Need a good book on composition.

[senanserat]

Hi!

One of my dreams is to be able to compose freat pieces someday, as for now I try but I cannot seem to be able to "link" ideas to form a coherent work. I have a lot of ideas and sounds floating in my head like a nebula and I simply have no idea of how to get them out properly.

So I decided to start to learn the basic by myself, I was wondwring if anyone knows of a good book that covers all of the basics and more, if possible counterpoint as well.

Thanks!

[yale_music]

There are a lot of standard answers you'll receive to this question. E.g., Solidify your harmony and counterpoint skills, then study form from books x & y. The problem is that all of these texts are style dependent. In order to learn the art of composition with a broader scope, you need to consult something that isn't biased to suit a particular style, whether that be Baroque counterpoint, Romantic harmony, or high-classical form.

There is an excellent composer and teach who has written such books, which are free of charge on the internet. His name is Alan Belkin, and he teaches at L'Université de Montréal. The texts are in multiple languages, including English. I promise you that this is your best resource outside of private lessons. Best of luck!

https://alanbelkinmusic.com/ABWritingNAV.html

[senanserat]

There are a lot of standard answers you'll receive to this question. E.g., Solidify your harmony and counterpoint skills, then study form from books x & y. The problem is that all of these texts are style dependent. In order to learn the art of composition with a broader scope, you need to consult something that isn't biased to suit a particular style, whether that be Baroque counterpoint, Romantic harmony, or high-classical form.

There is an excellent composer and teach who has written such books, which are free of charge on the internet. His name is Alan Belkin, and he teaches at L'Université de Montréal. The texts are in multiple languages, including English. I promise you that this is your best resource outside of private lessons. Best of luck!

https://alanbelkinmusic.com/ABWritingNAV.html

Thanks a lot for the resources, I will see to them right now. Of course I know there must be multiple answers for this question but I guess even here there must be a middle ground, for now I am learning all the scales Mayor and minor with their arpeggios and cadences (I, IV, V, V7) and their 3 variations to have some background.

After that I was at lost fo what to do, but I guess these online books are a start. Nonetheless

These online books are not substitutes for traditional textbooks, but complements to them.

So anything to complement this would help as well.

Thanks a lot again!

[yale_music]

No problem. Here's some of the good stuff:

Tonal Harmony - Aldwell & Schachter's "Harmony and Voice-Leading"
Counterpoint - Fux's "Gradus ad Parnassum" and Schenker's "Counterpoint 1 & 2"
Form - William Caplin's "Classical Form"