Instrument List

A list of instruments played by students in this class:

Piano (Lindsey, Joel, Alexander, Simon, Adam S.)
Flute (Sarah)
Clarinet (Mary Beth)
Trombone (Aiden)
Violin (Brooke)
Double Bass (Josh)
Percussion (Andrew)
Guitar (Steve, Dave, Adam B., Chris)

• Have I missed anybody? If so, kindly let me know, and I will add your name to this list.

• Voice (Megan and Stephen) not listed above for this project, but you will be able to write for voice for the next project.

• You can write for an instrument other than those listed above, as long as you arrange for a performer to be able to come to our class to play your music. The guest performer does not have to stay for the whole class, just long enough to perform your composition.

• You can write for yourself as a performer, but you do not have to do so. Note that one of the ways to earn class participation marks is through performing, so if you are not performing someone's work then you should make sure to contribute to the class in other ways, most notably by being an active commentator on others' music.

• What next? If you haven't already done so, have a look at the blog that explains this assignment. It is mostly a replica of the handout I gave you, but there may be some additional information there that is helpful.

→ Read "Project 1; More Details" when you have completed your chord progression.

→ Curious about what is required in order to create a "well-prepared score"? Read the following to find out:

• On musical detail (1)
• On musical detail (2)
• On musical detail (3)

Welcome (Fall, 2009)!

Welcome to all new music composition students in this semester's "Introduction to Music Composition" course (Mu3100)!

As mentioned in our first class, in addition to writing and presenting your music every week, you will be expected to keep your own on-line journal in the form of a blog, in which you will write your thoughts about the music you compose, and your reactions to the feedback received.

As if that were not enough, you also need to check in with the class blog, which is what you are reading right now (i.e., http://clarkross.blogspot.com/), at least once a week, and make a comment on items that interest you. If nothing interests you, then I guess you should make a comment about that! The objective is to engender a dialogue about ideas relating to composition between all of us (i.e., you, your classmates, and me). Unfortunately, there is rarely enough time in our classes to have these kind of discussions, which is why we're doing it on-line.

If you have not already done so, please sign-up for a blog at Blogger.com (which is the same as blogspot.com), then send me the link. You should have done so by Monday's class (Sept. 14).