of which you may wish to try.  In addition, there is usually information about writing idiomatically for instruments, different articulation possibilities. etc., all of which can be inspire ideas for your own compositions.
  13. Stop the piece you are writing and start again. This is a pretty extreme option if you have already invested a lot of time in the composition — after all, you are almost guaranteed to get stuck at some point, especially in a longer composition, and if your default response is to scrap it all and start again you are unlikely to complete very many compositions — but if you are in the early stages of a work, a fresh start may get you back on track.

Never throw your rejected ideas away; I recommend keeping a compositional "blue box" (recycling bin) for ideas that didn't get very far.
At some later point, when you are in a different frame of mind, you may be able to browse through your recycling bin and find a compositional fragment that inspires you to complete it, or to use it in a completely different composition. I once tried this approach in a piece called Memory Quilt (1999), in which I began by laying out a some compositional fragments from earlier projects that I liked but had never used, and then I experimentally combined them in different ways until I found a result that I liked. I also composed a significant amount of new material based on the musical fragments to give cohesiveness and organicism to the overall musical structure.

One of the worst cases of "running into a brick wall" I ever experienced took place a long time ago, when I abandoned a composition that I had spent about 6 months writing; I had about fifteen minutes of ready-to-perform music written, but it was during a particularly low period in my life and I could not figure out how to finish it. I then started a new and completely different piece ("Steppin' Out") that I finished in about a month. I have never been able to bring myself to even look at the abandoned piece again; too many traumatic memories.

Getting stuck is common, so perhaps the most important thing to remember is that it is a normal part of the creative process. If you can learn to take it in stride you are less likely to stay stuck for very long.

Sometimes, the solution(s) you come up with to being stuck end up being the the most inspired part of your composition. Here is an axiom that may sound trite or corny, but it is true, or at least it is if you allow yourself to see things this way:
Challenges present opportunities for inspired solutions.

46 comments:

Kate Bevan-Baker said...

This post was very helpful and inspiring - thanks! I've been 'stuck' for a few days now, and I know I'm not the only one, judging from other people's blog posts.

Getting to meet with Larysa really changed my view of my piece. I had a really rough plan, but she encouraged me to have a more concrete one so that I knew exactly where my climax would be, etc. I analyzed the poem, and made a structure for my piece to follow. This has made it a lot easier to work on my piece lately.

Taking breaks is also helpful for me. When I come back after not worrying about it for an hour or so, it's a lot easier to concentrate and get stuff done. If I sit down and tell myself I'm going to write, it usually doesn't happen. It needs to happen when I want it to, and not when I just tell myself it will.

Oops, this is kind of long. Sorry!

Happy composing, everyone!

Melissa B. said...

I also think this post was very helpful. (As most of your posts are.)

I think a big thing for me is realizing that my composition doesn't need to be the next BIG thing.
It's okay if I don't reach the status of Beethoven or Mozart.

Right now I'm happy just truckin' along writing what I want to write and so far I haven't gotten stuck yet!

:)

Anonymous said...

The exercising component is crucial for me. I just wish I had paid more attention in my early music theory classes. Why did I despise them so?:)

Jenn Vail said...

"Running into a brick wall" describes my feeling about my piece right now...I'm stuck, and have been for a few fays. I am someone who needs to have a plan set out for the whole composition, from beginning to end. I think I may need to rethink some upcoming musical ideas, or go back and expand on the 5/4 section.

It's a tricky situation to be in - I agree with Kate; you can't just sit and write. If I don't feel anything, nothing will come out of my writing. If it does, I probably will end up not liking it and deleting it.

Here's hoping for some success this weekend!!

Clark Ross said...

Jenn, sorry to hear you're stuck, but, if it's any consolation, it's a pretty typical part of the creative process.

Taking some time away from your composing can be beneficial, but so can forcing yourself to stick with it until a breakthrough is reached… try different approaches, because you don't usually know in advance which one will work best in a particular situation.

Also, a plan can be a useful tool to guide you in the composing process, but I don't think any composer would suggest that the plan should remain unchanged; you usually need to tweak it (and sometimes overhaul it!) along the way.

If you want some specific suggestions from me, feel free to drop by my office on Monday.

Jill A. said...

Thanks for this post it's great and much appreciated!
It seems that every time I go to compose something new I encounter Composer's block. This can be extremly frustrating! Ihave ried many of the solutions that are listed and they seem to work wonderfully. The main thing is definitley to just keep going, everything will works its way out eventually!

Jessica Blenis said...

Thanks for all the tips, Clark! I personally find the exercise thing to be a big help, especially while outdoors. I think the fresh air and scenery helps to influence where I want to go with a piece a lot if I just keep playing it over and over in my head while I walk, adding to it as I go and trying to write it down when I get back/as I go on a piece of paper.

