Intro to Advanced Composition

When people hear “advanced,” I think it triggers a music theory alarm. Graphic notation and avant-garde interpretive dance come into play, and it gets weird quick. But my version of advanced is “the things you don’t learn in school”: legitimate, real-world writing techniques used as daily drivers by working composers, yet almost completely absent from academic training. I make every concept approachable and understandable for all skill levels, but the bigger your vocabulary, the more you can expand these ideas into the wildest creations you can think of. I connect functional piano fluency to better inner hearing, then show you where orchestration actually belongs: as an amplifier for what already works. You also have to build the discipline to revise, step away, and return with perspective. I’m looking forward to hearing what you create!

What I actually cover

• Hearing harmony and color before I write
• Outlining the large form before inner motion
• Controlling harmonic rhythm instead of chasing complexity
• Using functional piano fluency to sharpen inner hearing
• Why orchestration amplifies writing but cannot rescue it