FINISHING AND REVISING A COMPOSITION BY JEFF OVERHOLSER

Being a music composition major unsurprisingly comes with a good bit of writing music. Right around now I’m working on finishing a draft of a score I’ve been writing since the start of the semester before I submit it to a professional ensemble for recording. It’s all written from start to finish, but I feel the need to make revisions in a few places. Most of this comes from feedback I’ve received from my Composition Professor during weekly lessons alongside a group of comments more recently received from the other composition majors last Friday. I’ve recently thought about the problem of asking too many “should” based questions and how that applies to feedback I get/give related to pieces I write/hear. Most composition majors and professors give feedback in a way that points out areas they felt unsure of or simply state how they thought certain elements of a composition worked instead of explicitly stating “you should do this.” I try to do the same thing when I give feedback - opting to offer at most a consideration with emphasis on any suggestion being “my opinion” as it’s hard to direct someone when dealing with such a creative and personal work. It’s something I need to keep in mind in other areas of life, and as I continue to finish the piece I’m working on, as the ensemble I’m writing for is sure to have feedback of their own.