…is the title of a new book by Chris Haigh, published by Spartan Press (£9.99 plus p&p in the UK).
It’s a guide to de-composing tunes to see how they are put together, then composing your own. Chapters cover Tune Structure, the Pentatonic Scale, Improvisation, Chords, Modes, and many other handy things to know.
As someone who has composed a handful of tunes, more by luck than judgement, it’s interesting to see that some of Chris’s tips mirror my own ideas, but he adds new directions.
I recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in composing dance tunes like (reels, polkas & jigs), and anyone who wants a better understanding of how a tune holds together. A basic ability to read sheet music is required.
What do you do to ensure you haven’t re-invented a tune that’s already been around for two hundred years? How can anyone know everything that has already been composed/written?
Where does inspiration come into it? Is there a chapter on that?
Was it in 1984 or Brave New World that Orwell or Huxley had popular music being composed by machines? The next logical step from a book like this would be to write a computer program to churn out reels…
I did once think (on another forum) about building a database of all the ITM tunes I have on file (thousands), and using a mix-and-match system to create new tunes, but it seemed too much of a drag.