It's reassuring to hear, as well, that we shouldn't pressure ourselves into writing something that's great. Lower standards make things a lot easier and takes some of the crunch off composing which is nice and liberating.

meg293 said...

This has happened to me a couple of times over the last few months in this course. I find that a lot of times I'll begin a piece for the sake of beginning a piece and it's hard to find a motive. The biggest issue I had with this was that I'd get so far, and then I wouldn't have any idea for any direction whatsoever.

I find that this is almost always helped by taking a break. I can be so fixated on certain issues with my piece at the time that I can't hear anything else. When I go back to the piece the next day I can't remember exactly how it went, so it's like I'm listening to it with a new set of ears.

Jon Rowsell said...

You know, I find that getting stuck can usually help a piece sound better. For me, "getting stuck" usually just incourages me to step back and take stock of what I've written thus far, what I think is good about it, and I think is bad about it. I find myself thinking on that piece for sometimes weeks, until BOOM, something clicks in my head. I think that time away is important because it forces us to critque what we've done before we finish a potentially large piece of music that we don't even like.

Unknown said...

I think the lowering the bar is a good point! I've been writing ditties since early high school and whenever I go back and listen to those older pieces I always cringe and spend many moments in anguish.
Composition is the same as any skill, you get better at it the more you do it, the more educated you are about it, and how long you have been at it. I find this helps set my mind when writing things. I am not capable of writing a grand symphonic work yet, so I don't! I start will little steps and see my progress over time. One doesn't play Liszt at the piano the first time they touch the keys.

Kim Codner said...

Points #7, #8, and #10:
Golden.

Especially #7.

This semester seems to be the worst ever for getting "stuck" in composition and practice and study and exercise and lions and tigers and bears oh my! haha.

Thanks for the post! It refreshed my brain on why I was getting stuck.

Kim

A. Rideout said...

I find presenting in class very helpful when I feel as if I am stuck. I find that if I mention I am having trouble with a certian section or transition to the class they seem to inspire me in some way. They may not give me the exact formula to fix my problem but generally they may mention something that will turn a light on in my head. I totally agree with one of Dr. Ross' points, he said that sometimes his wife will give him great ideas even though she isn't a musician. I think even though some people may not be musically trained they still have ears and can tell if things make sense or not. That's why when I get stuck I usually like to show people my work, to see what they think.

Adam Batstone said...

For me i find the best thing to do when stuck is too take a break! Letting a compositon sit for awhile is never a bad thing. I usually end up coming back to it with new ideas, a new prespective from which I can work from. Usually if you are not enjoying or having an extremely hard time doing something you should stop.... life is to short to sit and stare at a screen waiting for ideas to fall from the sky... Time can only make things sweeter...

Unknown said...

This is an awesome list of ideas to try out. I agree with all of them and I will be sure to refer back to this page often when I feel like I can't be creative, or am in a rut.

This year I have encountered many "stuck" situations with the two compositions for 4100 and the orchestration course where I was writing excerpt arrangements for different combinations of instruments and an original string quartet piece.

I have mostly relied on class time discussions, asking honest opinions of others, and the "bull" approach. I need to work on letting my expectations be realistic. As I work I am finding that it takes a very long time for me to be happy with what I have done, sometimes trying five different ways (each taking 10 minutes or so for a couple bars of music) before it is "okay." I believe that this is fine if the end result is good, however I need to realize that in a time-crunch situation, I need to work on being "okay" with material that is less appealing. After much more experience and years of writing music, I will raise the bar back and beyond what it is now.

David said...

I always find it comforting to that I'm not the only one who experiences writer's block. I can't think of the last piece I wrote that I didn't get stuck midway through on. I've never had to go to the extreme of scraping a piece but I've certainly come close to that. I find that if I spend enough time with the piece eventually I'll find a way to get out of the rut but I've used many of these strategies and they've worked very well for the most part. There's a very good quote in a book on conducting that I've been reading recently for my conducting class that's basically about lacking motivation which I'll now butcher horribly:

No great composer or artist has ever been completely motivated and inspired all the time. Inspiration is a guest that knocks at odd hours and isn't always what you may expect. If we constantly give in to a lack of motivation then we quickly become apathetic and stagnant. We must become masters of our own disinclination.

There you have it, horribly butchered, but the point is there. I found that quote to be particularly inspiring. It kinda brings me back down to earth.

Aiden Hartery said...

These are great points! Any help trying to get out of the ol' writers block is definitely good help.

