Writing music is a matter of taking an input and processing it into an output. The input is a musical idea. The output is a finished piece of music. Process is the fun bit in the middle.
This part of the guide unravels the mysterious process of writing music. It tackles head-on the thorny issue of inspiration and tries to find out where a musical idea comes from. Then it delves into the actual process of writing and shows how to use repetition and variation to develop a piece of music until it is eventually complete. It looks at publication, considers the practical constraints to writing music, and ends with a whimsical story.
