AboutClare Redfarn Expertise All aspects of the academic/theoretical side of music, including harmony, counterpoint, elementary composition, history, harmonic analysis, aural training, sightreading - the lot! Please note: I'm neither a professional composer (so I can't help with composition beyond what's required for Grade 8 theory or A'level) nor a singing teacher (so I can't answer questions about vocal technique or extending your vocal range). And don't ask me about psychoacoustics or music psychology as I have no knowledge of, or interest in, either subject.
Experience 50 years as pianist (professional soloist and accompanist); 35 years as harpsichordist (professional soloist and continuist); 10 years as violinist and 6 years as bassoonist (youth orchestras/chamber groups); 37 years as piano teacher, coach in performance/interpretation (all ages, instruments and levels) and private tutor (mainly the old O'level, Grade VI+ ABRSM theory/practical musicianship, A'level and undergraduates).
Organizations I've been a member of the Musicians' Union in Britain since 1978.
Publications I've written many programme notes and a few articles for an online magazine. During the '90s I was also a Music Assessor for London Arts and as such regularly wrote critiques of concerts given by recipients of Arts Council funding.
Education/Credentials MA in European Cultural Policy & Administration (Warwick University, 1994)
B Mus with Honours (London University, 1977)
Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Administration (City University, 1982)
Licentiate of Royal Academy of Music in Piano Teaching (1976)
Licentiate of Royal Academy of Music in Harpsichord Teaching (1978)
Studied RAM Junior School (1966-74), then as full-time student (1974-78).
Question Hello, I do hope you get well soon! Please tell me what is involved in making a musical composition, a musical composition? I am not a musician, but I am very curious to know and understand what are the ingredients involved in the make-up of a song. Thank you Barbara
Answer Hello Barbara, and thanks for your good wishes.
I assume we're talking about all compositions, not just songs? I've noticed this misnomer seems to have crept in everywhere, but a composition is only a song if it includes a vocal line - otherwise it's a piece. Let's get the terminology right. End of rant <g>.
Music should never be static. It's always moving somewhere, taking ideas, developing them, introducing new ideas, reverting to our original idea, drawing to a close. So composing a piece is like going on a journey. It doesn't have to be a difficult journey and you don't need to travel far away from home, but there does need to be an overall shape to the piece, which is where form comes in. There are various established forms in music, just as there are in poetry, with well-defined characteristics which provide a kind of template, so whether you're a poet writing a villanelle or a composer writing a gigue, the length/shape of your composition is pre-defined.
Then there's the language element. If you don't know Chinese, there's no use my giving you an English-Chinese dictionary and asking you to write me a couple of paragraphs in Chinese. You won't end up with grammatically correct, well-written prose; at worst you'll have gibberish and at best you'll have pidgin - odd words strung together in an incorrect order that overall make a vague kind of sense. The same goes for music. It's the difference between picking up a few phrases in a foreign language and learning the language properly; if you don't acquire a complete grasp of the grammar and syntax you'll never progress beyond baby talk.
The basis of the Western key system is that: the octave is divided into 12 equal semitones; the two diatonic scales, major and minor, are constructed in exactly the same way in all 12 keys; the various degrees of the scale and the triads built upon them are of greater or lesser importance in relation to the keynote; and we have the concept of "related" keys, which makes it easy to move from one key to another, either directly or via other, more closely related, keys. This is modulation, and it is the ability to modulate that makes Western music unique. So once you have firmly established your home key, you have a network of interconnections and interrelations that underpins every note you write, and it‘s the relationship between chords rather than the chords themselves that is all-important. Music derives its emotional intensity from the constant build-up and release of tensions, either overtly by sounding and resolving discords or subliminally by moving away from, and returning to, a firmly-established home key through modulation (a series of swift modulations is exhilarating; a gradual drawn-out return to the home key brings a real feeling of relief when you get there).
Which brings us to the question of harmonic structure. Harmonisation is the art of fitting appropriate and effective chords as an accompaniment to a melody - the vertical aspect of music. The same melody can often be harmonised in a variety of ways using increasingly complex harmonic progressions, and often a simpler progression is more effective. The three inseparable and interdependent elements of Western music are rhythm, melody and harmony, and all three need to be taken into consideration to produce a successful composition. Even if you're writing an unaccompanied melody line, the underlying harmonic progressions are implicit.
Harmonic vocabulary has changed over the course of history, which is why harmonic analysis provides the first clues to the likely age of a composition. Music, like painting, went through various historical periods - the key system I've mentioned above originated in the latter half of the 16th century, had completely superseded the modal system by the late 17th century, and established its rules during the 18th century. There was a certain amount of experimentation within the rules, but it wasn't until the 19th century that they were first bent, then progressively broken, until by the beginning of the 20th century they could no longer be said to apply and classical composers either made a conscious decision to return to them or attempted to formulate new systems of their own. (Popular genres such as pop, C&W etc never got that far - in harmonic terms they're still in the 18th century). Within a period you would find various schools or movements, common throughout Europe but with distinguishing national features (again, like painting); and great composers use(d) the tools available to them in such an idiosyncratic way as to develop an individual style that's unmistakeable - you can identify certain composers' work after hearing only a few bars.