As everyone else has stated, I too sometimes find myself stuck in a mind knot. It sucks to be in one, and can often feel more discouraging than I would like, but sometimes I find them helpful. Whenever I am writing and suddenly come to a point where I say... "now what"....I usually take that as a signal that it is time for a break. Step away. Go for a walk, play a game, do a puzzle, listen to other music, ANYthing to get your mind out of a slump as soon as possible. I usually find that if I sit at the computer and stare at a piece that is currently going no where, I will just get ticked off with it, and that doesn't help anybody. Instead of developing a growing resentment towards my creation I take a break, which usually cools my mind off, and often times gives me fresh ideas/perspectives, and I can continue on writing whenever I'm ready.

That all seems like a load of bull, heck, even I kinda think so too after writing it, but I think that parts of that are true. And I'm stickin to it.

Elliott Butt said...

Really great advice here. The one that stuck out to me was the "Stop Listening" point. As it says, we are all addicted to MIDI playback, and I am certainly not the exception, but I've been having trouble with Sibelius MIDI playback for a while.

The result has been me having to compose without the aid of playback, which I must say has gotten me out of a rut at times. I find that somehow, this lack of playback engages me with what I'm writing far more than if I could just play it back because I can focus on what I'm seeing on the page rather than what I'm hearing.

Not to mention it saves me hours and hours of sitting down to compose and just hitting "Play" over and over again!

Unknown said...

Great post Dr. Ross! I think I may get stuck very often with almost anything I ever write. Which may actually contribute to how I write very sporadically. These suggestions not only help with solving some of these writers block problems but also make me feel a little less discouraged about how often I get stuck!

I've never thought about the exercising solution, or the perspective one specifically so that may be something for me to try. I think the playback suggestion is probably the one that resonates the most with me though. Last time I was completing a piece I remember being really discouraged or unhappy with a lot of the piece. I think the effectiveness of it really relied on certain tonal or expressive qualities. I knew that midi playback clearly wouldn't capture those aspects, but even just hearing parts of the piece played on an actual instrument was very encouraging. So this also kind of relates to the lower the bar point. It sometimes really helps to not worry about whether what is written down is good enough as it's written and just let it be played!

Thanks for the great post Dr. Ross. I'll be thinking of all these tips while working on some pieces this week!

Tony Taylor said...

Thanks for the post Dr. R. I will certainly be using some of these ideas or approaches to help me pull out the last half of my piece... I sort of have to!

Unknown said...

I have a lot of pieces sitting around that started off and I got stuck immediately, and I'm thinking about how much more music I would have if I'd had even a single strategy for becoming unstuck, and here is a full list of them.

When I didn't have to compose, back in the high school days, if I became stuck I would say, "Well, this cannot go anywhere. Time to start a new piece." I now have a folder full of bits and pieces of music.

The upside to having so much "trash" is that now I have an inventory of ideas to use if I ever need help starting a piece or continuing one. Now I'm at least slightly more skilled and these strategies are here to help, so I might be able to make some great music out of something from the past.

It's not plagiarism if you're stealing from yourself!

Unknown said...

This is a great post. It's so encouraging to hear from yourself and all those who commented how frequent getting stuck occurs. I feel much less like a bad composer now having read this post.

Your suggestions were enlightening. One that I know to be extremely true is that of stepping away to exercise then returning to your piece. My mind frame is entirely different after a workout than before I began, so it's no wonder this could be channeled in the composing process as well.

Though I've never consciously considered the cessation of listening to midi-playback as a compositional aid, I can see it's benefit, and I know that I've unknowingly done this before. As someone else mentioned above, it's almost a more personal relationship with your piece when you stop listening and force yourself to become acquainted with what you're putting on the page. I find myself doing this regularly, and often times I really like the product. It allows me to come up with things that I probably wouldn't have thought of if I had been re-playing each idea.

I think the most common tactic I employ when I'm dissatisfied with something I've written is just to push through and keep going. I choose to ignore that passage for a while and then when I return to it later, with fresh ideas, I can inevitably find a way to tweak or rewrite what is there and make it something far better.

Next time I'm stuck, I'm going to refer back to this post so I can try out some new ways of getting through that wall. Thanks!

Unknown said...

This is a great list that I'll be coming back to. Especially for someone like me who constantly uses the last option of starting over. It feels quick and easy but actually just takes more time and energy :S

Unknown said...

Of course!

Its easy to step back from what you think is a dud work, but the important part of this separation is to find a fresh way to look at your work! From my experience, trying to critically/formally analyze my own work does help to see where I may have gone "wrong" or just helps me make an objective decision on where to go next. For other instances I recognize that, for myself, the problem more often lies in my poor attitude I can sometimes fall into when forced to get something composed when the world seems to be running at a fast clip behind me. These instances are when I may opt to take a break, exorcize, noodle on an instrument, or even read something of unrelated personal interest.

