Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

Very interesting topic.
I would discriminate between 'exercises' and 'writing'. In that an exercise may lead to a complete piece, but has a different intent.

Having a deadline has a salutory effect on getting a piece completed. Perhaps give yourself one week to compose and complete a piece. then compose another piece during the following week.

Have a dynamic shape to an exercise, for example begin with calm, get aggressive then return to calm. Begin with calm, get aggressive. Begin aggressive moving to calm.

As in song writing, have a melodic 'Hook', do variations on this hook. Then compose a deviating 'bridge' that relates to the hook but stands alone as a statement.

Use a variation of time signatures, 3/4, 4/4, 6/4, and 5/4.

Have no time signature. Take an existing piece such as a Minio, that has timing, and play it without timing.

Take a simple tune and embellish it with 'atari', 'meri notes', 'scale runs', etc.

Take an existing piece and simplify it by removing any of the above.

Play a simple tune but begin on a different hole, or pitch, that is, on the same flute.

Combine two known melodies into one piece.

Take three or four descriptive adjectives and find one breath melodies for each, then combine them into a sequence.

Make some boundaries to keep your composition 'on track'. Then perhaps once the piece is established and complete, get 'loose' and jam with it.

Some thoughts.

Recording yourself is a tough composition master.

Kel.

lowonthetotem wrote:

When I was in school I studied language and writing but not music.  During school, there were many times that I had to come up with something to write even when I did not feel so strongly about something.  Grades had to be gotten, and writing exercises helped me to justify my existence on more than one occasion.  Now that I have been playing shakuhachi for a few years, I think I'd enjoy writing down some original bushi.  I've had some difficulty getting started.  I wondered if there were music wiriting exercises similar to free writing, clustering, listing, and all those other writing exercises that could help me to get over the intimidation of working in this new medium a little.

Strategies, not exercises:

Don't compose where you practice.
Go into the wilderness (often).
Join a band, or some other ensemble, playing unrelated music- clears out the cobwebs.
Observe when you are the most creative and "free-thinking" - this time is (surprisingly) in the morning for me, before my critical thought has woken up.
Be with the sound, let it effect you, listen... don't judge

radi0gnome wrote:

. Coming up with a hit like "Moon Over Castle" though, that's a challenge.

Was "Moon Over Castle" a native Japanese tune or was it composed outside of Japan (or by a non-Japanese)?


NOTE: Perry Yung may know the answer. Or at least, AN answer.

Last edited by Chris Moran (2010-07-01 20:19:23)

Chris Moran wrote:

radi0gnome wrote:

. Coming up with a hit like "Moon Over Castle" though, that's a challenge.

Was "Moon Over Castle" a native Japanese tune or was it composed outside of Japan (or by a non-Japanese)?

I don't know. I thought it was Japanese, but that was just an assumption. It's such a good example of what I was talking about, you're right, maybe it's not Japanese. Most of the other folk songs have more complex structures. Some seem to throw unrelated phrases in there and stuff.

Rick Riekert wrote:

"Kōjō no Tsuki", "The Moon over the Ruined Castle", was written in 1901 by Japanese composer and pianist Rentarō Taki. The lyrics were written by one Bansui Doi and were inspired by the ruins of Aoba Castle and Aizuwakamatsu Castle.

Ah, great! So what I thought was  foreign was instead native but modern. Thank you Rick!