Composing Music....?

Question:

Composing Music....?

For my band class we have to write a piece for a small group of instruments and perform it in front of the class.Well I spent all saturday working on my solo part and now I'm stuck. How do you get your creative jucies flowing again, because this is extremly aggravating.?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I feel your pain. As a professional composer, I get writer's block very frequently - and sometimes you just can't afford the luxury of time where u can throw the piece aside and get back to it later. Try strong emotional stimuli - a scenic walk, a romantic novel, movie or date. I created one of my best works in the weeks following my breakup with my first girlfriend.

If you're the logical type, you could try tinkering with the piece in order to expand it. In most 'classical' music there's this thing called 'thematic development' - in which the melodies are repeated in different versions to etch them more clearly into the listener's head. Choose your one or two most prominent melodies, and repeat them, in different instruments or variations. Keep it different.

If you're really, really stuck, try a brain dump - just keep writing and writing and writing without stopping. In spite of no creative juices. I relied on this technique to complete a piece for a competition - aptly titled 'Elegie - In memory of a composer's sanity' - which won 2nd prize.