As someone new to composing and still new to immediate midi playback, your suggestion to no rely entirely on it is one that stuck out to me. It can be easy to get caught up in trying to get a result that just sounds fine through the playback. More importantly, it's necessary to be thinking in a way where you want something bigger from your work and ideally have a direction where you want to take it. If that isn't there, than that should be your first aim, not coming up with something that you don't mind listening to over and over again.

Kelly Perchard said...

I can relate to this post because I remember "running into a brick wall" during our third composition project using modes of limited transposition. I was finding it very difficult to achieve the sound I wanted while sticking to the mode. I kept powering through anyways, like the first method says, but eventually I got to a point around the 8th measure where I started to think it sounded awful and whenever I would go to write the next measure I would get stuck. So I left it for a day, hoping it was just writers block, but when I came back to it I found the same thing was happening. Eventually I just had to scrap it, like another of the methods suggests, and start over new. The new composition turned out much better and sounded more the way I wanted. I did, however, waste a lot of time trying to figure out that bar before I started new, so I learned that sometimes you just need to write something, even if it's not exactly what you want at the time, in order to get past the block.

Becca Spurrell said...

I found a lot of these suggestions very helpful and interesting. They also can refer to more than just music, like writing stories for example.

I find myself getting stuck more often when writing literature than with music, but that's not to say that I never get stuck while writing music. Your second point, about finding the problem earlier on and fixing it from there rather than trying to move forward from where you left off, was extremely interesting. I never thought of that. This could definitely help me with both writing music at literature.

I also really like your suggestion to keep the ideas that ended up getting scrapped. I find myself starting an idea, and after some time of writing, it becomes something entirely different. I think it would be interesting to keep the original idea locked away somewhere for when I can't find any inspiration to write. If the idea went I different direction before, it surely can go another direction again. Or maybe (cross my fingers) it may go in the direction I intended it to in the beginning...

Peyton Morrissey said...

The first time I heard the expression "hitting a wall" was during my days of cheerleading. We would spend hours perfecting gymnastics, and one of the girls working on a particularly hard trick told me she had "hit a wall". Upon seeing my reaction she had to explain she had not physically back flipped into a wall, but had mentally backflipped herself into a state of no longer being able to get past the thought of doing the backflip.

This "wall" is something I have personally experienced in many aspects of my life, from ballet to practical, to composing. I have tried the boot camp approach, and I find it leaves me more frustrated and mentally exhausted, leaving me with something of lower quality than if I had taken some time away from the piece then returned later. I also find stopping listening helps, or instead of listening to it on MIDI playback, actually playing it myself.

Finally, I definitely agree with the suggestion of playing my music for non-musicians! I typically get my mom who doesn't have any musical training (other than the MYC classes she attended with me when I was a child) to listen, and get her feedback, whether it's on things she liked, or if she has any title suggestions, or what kind of mood the piece has to her. This provides some insight as to how someone who wouldn't analyze it musically or ever play the music thinks about a composition.

Timothy Brennan said...

This is a great post Dr. Ross! Like many of the above comments, I have had experiences with being stuck and not able to see my way through a problem. For me, I find taking a break and coming back to the piece with fresh eyes and ears is often the best solution to that problem. However, I find that the "boot camp" approach can be successful as well, especially when time is limited and deadlines are approaching. I find that during those hectic times I'm less self-critical and tend to not over-analyse every idea or gesture. Sometimes this produces a great result, sometimes not. As well, getting another person's perspective on your work is often great, as they can present new ideas and solutions that I may not have thought of before. This is why I really like the seminar-style format of your composition course. I think that the key to overcoming any compositional obstacle (or obstacles in any other field) is to not become too frustrated and discouraged. Every problem has a solution, so stick with it and use the method(s) that work for you.

Flutiano said...

I find it interesting that many of these points relate to anxiety. Numbers 3, 6, and 7 (take a break, lower the bar, and exercise) are pieces of advice that I have come across, and specifically given, many times as ways to lessen anxiety. Sometimes what you need to figure out what is going wrong is a clear head, and that’s what you need to help control anxiety, so the correlation makes some sense. Number one is related to anxiety in the opposite way; to stay too long trying to bash through something that just is not working can be very frustrating and anxiety provoking. As recently as yesterday I was given the advice that I need to take a break from working on something when it’s getting frustrating and come back to it later with a clear head.

I also like the ideas of analyzing the music, creating or revising a plan, listening to other compositions, and reading orchestration textbooks. Those are all ideas that I will think about using when I am stuck – I am going to write them inside my composition notebook to think about when I am stuck.

