Hello there Composer's Lounge.

I'm fairly new to piano and have yet to formally write or compose anything myself on my piano. However, I would like to get started in that process sooner rather than later.

However, the idea of writing an entire piece seem a bit daunting to me. Especially when one has no experience doing such a thing.

So, I came up with an idea of some sort of "group" composition that could be attempted among the members on the Composer's Lounge forum.

We could decide on some sort of way to start a piece off and then maybe we could work on adding various bits and pieces to it.

Anyway, before trying to think about the logistics of deciding how one would handle various members adding to a piece I figured I would make an initial post to see if anyone would even be interested in such an endeavour or if such a thing had been tried in the past.

Feel free to let me know if you think this is a great idea or would never work.

Yes, such a thing was attempted in the past, but in the Adult Beginners' forum. What we did was take a Sibelius Notepad file, and then add a few bars to it, post it on the forum, someone else would download it and add some more, post it again, and on it went. It didn't get very far, but it was interesting while it lasted.

It is an interesting idea, but the range of abilities between composers as well as personal filters, might result to something less coherent than some would want it to...

My only advice, as a composer, would be to just forget about your "shortcomings" (if any) and just go for it! Compose and don't think about how big or small, or good, or bad it is...

Yes, this has been attempted on other websites as well. These projects never get off the ground.

Besides, if a project were finished it would be a wash-out effort as far as consistency, intelligibility, and a coherent style. Listeners are drawn in by a composer’s unique style, e.g., Beethoven, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, etc. Not a hodgepodge of styles in one work.

John

Never hurts to ask, I suppose.

Thanks for taking some time to reply.

Sorry Anthony. After re-reading my reply, I don't think it sounded very neighborly. I've just seen quite a few of these started. I even got into one once. Maybe yours will be the first to work.

Best, John