Scott Henderson Discussion

[sermorel]

Hi there, Scott !!


I've been writing ( at least trying to...) some music and finding myself in some difficult issues. I'd like to ask you:

- How do you write music nowadays ?

- I went to GIT in 1993 and attended a composition class that you made back then. By that time, you said that you used to compose music with a tape recorder, singing melodies over some drum groove. Never touching the guitar until the whole tune- or most of it - was finished. Do you still compose that way ? Do you feel singing melodies more natural than trying to compose on the guitar ?


Thanks a lot !!

All the best.

[Scott Henderson]

I still sing over a groove, but they're more like rhythmic phrases than melodies, since my singing sucks. If I come up with some cool phrases, I'll find good notes for them later. Doing it that way gives me freedom from the usual guitar oriented things which I might play from force of habit. But of course it's also fun to jam on guitar over a groove - if I play for an hour and come away with just one small idea for a melody, it was worth the time. Either way, composing in real time usually produces more organic sounding ideas than just sitting there thinking.

Sometimes I write with no groove - I might write a chord progression, and then find a groove for it later. Even though a big part of melody is rhythm, I've written melodic ideas first and then changed them to fit a groove.

These days I'm trying to approach it differently every time I write, and hoping that'll make the music more varied. To be honest, I usually have no idea what I'm doing - I just experiment until I luckily come across something I like. On a good day, I hear things and have easy access to what I'm hearing. On a bad day, I have to use the process of elimination and throw a lot of ideas in the trash before finally hitting on something I like.

You're right - it's the ultimate challenge.

[sermorel]

I've been struggling here to come up with different ideas to tunes. Had some good days and some terrible ones.

Composing is like and exercise. The more you do it , the better you get.

When start to compose , you'd better be prepared also to get frustrated, right ? That's a process.


Thanks, Scott !

[Scott Henderson]

For me, composing is always an exercise in frustration. I have to work so hard to come up with everything, while musicians like Zawinul could sit down and improvise for 10 minutes and then you have Birdland.

It's OK, I accept my fate. I have the determination and perseverance to keep struggling, no matter how much bullshit I have to throw away before finally hitting on the good stuff. Most people give up long before anything good happens.

I can't remember the name of the composer, but he said, "If you're having a great time while you're composing, you're probably composing shit." That's not the most positive attitude, but I have to say that composing isn't much fun for me either, though I'm happy when those good moments happen. They're worth waiting for, and yes, the frustrating part is just the process.

[sermorel]

Thanks a lot, Scott !