Cant read a note but like composing - should I take what kind(s) of lessons?

[jittqm]

Wondering what kind(s) of lessons to take to help with my composing.  My piano compositions are attached.

[outin]

I think basic piano skills would be quite useful for a composer. You could learn notation and theory at the same time but wouldn't need to concentrate so much on the piano technique. You should be able to find a piano teacher who would also help you learn theory.

[gregh]

Wondering what kind(s) of lessons to take to help with my composing.

How can you compose if you can't read a note?

[vaanampadi]

How can you compose if you can't read a note?

Well, you can compose even if you cant read music. I am not really great with reading music, but composes for fun (self entertainment)
It is problem when I want someone else to play what I composed. For that, I record my compositions in to a midi using electronic keyboard, and print scores from that
As long as others know how to play off of the sheet music, he can do okay

Sorry OP, I dont have answers to your question, but I am in the same boat as you are, so awaiting answer from someone for your question ...

[awesom_o]

Well, you can compose even if you cant read music. I am not really great with reading music, but composes for fun (self entertainment)
It is problem when I want someone else to play what I composed. For that, I record my compositions in to a midi using electronic keyboard, and print scores from that
As long as others know how to play off of the sheet music, he can do okay

Sorry OP, I dont have answers to your question, but I am in the same boat as you are, so awaiting answer from someone for your question ...

I'm not sure if this technically qualifies as composing. It's almost as if I were to say a bunch of stuff out loud, record it, write it down, and THEN call it a novel. In this manner, anyone could write a novel, even a 5 or 6 year old child, who has barely learned the alphabet and cannot spell.

Actual novels are not written that way-by people who are illiterate, and lack basic understanding of literary structure.

[gregh]

For most of history, most musicians couldn't read a note. They learned by imitating others, and they embellished things and made up their own. That makes it difficult, for instance, to study the profane music of the Middle Ages (the music played in streets and taverns, as opposed to churches and courts), because the people who could write music weren't interested in that kind.

Musical notation in the West was developed to communicate music to others without needing to have an ensemble travel long distances to demonstrate it. It's still good for that today. When you learn to read music, you also learn a big chunk of music theory, such as keys and modes, and transcribing from one key to another. It's hard to avoid learning something about chords and chord progressions in the process. It's not just about communicating, or about writing something down so you won't forget it two hours later; the building blocks of songs are in there. You'll have a ready tool kit of things like minor keys, major keys, diminished chords, and a link between harmony and melody. It's also the verbal vocabulary. What are you going to do when someone tells you to take it up a fifth?

It's probably the second most important thing for a composer to have, after a good ear.