So I've been doing some music...

A while back, I was asked during an interview what I'd do if I had three months off. I said I'd take piano lessons.

Well, my wife read that and very sweetly got me some. And then reality hit home. I really do have totally uncoordinated hands. I try to play, but I'm getting nowhere.

At the same time, I still enjoy noodling around with music. So my piano teacher (in a move motivated by self-preservation, no doubt) suggested we should look at composition instead. And I've been having a whole bunch of fun ever since.

But then Chad Fowler reminds me that the test is having it heard, which is kind of scary. But here's my first piece. Be gentle...

(Update: people asked for the transcription: it's here. Some of the pedal marks are screwy: I'm using Encore, and it seems to move them around every time I save. I might well end up going back to Sibelius. Forgive any amateur mistakes.)

Comments

[Chad Fowler]

Bravo, Dave! Rich and I are sitting in our RailsConf suite enjoying this piece right now.

[Fadhli]

Hey, nice pieace ;)

[Ryan Irelan]

Wonderful!

[ryan]

How long have you been playing? I started about a year-and-a-half ago and can play some Bach, Chopin, and just learned a basic version of The Entertainer (ragtime is ridiculous).

Would you object to publishing the transcript for this piece? I'd like to play it for myself.

[Curtis Hawthorne]

Wow, that's really great! I just started piano lessons not too long ago myself, and it's taking me forever to get past the "uncoordinated hands" stage. But, I can tell that I'm slowing getting better, so I'd encourage you to keep on trying!

Can you give more details on how you did the composition? I'm definitely interested in learning composition too. Did your teacher just tell you everything you needed to know about music theory and such in lessons, or do you have some books or other resources that you can recommend? What software did you use to typeset the piece? If you aren't playing it yourself, did you use something to preview it while you were working on it?

Oh, and like ryan, I'd love to have a transcript of the piece. :-)

[Jim Weirich]

Love the chord in the 8th measure. Caught me by surprise and hooked me for the rest of the piece.

[Dr Nic]

Tidy work. Nice song.

[DanF]

I also thought it was quite good, you set the bar low with your comments but I was really quite impressed. I've been playing guitar for years and am hoping to start learning piano in the next year or so also.

[Chris Morris]

I like it. Keep it up :-)

[Sean]

Find me at RailsConf if you want to talk about composition... maybe at Chad's BoF? twitter: seancribbs

[Damien]

That's great :)

I'v played piano for 10 years and I'm not at all able to compose anything interesting, but I'll enjoy playing your piece :)

[vt]

о_О how long have you been studying music? =)

3 months?)

[Rune Juhl-Petersen]

I started my programming carreer by programming/composing music in a tracker on the Amiga... Those were good times! Only problem I have with composing is that I loose track of time. Welcome to the world of music creation.

[John Sextro]

I liked it. Sounds like a good first effort. Keep it up.

[Peter Cooper]

If you've been doing this less than a year, that is ridiculously good. I studied music at school for three years and the pieces were barely more complex or nuanced than this after even that time (although there was a big focus on producing quartet pieces that made it a bit harder). Bravo.

[Mitch Pirtle]

Well done! And you further support my theory that pianists' first composition always has a mixed time signature and/or fluid meter.

I have no idea why, but it always seems that way - even for my 9-year-old daughter (whom I will be playing your MP3 for when I get home tonight).

[Duane]

Well Done!

[Scott Woods]

That's a really beautiful piece, Dave. Nice work. Music used to be a huge part of my life, and I majored in music theory and composition (and computer science) in college. I think that music composition is a wonderful complement to software development -- both involve creation, and both involve both halves of the brain. However, it's refreshing that each discipline approaches its goals from a different direction; good music composition is driven primarily from the aesthetic with a need for logical understanding, and good software development is driven primarily from the logical with a need for aesthetics.

I think you've created a really nice mood with the piece, and you've managed to do it without sounding cliche, which is hard to do with early compositions. Keep up the great work; I hope you continue to get a lot of enjoyment out of your music. Please keep posting your creations!

[Ryan McGeary]

Very impressed. I wasn't nearly expecting anything that well done for a "first piece." Kudos.

[Solveig (ROOTS)]

I really liked the music, especially the first melancoly part. It reminds me a bit about our own composer Edvard Grieg. Had some nordic mood about it. You should really continue this. Maybe, if you come to ROOTS next year, we can listen to some of it!

[Michael O'Brien]

Hey, that was really great! I'd also be interested in hearing of any composition books or resources you used if you have time.

As for notation software, I haven't used this before but Lilypond's "About Lilypond" really sold me, and it seems perfect for a programmer:

http://lilypond.org/web/about/automated-engraving/big-page

[Eleo]

You have a wife?! Damn it.

[Hugo Baraúna]

Hey, I really liked this! And I am talking serious about it. For how much time are you learning to play piano?

I would like to know that because I always wanted to play piano, but never started do learn it.

Congratulations and keep going!

[Dave Thomas]

Hugo:

It isn't me playing—as I said, I play like I have two left feet :)

I wrote the piece, and then my composition teacher recorded it for me.

Dave

[Jonathan Bryant]

Very nice!

For music publishing, though, I would -as someone else already mentioned- recommend LilyPond to a hacker. I use it for all of my notation. It's based off of LaTeX, and is to Encore/Sibelius/Finale what LaTeX is to Word.