I realised after reading this that “stop listening” is the opposite of what I do when I’m stuck. When I don’t know what I’m doing or what to write next, I will often listen to the MIDI over and over just to hear what is there, and tweaking little things that I see along the way (dynamics, articulations, etc.). Since I usually start composing on manuscript paper, the first time I get stuck in a composition might be when I transfer the composition to Finale (if I can’t figure it out using the piano, so that I can stay away from the computer longer – my preference is to finish a first draft completely on paper before putting it into the computer. If I put it into the computer sooner, it is usually because I want to hear the MIDI playback).

One of the greatest things about composition seminar and/or lessons is getting an outside perspective (or, in the class setting, multiple perspectives!) on works in progress. Having to present something every week also helps push me to write something, even if it isn’t magnificent. I don’t want to think that I’m practising writing garbage, but only something that is written can be fixed. I like the idea you end no. 6 with: “your tenth composition will likely be better than your first one, or your first few, but you won’t get to your tenth composition until you finish the first nine.”

The combination of this post and “How to Become a More-Skilled Composer . . .” are encouraging me to compose more. Thanks for the ideas!

Robert Humber said...

I think this might be one of my favorite posts on the blog. Learning effective strategies to jump over the brick wall is so important to the sanity of a composer. I think that the exercise suggestion is not to be overlooked. When the weather is okay (10 days of the year), I find so much satisfaction from a nice walk around the pond near my house with headphones in, listening to something I really love. I do not limit the amount of time I feel I can spend outdoors, I just go until I feel refreshed. The fresh air, nice scenery and enjoyable music is kind of like soul food. The feeling of hitting a brick wall is made worse by the fact that you are indoors, cramped up in a chair, breathing in the same air over and over. So for me, the walk is my #1 strategy to chill out and become re-inspired. Not to mention you will probably notice things in the music you are listening to that spark your creativity!

Last year, I had my worst "brick wall" moment. I was trying to write a wind ensemble piece in orchestration and a mass setting in composition. Neither were going anywhere but I had no choice but to use the "drill sergeant" method and push through. Maybe it works for some, but for me it was nothing but frustration. I remember one particular Sunday where I said "Robert, you're going to sit down and work on this wind ensemble piece for 10 hours today and by the time you go to sleep, the final bar will be filled." Well, I worked for 10 hours and ended up no further than where I started. When I listen to any of the music I wrote that semester, it all sounds so frustrated, forced and unimaginative apart from a few cool moments.

One idea to get the ball rolling: this semester I wrote a series of very short pieces for a small ensemble (speaker, viola, piano). I realize this doesn't solve the issue of an already-in-progress piece, but I think it can be a real confidence booster for chronic brick-wallers. By limiting yourself to short character sketches, you basically eliminate the big problem of developmental material or knowing when to change, etc. When your little message has been relayed, you can just... stop the music--end of movement. No matter the length or scale of a piece, reaching the double bar line at the end is an extremely satisfying experience! Knowing that your next double bar line is within arm's reach is enough motivation to keep the ball rolling forward! Of course, you will eventually need to go back to writing music which is larger-scale, but you will be more confident to tackle it, having completed the shorter works beforehand. For me it was a very effective strategy, I wouldn't call myself a fast composer at all, but was able to write 4 pieces in about a week and a half!

One other thing that I think works is composing in smaller chunks almost every day. Sure, you will have some marathons, but if you are constantly pecking at your piece every day bit by bit, your marathons will stem from a burst of creativity and productivity rather than "holy crap, this is due tomorrow... well, here goes nothin'."

Again, a great post on an issue that everybody seems to face.

Nader Tabrizchi said...

I certainly ran into a brick wall during my experience with composing for our fourth composition project consisting of piano, voice, and another instrument. I did in fact use the advice you give on pushing through, however as I read further into the blog I have concluded that one thing I was doing wrong was not thinking through my composition before jumping into it. Put it simply I had no plan, which is probably the biggest factor that had an impact on this composition. Through the time I spent trying to achieve unique harmony causing myself to scrap chords, to the rhythms that I did not like, despite the fact that I was not creating a foundation for myself to go about. It was as if I was creating ideas all around the place with no sense of direction. It took me a while to realize this after looking back at my piece that I did not like it, nor was it a piece that reflected what I wanted to achieve. Another problem I noticed in this composition which is also a point you mention in this blog, is that I was relying too much on Finale during the early stages of this composition. During the times I listened to this piece my ideas changed a lot, perhaps that is because I was trying to achieve a sense of direction which continuously was being changed due to the frequent playback listening’s I was doing. I think that through this composition experience I learned that I need to formulate a foundation or plan during the early stages. Gradually expand upon this plan, and not rely on a program to create the sense of a piece.

Kristin Wills said...

