How to win composing

One of the main reasons we all became composers is the thrill of competition. The hunt, the chase, the adrenaline rush, the sport of it all! The vibrant beauty of young lads, in the prime of youth, competing for the glory of being the best. We are lucky in that we have such a well formed and established competition circuit for the young composer to earn his chops on, which then turn into exciting and plentiful opportunities for the mid-career composer like the Rome Prize, all culminating in such Grand Prix as the Grawemeyer and the Pulitzer, two of the most closely watched and anticipated contests in all of music.

As in Ancient Greece, the composer today is celebrated for the
intrinsic beauty of their competitive success.

It's no coincidence that "composer" and "competition" share the same root. From the Latin, "com-" means "together, together with, together in union," and hints at the true nature of the composition competition- a grand coming together, a coming together of coming togethers, a union of the fractured lines of musical thought which are worked out in communal fashion by expert panels and committees through the process of selection and reward, ultimately settling once and for all which music is superior in a culminating announcement of their decision. The competition is thus the apotheosis of cultural musical expression. This is why so many average music listeners refer so religiously to such famous competitions as the Masterprize when deciding what new music they are going to like.

With competitions holding such a valuable and important place in the career paths of young composers, many justifiably want to win as many as possible, so as to secure admission to more prestigious graduate schools of composition and thus win more coveted teaching positions at more prestigious universities. So many want to know: how can I achieve more success with the composition competition? Well being such an objective process, there are a few simple things you can do in your compositions and life to help improve your chances with the competition panel.

The first thing (step 1) that will really help you win competitions is to have won a lot of competitions already. This is very important. Many committees don't want to go out on a limb and decide that something is good for themselves- they feel much more comfortable selecting winners that other committees have already put their stamp of approval on. You will find that a small number of contestants tend to win the majority of competitions. This is not only because they are the best composers, but because they have a proven track record of success and so must be the best.

If step 1 proves problematic for you, I suggest applying to competitions where your teacher sits on the judging panel (step 2). Often the most prestigious competitions are reviewed by panels of older, respected composers who themselves have won many competitions and most likely teach at prestigious universities. This makes sense because who is better at judging hot new trends in music than old people? Study with them. Many of them will want to secure their own legacy as important composers and teachers by demonstrating that their students are very prolific competition winners, who themselves will one day make excellent competition judges. Take advantage of this.

What about the music itself you ask? Is there anything you can do there to help secure your competition legacy? Well there are a few simple things you can change in your music in order to be a more viable competitor (step 3). While not nearly as important as steps 1 and 2, these relatively simple steps won't hurt you either. After all, you didn't become a composer in order to get second place. If you aren't first, you're last.  There is no try.

1. Use Crotales. I simply don't understand composers that don't use Crotales in every single composition. They are the most versatile, wonderful instrument, which can be struck with a mallet, bowed, or even hit creatively with a knitting needle. Nothing says "competition winner" like constant, absurd saturation of your music with Crotales. Similarly,

Crotales, the most important instrument in modern composition.

2. Why not use 7 triangles? Better use of duplicate percussion instruments is one of the easiest steps to take towards competition success. You don't want to be labeled as one of those composers that only uses one triangle per composition when you just as easily could be using 7, or 11 different triangles, arranged stereophonically around the audience, each struck exactly once.

3. Use lots of tuplets of things- on page 1. Some composers might have some great tuplets of things in their compositions, but they bury them way down on page 20. Most panels don't have the time to wade all the way through a long and dense composition to find your best tuplets. You want those to be displayed front and center, right away. You want the first page of your composition to say, "I can make a tuplet of anything." Also, if you are European, the downbeat of the tuplet should always be a rest.

An example of some masterful use of tuplets.

