Some questions about composing

[boxjuice]

1) when writing in sonata form, after you've written a melody, what do you write for the rest of the theme (1 or 2) section. In piece analysis videos that ive seen, the sections dont usually consist solely of a melody, theres usually some other stuff (before the bridge), so what do you write there? Is it derived from the melody or do you just write whatever?

I had a second question but as i wrote out the first, ive completely forgotten what it was. When i remember, ill edit it in or something.

Thanks

[boxjuice]

AHA! My second question was when you plan a piece out, prior to beginning it, what specifically do you plan? Id imagine you decide the key, the general form, and sketch out the themes, but what else is it helpful to plan?

[dcstudio]

it depends, there really isn't just one way to compose...  and Sonata Allegro form doesn't really dictate the structure of the piece 100% there are almost always variations.

some composers planned some just started improvising and wrote it down later.   Mozart finished his compositions in his head before he notated them...legend has it anyway.

in composition we were given an exercise where we were assigned a simple piano piece and told invert or vary the themes in some way.  We were also told to flip the rhythm and either reharmonize or vary the chord progression as well.

then we played them for the class and it was pretty amazing how different they sounded from the original and from each other. 

you might gain more insight into what's going on in sonata allegro form if you try this.