Being stuck on specific pieces is definitely something that's happened to me a lot in the past, and a few times I have been completely stuck with composition in general, as if I'd lost the ability to write music at all. This is apparently a common problem as well, and I think the best thing to do in that situation is to try writing very short, simple pieces for a while, instead of focusing on bigger ones. Another helpful exercise is to write something that's based on an existing work, such as a poem. I found this very helpful when I wrote a vocal piece using a poem as the text. Whenever I got stuck, I found that just looking at the content of the poem gave me lots of ideas, it worked particularly well since I chose a poem with a lot of auditory imagery. The idea of exercising is good, too, I find that some of my best ideas just seem to appear in my head while I'm walking somewhere.

Joshua Lawlor said...

Some really excellent advice here for any composer who may begin to feel stuck during the writing process. I think these tips are particularly important for those early on in their practice of composition who may be encountering the dreaded brick wall for the first time! A number of these methods such as taking a break, forming a plan, and exercising, often help reset my approach to a piece once a creative block starts to form. As someone who continues to try and develop a routine to better avoid these situations (with varying degrees of success) I find it is beneficial to share different methods and practices with each other. A tip I once heard during a masterclass that resonated with me was to always have a plan, but to not worry about veering away from it. With this in mind I attempt to begin most of my compositions after a certain amount of preparation and research has been completed, but try not to let the planning put restrictions on instinctual ideas I want to explore. The plan always lets me have a blueprint for what I want to achieve in my writing, but when I feel it is starting to box my ideas in I often switch gears and try something outside my schedule. Trying new ideas like this often provides me with music I know I don't want to use, as well as surprising breakthroughs that often end up incorporated into the piece.

Unknown said...

This post was very helpful for me, since this principles can apply in other life situations. While reading, I was thinking that compositional process seems to be like a chess game. Also, I thought about the phenomenon of waves. Yesterday I was looking waves in front of me, and I realized that we focus just in the result of a movement that began behind or underneath. So, I guess that a stuck point is similar, and is surrounded by other factors, for example, our emotional reaction from certain circumstances that can affect the trend of our creations. On the other hand, I liked the comment of takinf a break, since it is related to the energy in our brains. One physician explained me about the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems and how a person can be easily inspired if he or she is relaxed. I guess that if we are relaxed certain parts of the brain work better than under stress.

Unknown said...

This post was very helpful for me, since this principles can apply in other life situations. I have experimented many of this situations as a pianist. Before a lot of frustration expecting perfection in the sound, I just relaxed and enjoy what I am playing. While reading, I was thinking that compositional process seems to be like a chess game. Also, I thought about the phenomenon of waves. Yesterday I was looking waves in front of me, and I realized that we focus just in the result of a movement that began behind or underneath. So, I guess that a stuck point is similar, and is surrounded by other factors, for example, our emotional reaction from certain circumstances that can affect the trend of our creations. On the other hand, I liked the comment of takinf a break, since it is related to the energy in our brains. One physician explained me about the parasympathetic and sympathetic systems and how a person can be easily inspired if he or she is relaxed. I guess that if we are relaxed certain parts of the brain work better than under stress.
AngĂ©lica LĂ³pez

Laura C said...

I found this post very helpful and reassuring! I've been running into a few snags recently while trying to complete a composition project based on the techniques of Olivier Messiaen, and after reading this blog post I have some new ideas for having a clearer path while writing music. Both taking a break and exercising were things that I usually implement while doing my personal practice, however I never considered that this would also work while trying to compose. Something I usually do is just sit down with my computer and begin writing, I hadn't made a structured plan about my composition, which is something I can see as being very useful for a more consistent flow. Lastly, I really enjoyed reading about lowering the bar, this is something that I that I don't think people (especially students) hear enough. To me, it makes much more sense to start with a basic idea and adding more onto it later. Great advice!

Andrew Luther said...

This is a fantastic post, containing many fantastic techniques for overcoming writer’s block, many of which have worked for me in the past or I think will be helpful for future situations. I think for me one of the most important ways to get past writer’s block is to stop being so afraid of confronting it. I experience brief “brick walls” nearly every time I compose, and they are how I know when to stop composing. As you said, taking a break is important so that we may obtain a different perspective on the piece, once it has left our mind for a little while. Generally, when I am trying to finish a composition I will work on it consistently (every day or two) for however long I can go before I exhaust myself of all my creative energy for that day. Usually, I will write for an hour or so before I run out of ideas and need to do something else. I may come back to the piece later that day if the deadline is quickly approaching, but normally I start composing long enough before the deadline so that I can afford to wait until the next day to unblock my creative energy. I think lowering the bar is an extremely important tip for composer’s struggling with this as well. I enjoy writing a lot more when I stop putting pressure on myself to write something perfect. I think that allowing yourself to be okay with writing something bad can often produce the opposite effect; my compositions are often a lot better when I stop trying to make them amazing! I may say something like “this is due in a couple of days so I’m just going to slap something together” and end up writing something that I love! I also love showing my works in progress to my friends and family when I’m stuck, because their comments almost always give me new ideas. Sometimes I may show a piece to someone and they may tell me what they think it sounds like, or what emotion it makes them feel (e.g. “this makes me feel scared, like I’m in a horror movie!”) Usually people give me these comments not realizing how helpful/influential they are on the process, but for me these new perspectives are crucial, and have often given me ideas that I never would have come up with on my own.

