Oxford University Press Composing with Constraints: 100 Practical Exercises in Music Composition

Product Description Composing with Constraints: 100 Practical Exercises in Music Composition provides an innovative approach to the instruction of the craft of music composition based on tailored exercises to help students develop their creativity. When composition is condensed to a series of logical steps, it can then be taught and learned more efficiently. With this approach in mind, Jorge Variego offers a variety of practical exercises to help student composers and instructors to create tangible work plans with high expectations and successful outcomes. Each chapter starts with a brief note on terminology and general recommendations for the instructor. The first five chapters offer a variety of exercises that range from analysis and style imitation to the use of probabilities. The chapter about pre-compositional approaches offers original techniques that a student composer can implement in order to start a new work. Based on lateral thinking, the last section of the book fosters creative connections with other disciplines such as math, visual arts, and architectural acoustics. The one hundred exercises contain a unique set of guidelines and constraints that place students in a specific compositional framework. These compositional boundaries encourage students to produce creative work within a given structure. Using the methodologies in this book, students will be able to create their own outlines for their compositions, making intelligent and educated compositional choices that balance reasoning with intuition. Review Composing with Constraints is a serious primer for composers- an invaluable tool that can help them navigate their journey of personal musical development. In establishing artistic constraints through intriguing and imaginative exercises, Jorge Variego nurtures the seeds of creativity, enabling composers to sharpen and refine the focus that they need to succeed as artists. ― JoAnn Falletta, Music Director, Buffalo Philharmonic Composing with Constraints is a great book for composers and theorists and I highly recommend it for both composition courses at undergraduate and graduate courses as well as individual studies. What a joy to read! ― David Cope, University of California, Santa Cruz About the Author Jorge Variego was born in Rosario, Argentina. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and is currently Lecturer in Music Theory at the University of Tennessee - Knoxville, where is also the Founding Director of the UT Electroacoustic Ensemble.