5 Reasons I Compose on Paper

🧠 My FREE 5+ Hour Composition Masterclass: skool.com/composersbrainlite
🎹 My favorite piano software: www.modartt.com/?ae=9
With all the music notation programs we have at our disposal, oftentimes it's more helpful to go back to the basics and write out music by hand.
0:00 Intro
0:54 Avoiding Distractions
2:14 Flow
3:35 Memory
4:30 Health
6:00 Finding Your Voice
7:19 Manuscript Paper
8:12 Pencil
9:07 Pencil Sharpener
LINKS mentioned in the video:
MANUSCRIPT PAPER: amzn.to/3bnBHZ9
BOOK on the concept of “flow”: amzn.to/3o9BCed
BLACKWING PENCILS (I personally don’t recommend these for composing, they are too expensive, but I list them here for you to check out): amzn.to/3iyf85D
#2 TICONDEROGA PENCILS (Now these I love and use all the time): amzn.to/3o4rUdd
MANUAL PENCIL SHARPENER (The one shown in the video is not on Amazon anymore but this one is the closest one I found to it): amzn.to/2Mdj4wm
LINK to video on “Flow” if you don’t have time to read the book: bit.ly/2NfT7wL
LINK to article on memory and writing: bit.ly/3c0eSv2
LINK to article on colored paper and vision: bit.ly/3p9Kh1U

[@saadhaddadmusic]

🧠 Free 5+ Hour Composition Masterclass: skool.com/composersbrainlite

[@amarug]

If I composed on paper, I might as well have my cat walk on the piano and record those notes 😅😅

[@saadhaddadmusic]

🤣

[@namdinh1540]

How do you think about composing with piano? Is there any distraction or similarity to notation software? I found out that I easily played some notes or melodies, which I already heard in the past or something sound interesting rather than compose new melodies

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I do the same thing! Lots of people I know do too

[@namdinh1540]

@@saadhaddadmusic so, do you think the best way to compose music is with pen and paper?

[@jlarson1040]

I've recently have been listening to younger composers like yourself and it's apparent to me that some of them aren't composing on paper. It's very obvious that they're writing music at the computer keyboard rather than piano keyboard. I don't much care for minimalism (simplicity, repetition, and a focus on subtle variations over extended periods of time). I think if some of these people were forced to write away from their computer they'd be lost. That being said, I do like the notation and playback software that's available these days. I don't own any of it but am thinking about making a purchase soon. Have you made any videos where you discuss the gear you're using? (I know you're using Sebelius and noteperformer 4 but didn't know about keyboard, speakers, etc).

[@saadhaddadmusic]

I usually don't like those kinds of "gear" videos because it assumes that one needs all that stuff to compose (which one doesn't, and I didn't personally have a lot of gear for a very long time, and the stuff I use right now is actually still very basic). That all being said, maybe a video like that might be fun just to show how minimal my setup is