DANIEL BASFORD - COMPOSER & ARRANGER

For Schools and Music Centres looking to give their

composition students some extra support

 

Sometimes, the composition element of music coursework appears daunting to teachers as well as students. The subjective nature of composing music occasionally makes it difficult to know what advice to give.

 

I can offer a consultancy service for school music classes at AS and A2 levels, and GCSE when appropriate. This will initially take the form of a discussion on basic principles of composition:

 

- Streamlining ideas to avoid having 'too much going on' in your coursework

- Effective voicing of harmonies, particularly keyboard parts

- Cohesive and balanced structures

- Constructing effective melodies and building chords around those melodies

- Writing idiomatically and practically for all instruments, with examples

- Tips and shortcuts using Sibelius to produce professional-looking scores more quickly

 

Following this, I can offer one-to-one 'mini lessons' to each of your students where we can discuss their individual pieces in more detail. Alternatively, starting with one-to-one lessons may be more suitable, particularly for small classes of sixth-formers.

 

"...it was really useful. I feel so much more confident in writing for certain instruments now."

 

"I am writing my music into Sibelius quickly now I know all the shortcuts - thank you for saving me so much time!"

 

"Thank you for helping the students, especially on structuring their ideas in a more controlled way."

 

"The session on harmony was excellent and very interesting."

 

Please contact to discuss your requirements further.