Follow-Ups to Answer from Expert The Doctor

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Camellia Morris wrote at 2009-02-20 06:02:40
Hi Mike,

 I completely agree with the previous answer. Composition is a skill that is developped over time. Now there are rare cases where an individual is so gifted thay can compose a song with out any previous lessons on an instrument, however even for the most gifted composers they will tell you that they had some form of musical training prior to their song writing. I would venture to say that learning to play the piano is a valuable asset in becoming a composer or song writer. Now I've been taking lessons for about 12 years now and have discovered that there are primarily two types of pianist. Those that are classically trained and those that play by ear. Learning to play classical music is a great way to learn all of the techniques for playing the piano. In classical there is much attention payed to detail, however the ony flaw that i have found in classical training is that the ability to flex the creative muscle is somewhat stiffled by the need to pay close attention to all of the rules. Ear training is quite good because it allows you to explore the piano and experiment. Ear training is usually based on a chord structure. Chords are quite fast to learn and you can litterally be writing songs in monthes. I would suggest taking lessons first, to familiarize your self with your instrument and then once you have a somewhat solid foundation, consider some ear training. This will give you the first steps towards writing music. All the best to you in the future.

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