Bert Power said...

I hadn’t actually analysed one of my own pieces before this semester, and the process was rather eye-opening. As it was a serial piece, I was aware of what processes I was employing during the compositional process, but when I went through and identified everything with a thorough analysis, it made it much easier to identify what was causing issues to my ear that weren’t as obvious on the first pass of the piece.

Planning has played a huge role in my compositional process, and I will sometimes spend too much time planning before actually putting a note on the page because I worry about how it will be executed at this stage in the planning process (see also my comment on the Fear of Failure blog). This is most often the case with unconventional notation ideas or setting up a context to employ extended techniques, where I want the concept to be perfect in my mind’s ear/eye before figuring out how to translate that into performable notation. This will usually lead to a need for me to consider point 7 and just get something onto the page for later editing.

Many times point 11 saved me when I was in the depths of a “stuck” creative period. Listening to music by composers that tend to use similar effects to what I am trying to achieve, but specifically pieces by those composers that I’ve never heard before, often helps me recontextualize and pinpoint what it is I am trying to get out of that composer’s aesthetic. Listening to new non-classical music, or re-exploring music I enjoyed before beginning my compositional studies, has also provided a wealth of inspiration that has helped solve entirely unrelated musical problems.

I am absolutely going to consult this list next time I become stuck (I’m sure this will happen at any moment), especially the idea of setting an idea that isn’t necessarily working in this piece for later use. I often feel as though, once an idea has materialized, it must be used in the context in which it came into being. This is obviously not true, and I hope the process of removing an idea from a piece knowing I will use it at some point (maybe even a decade later) will make the creative process run more smoothly.

Grace Currie said...

This was super helpful! I think I will look back at this the next time I find myself unable to write anything. I think points #4 and #7 were the most helpful for me. I will admit I often try to write something awesome or even acceptable on the first go without any idea or outline, which I think is why I have trouble finishing most of the pieces I write because I'm never satisfied with the outcome and just give up after a couple bars. I think learning to let go of my expectations and focus on just finishing the piece will be super beneficial.

I also really liked #9. I do rely on the playback a lot to help me understand what I've written, but if I can learn to use it less, it will help me think ahead and make my pieces more structured.

Matthew Fillier said...

I enjoyed reading about the various techniques that can help with composition. I spend some of my free time working with electronic music, and trying to compose EDM, Synthwave etc... The issue I keep running into is I dislike almost every single project I have started, and unfortunately I have deleted almost every file I have started in the last two months! I have heard you say in class before to never throw away compositions that we have started, and instead leave them for some time, and revisit them periodically to see if the brain fog has drifted, I feel that this might be an approach that will be helpful for the future of my composing. I definitely get frustrated and give up prematurely with a lot of my ideas, but instead of restarting, like you have suggested near the end of your blog, I just forget about what I have worked on and move on to doing something else. I definitely struggle with keeping level headed with my musical studies, I get frustrated far too easily when things just aren't going my way, but point #7 might be very helpful for me. Lowering the bar might allow me to stay more calm about my work, instead of being upset that I did not meet the absurdly high bar that I have set for myself.

Melody said...

I am currently experiencing writer's block myself so this was helpful to read! Reading this blog post was an attempt to take a break from staring at my composition and hopefully find a way to help myself move forward. This post made me realize that perhaps I'm getting too caught up on everything needing to be "great", currently I don't really love the ideas that I have in this composition, I'm only 10 bars in and I'm already struggling to build on the ideas. Sadly, I think I am addicted to MIDI playback like you said... I've listed to the finale playback about 30 times now just waiting for something to pop into my head that could follow what I have or something that I could change within the few bars that I already have but I'm getting nothing. I like your suggestion of coming up with a plan, I think that's the best step for me now. Plan, experiment, ask for feedback, and expand my ideas.
Thank you!

Andrew Gosse said...


It’s not uncommon for me to finish a piece with a strict deadline where I think the piece is a hot mess that will sound terrible in the reading. When we finally do the reading however, I am blown away but how much better it sounds than it did in my head. This is because I often set the bar way too high. In this case it’s not something that made it too much harder to finish the piece, but it did make the weeks between finishing the piece and the reading significantly less enjoyable.

