COMPOSITION/IMPROVISATION

Learn how to write your own music!

See private lesson information for relative policies, tuition, and enrollment form. This is a one-on-one lesson recommended for those who want to learn how to write their own music.

Focus on: Understanding of music theory, variation techniques, arranging, orchestration and more depending on the student's skill level.

COMPOSITION

Have you ever wanted to write your own music or compose a song for someone? Is there a melody in your head that you have always wanted to write down? If so, Rhapsody Arts Center is now offering private lessons in composition just for you!

Composing a piece of music is similar to writing a story. Just as a sentence is made up of letters and words, a musical phrase is built using notes and chords. Students will be able to form their own musical "stories" through improvisation and other creative processes.

Students will gain many benefits from taking composition lessons at Rhapsody Arts Center. They will:

• Learn how music is put together by identifying "building blocks" in music
• Create original works in any style for any combination of instruments.
• Receive a recording of their own music being played with real instrument samples
• Gain a solid understanding of musical notation and dynamic markings
• Understand the creative process, making it easier to interpret the works of other composers
• Gain grounding in the principles of tonal music theory
• Be encouraged to "think outside the box" and be creative!

IMPROVISATION

The key to composing is improvisation, a skill that once learned is the truest form of musical freedom. Improvisation is the art of creating new music on the spot at an instrument. It is often associated with jazz musicians, although you can improvise in any style you want!

Improvisation is taught within the context of the private composition lesson, but is also encouraged by Rhapsody Arts Center faculty during instrumental instruction.

Some of the benefits of learning to improvise include:

• Expanding rudimentary skills of piano performance, such as scales, arpeggios, cadences and more. Students are then better prepared to perform music by other composers.
• The art of improvisation opens the door to a whole wealth of musical ideas that can be used in a student's compositions.
• Creating music on the spot is a lot of fun! The music takes both the performer and the listener on an exciting journey, and nobody can predict what will happen next!
• The world's greatest composers were all skilled improvisers, which is one of the reasons they were able to write so much music!

MUSICSTATION LAB

It is now easier than ever for students to hear how their compositions will sound using Rhapsody Arts Center's state-of-the-art MusicStation lab.

Our workstations include notation software, as well as audio sequencing programs by Emagic and Digital Sound Planet. Powered by E-MU's SoundFont technology, students can hear their compositions reproduced using realistic wave-table synthesis* and record them to CD.

Ambitious students can even learn how to design their own instrument sounds. The only limit is the imagination! Click here** to listen to an example of what can be done with a MusicStation.

Click here to learn more about our MusicStation lab and what it offers for students.

* wave-table synthesis uses recordings of real instruments to provide the most realistic sounds possible.
** Audio example is Copyright 20052005 by S. Christian Collins. All rights reserved.

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