Hello composers. I was just wondering if anyone knew of any good online resources (videos, websites, etc) or software programs for helping one teach themselves composition and theory. I only just finished my first semester in music theory, and the farthest we got was very preliminary part writing.


Specifically I would be interested in resources covering the following topics:

Modulation ( different methods, modulating bridges, etc)
Four Part Writing and Counter Point

Any resources would be helpful. Thanks in advance.

Apart from a few avant-garde freaks who feel they have to invent their own musical language from scratch, all theory and composition teaching is based on analysis of existing music. And yes, there's an enormous amount to be found on the Internet, both as music scores and as recordings.

If you want to write 4-part counterpoint, grab some Bach and work out how he does it (you won't be able to, completely, but you'll get lots of useful information:-)

My personal feeling on modulation is that too much preparation destroys the impact - just let the melodic line take you there or use a simple pivot chord. But study e.g. the Beethoven Piano Sonatas to see how he did it.

There's a lot of music out there! Where to start? Get a copy of Beethoven Op 2 No 1, the F minor Piano Sonata. What compositional techniques does he use? How does he move into different keys? What's the overall shape of the first movement - how does he ensure that a quite long piece of music hangs together? You could criticise it as "only" consisting of a couple of melodic fragments plus lots of passage-work. Is this a weakness or a strength?

Very good points, thank you. Analyzing scores has always been very helpful actually, I need to remember to do it more regularly.