4. Title your piece artistically- for success! Nothing is more difficult for the composer than coming up with a title that keeps up with the latest titling trends. While we seem to be coming out of a period where successful composition titles included a word with an internal part of the word enclosed by parentheses-  such as Inter(rupt)ions- which followed a long period of titles suggesting the deep mathematical or scientific understanding of the composer- Geopolymetrcisms- today's trends might suggest the need for something a bit more poetic. A good standby is to title your pieces beginning with a "... and." This helps to convey how badly you would like to win competitions, as well as how deep and mysterious your thoughts are, as though they are constantly on-going and the listener just happens to pass by mid-sentence. (Example: ... and how deep and mysterious ). It really works well with almost any sentence. (... and with almost any sentence ... )

5. Don't write slow music. What is this, the middle ages? Nobody has time for this. When the panel pops in your demo CD, you have about 10 seconds to keep them listening. This is achieved by showing how many notes and extended techniques you can fit in in 10 seconds, not by boring them to death with some long slow build to a climax.

By following these few simple steps, you will be well on your way to greater competition success. And should you find yourself discouraged by the competition circuit, you can always try your hand at Popular Music, where the best music always makes the most money and the most culturally important achievements are recognized annually at the Grammys.

Everybody cover Radiohead. Go!

Maybe you are a hip young classical music group feeling down in the dumps about your number of YouTube hits. Or maybe you're feeling insecure about your street cred since that skinny-jeans and elvis-costello-glasses wearing singer/songwriter keeps stealing your lunch money. Well, did you know there's a sure-fire way to prop up your sense of cultural relevance? Believe it or not, it's actually the same secret method the singer/songwriter has been using for years: cover a Radiohead song. Everybody's doing it. Certain musicians have based entire careers on it. Some are semi-famous for it: Christopher O'Riley, Brad Mehldau. The Signal Ensemble in New York put Johnny Greenwood on a concert with Ligeti and Philip Glass. It's a cross-genre prescription. Here's the alternative-bluegrass group Punch Brothers:

Now just because everybody's doing it doesn't mean all these musicians, toiling away in the more technically virtuosic yet obscure musical genres, have an inferiority complex over Radiohead's insane worldwide popularity or something. Actually, yes it does mean that. But to be fair, it's only a small part of the story. Because also they want to get a lot of YouTube hits. And not be so down in the dumps about their street cred. And I'm pretty sure that many of these artists genuinely love Radiohead, which I suppose you could make the argument is a legitimate reason to cover Radiohead. But also, covering Radiohead has just become a thing that you do. Like Giant Steps, or law degrees. You gotta prove your chops.

One advantage that groups that involve singing have when covering Radiohead is that they involve singing. This is because often the vocal line and lyrics provide a great deal of interest in a good pop song. Here is the all-female Belgian choir Scala, which rocketed to stardom after their Radiohead cover was used in The Social Network Trailer. It turns out they do a little more than cover Radiohead. They also cover Nirvana.

Many listeners consider covering Radiohead to be the greatest thing ever. This is because many people love Radiohead so much, and because most people like to listen to music that they already know. Hence the popularity of Momma Mia! So when some strange combination of absurd instruments cover Radiohead, they experience the exciting arousal of recognition. They feel included. This is very important, and something that aspiring hip young classical groups ignore at their own peril.

As you get ready to cover Radiohead, take note that the most successful Radiohead covers are covers of Radiohead that you don't need to recognize as a Radiohead cover to enjoy. It is possible to create a Radiohead cover that is successful in its own right, as a stand alone musical experience. Try to bring something of your own to the table. This is the gold standard of the truly great Radiohead cover. It's got to be about more than just getting YouTube hits and street cred, though if in the process you gain some then good for you! You also included people.

Just remember, when you cover Radiohead, you are also in a way competing with Radiohead. You're also helping to increase their performance royalty checks. You are offering up your own creation to be judged alongside all the covers of Radiohead that ever were and that ever will be. It's enough to make you feel kind of down in the dumps. After all, the originals are pretty good.

If, by some chance, you find that covering Radiohead doesn't work, and that singer/songwriter is still giving you a hard time, one other thing that you can try is to wear an ironical t-shirt.