The Composer Challenge

30 days. 4 pieces. A dozen doubts. Several ideas, and a box to be pushed out of. This is The Composer Challenge!

Being a composer can be a lonely art. Most of the time, this is what I love most about it: the isolation, the introspective thinking, the creativity built on silence. But sometimes, this can lead to puttering ideas that lead to nowhere. Stagnation is an artist’s worst enemy. And lately, I’ve gotten too close to this enemy. I want to get moving again.

Aaaand, cue the challenge. I came up with this to have a place to focus my energy, so that ideas stop getting tucked into corners of my brain never to be seen again. But more than that, it’s also to push me far outside my box. I’m hungry for newness. I’m thirsty for fresh concepts. Instead of going back to the same old techniques I’ve always used, I want to stretch my mind in new ways. I want to write things that I used to consider ugly. These aren’t things I would willy nilly venture into without a purpose.

There is only one rule for this challenge: write every day for a month. As long as I do that, I have succeeded. But to make things more interesting, I’ve given myself some additional parameters.

Extra guidelines include:
– I want to complete one piece each week, for a total of four new pieces
– I want to venture into “crazy” ideas that I used to run from
– I want to learn new techniques that fundamentally change my process, not just the finished product.

I fully expect to “fail” in the sense of writing stuff that I think sounds bad. The point of this isn’t to make pretty music. It’s to show myself the new paths I’m allowed to be on, new spaces I can take up.

If you find yourself in stagnation too, I’d love for you to join me on this challenge! Tag me on Instagram with the hashtag #thecomposerchallenge and show me what you’re up to. You can give yourself whatever parameters you want; whether you use this to jumpstart a project or write your very first notes as a composer. The goal is just to write music every day.

Want to chat with me about composition? Send me a message on Instagram or shoot me an email!

Updates On My Journey

Nov 1st: The Challenge Begins!
Nov 4th: My First Piece, A Dozen Doubts
Nov 8th: Tools I Use as a Composer
Nov 11th: Hint of Hope: Piece #2
Nov 13th: 3 Composition Tricks I Use When I’m Stuck
Nov 18th: Holey Mask: Piece #3
Nov 22nd: The Most Underrated App for Songwriters