Challenges
by rachMiel

I’m a great believer in growth by challenge: taking on tasks that force you to reach beyond your personal comfort zones and clichés. And so I present you with the following six compositional challenges. Take them seriously and I guarantee they will nudge you forward in your personal musical evolution.

Create a piece of free groove. A piece with great rhythmic vitality and interest, but whose rhythms do not adhere to a meter or BPM grid. Think: extraterrestrial IDM.

Create a piece for your own solo voice. Song, narration, mouth percussion, whatever. But no effects, no overdubbing, no accompaniment; just you, in all your vocal glory.

Create a piece with (at least) 50% silence. Regard the silence as a presence rather than an absence. Strive to make the piece breathe ... rather than choke and gasp.

Create a piece that uses only sounds you have never heard before. A two-parter: Create an arsenal of never-before-heard sounds, then deploy them in an expressive piece.

Create a piece in your least favorite genre. Can’t stand hardcore? Write a piece of death metal. No fair trashing or satirizing; the goal is to compose something competent in a genre you despise.

Create a piece that no one (except you) will ever hear. Observe carefully how your composition process and results differ from pieces you write for an audience.