Composing Twelve-Tone Music

Why might you want to learn how to compose Serial music? Many composers are happy writing in a conventional style but want to branch out and to find a new voice. Whether or not you ultimately want to be a Serialist this course will help you achieve a fresh approach by teaching you new techniques and a new approach.

There’s also an historical aspect to my opening question. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, composers were becoming increasingly adventurous with their use of chromatic harmony, ultimately to the extent that it wasn’t always clear in which key they were writing. By the early twentieth century we were experiencing a crisis of tonality, to which composers responded in a number of different ways. The Post-Romantics, such as Elgar and Sibelius, were happy to carry on writing in a tonal style. The Neoclassical composers, led by Stravinsky, looked back to Baroque and Classical styles in an attempt to reuse earlier techniques in a more dissonant context. The Impressionists, such as Debussy, decided to use harmony in a non-functional way and to explore the influence of the East as well as using alternatives to major and minor tonality such as the whole-tone scale. Alongside all of this was The Second Viennese School, led by Schoenberg and his disciples, Berg and Webern.

The Second Viennese School composers formulated the Serial style. Regarded by some as the most radical of the early twentieth century innovators, in many regards they strike me as taking the most logical steps following the breakdown of tonality. Music had become so chromatic that Schoenberg formalised a means of employing all 12 chromatic notes of the scale equally, eliminating any sense of gravitation towards any particular note.

For composers who are wanting to develop a post-tonal style, there is therefore a great deal of logic in learning Serial techniques.

Ultimately you might want to be a Serial composer. Alternatively, you might be searching for a means of liberating yourself from the restraints of conventional tonality, or you might be interested in using Serialism alongside other techniques, or you might be interested in exploring aspects of Serialism in your writing, without having to sign up as a Serialist.

Besides the 12 tone approach, there is much to learn from Serialism about writing counterpoint in a more modern context, and there is much to grasp about how to shift the balance and design of dissonance and consonance. Serialism will also help you to think much more specifically about how to write effective textures and how to apply dynamics, articulation and tone colour to paint the points of tension and relaxation in your composition. Many composers who have decided not to adopt Serialism have nevertheless assimilated a great deal from the Serial approach into their compositional style.

Besides all of the above, there will be those who wish to learn how to understand and to analyse music written in a Serial style. This course will also answer those needs.

This is a very practical course, packed with exercises for you to try after each stage of the learning.

So I invite you to join me on a special journey that promises to develop your skills as a composer and as an analyst. Unlock the secrets of the post-tonal world and prepare to be led in exciting new directions.