The solution on this list that constantly helps me out is to go back and figure out where the branch-off point between the section I’m mostly pleased with, and the section I greatly dislike is. Why did it go there? Usually, it’s not just that the material after this point is bad and the material before it is good, but that the material before it might not be preparing for the kind of section I wanted. Maybe it doesn’t adequately introduce the next section, sounds too final, or just doesn’t mesh with the other idea. Whatever the case may be, going back and re-examining where a section truly wants to go is what saves me from writer’s block the most.

The boot camp approach for me only works in specific scenarios. I need to already be in a decent headspace for writing (which usually entails not being annoyed with something external). I use this approach more when I’m already writing but don’t want to continue rather than when I can’t start. Unless I have an imminent deadline (the ultimate motivator), I find this approach usually leads to pure frustration and no actual progress.

The thing I would add to the list is to generate ideas at an instrument without feeling the need to put them in a piece. Improvising at an instrument is an excellent way to devise new thematic material without the same pressure we often get when staring at a finale file or manuscript paper.

Liam said...

Remarkable blog post! I’ve had several compositions that I run into this problem with; more often than not my compositional process involves several hours of frenetic work followed by a long period of absolute fruitlessness. Before composing for your class I had never really set myself deadlines (especially given that I truly started composing in the beginning of the pandemic, where time ceased all function). I do find temporal restrictions tend to assist my creativity, if only in that I am more motivated to write ANYTHING even if it is terrible. MUS 3100 has also gotten me into the habit of writing plans before actually composing anything. Though it doesn’t help every composition emerge, it has (for the most part) prevented any serious writer’s block lasting more than a couple days. Coupled with taking breaks when nothing is working, I find that this helps more than anything else I’ve tried.

Michael Grandy said...

Whenever I have hit a brick wall while composing, or really engaging in any activity or schoolwork for that matter, I usually pick between two options. those options are taking a short break to clear my mind or go for a more "trial and error" approach. I usually try the ladder option first, the former option being more like a last resort. I often don't find hitting the brick wall irritating because that is just apart of the process in composing, and really any sort of work in general. I also don't find this to happen often, I usually can make a major portion of the composition in one sitting. there have even been times that I complete a full composition in a very short amount of time. Deadlines can also help me break through the wall, as I have found myself to be very productive in situations where I am under a time crunch. while I find this to create a complete composition, unfortunately, cramming a composition is more harm than good. I tend to accidentally leave in notational errors for example. Therefore, I rather finish the bulk of a composition ahead of time, and pick at small errors and fixes before the deadline.

Interesting post!

Adam Janes said...

The rut is one of the worst things a person can get into. In any and every part of life, whatever your practice will be I can almost promise you will hit a wall and feel like you're in a rut. I find I get like this Fromm time to time when it comes to most aspects of life. Especially in sports and compositions. I just find sometimes my mind goes blank and I just can't get very productive even though I need to be. I may take minutes, days, months, maybe even years but one thing I know for sure is that over time the rut will stop. You just need to keep pushing through it, no matter how good or bad the process may be to get there, the moment a rut finally gets to you is when you top the process completely. Breaks are okay, but don't ever stop, that is when a rut really wins. For me personally, my approach once I hit the wall is always break and then finish no matter what. Even if it hate it or its garbage or an automatic throw away, just finishing what you started will heplp your mindset so much. I always find just finishing what you started is what works best for me, but man. Being in a rut definitely sucks.

Evan West said...

I'm currently in writers block for a composition I'm writing. It's not that I don't have ideas, it's more that I have so much other work to do that I'm finding it hard to consistently work on the piece. As well as that is that I'm writing for a new type of ensemble that I'm not used to so I don't always feel totally confident in my ideas. I feel that these suggestions will help e get out of this writers block. I definitely should listen to more music in the style I am writing in. I found that very helpful while writing a piece for big band so it might also be helpful for my post tonal compositions. As well as this I will have to force myself to sit down and finish off my piece with deadlines coming up.

Kaitlin White said...

I appreciate posts like this and I think discussions around this topic should be made more frequently. I’m not currently ‘stuck’ on anything (yet) but I think all of these points are helpful. I consider myself to be relatively new to composition so finding that I already occasionally use suggestions 3, 4, 5, and 11 (and a couple of others but less often) is reassuring that I am doing something right. I can easily say that they work well for me most of the time when I’m not working like the obsessed crazy person I am haha.

Although I’m on the newer side when it comes to composing, I am not new to creating daily considering I would draw and paint images from my head for hours day after day so finding inspiration I’ve never felt has been difficult for me. Because of my background in visual art, one thing that helps me start writing is looking at other works and asking myself “if this were a scene from a movie, what would it sound like?” Similar to #11, but there have been times when listening to other people’s work only does so much for me. This is most helpful I find when trying to start a new piece but even if you’re in the middle of working on one