So You Wanna Be a Composer

Here’s an opportunity to create your own original song! You will learn the basics of music notation and thematic development, select a text, and then compose a melody to fit your words. (An appropriate piano accompaniment will be provided by the
instructor, if necessary, to enhance the composition.) Class size will be small, to insure maximum individual attention to each participant. Prior ability to read, write, or perform music is a plus, but NOT a necessity. Staff paper will be provided by the
instructor.

Mort Achter, a retired professor, has successfully used this teaching technique in many music appreciation courses with undergraduates who were not music majors, consequently possessing little or no acquaintance with the art of music. He has also taught composition to music majors, and in the past has offered MSC classes about opera, the symphony, Gilbert and Sullivan, and American musical theater.

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