I must confess that I'm always a little confused by that question. I can read music, so it makes sense to me that I should be able to write it, just as reading and writing English seem to go together ... if I can play it, I should be able to write it (though some rhythms that I can play are challenging to figure out exactly how to notate).
Except that I know from what others have said that it's not like that for everyone else. I have not yet managed to grok that disconnect.
I can't write everything I can sing or hum, and I'm not great at figuring tunes out by ear, but if I can figure out how to play something on an instrument, I can usually write it down. The trick to writing down something I've made up is to get it to where I can play it the same way enough times in a row while at the same time paying attention to what notes I'm playing and counting time. (If it hasn't "jelled" yet, focussing on those details will wind up changing how I play it.) Scoring a multi-part arrangement is easier if I can get a computer to play back all the parts at once so I can make sure every so often that what I've notated is actually what I had in my head. A piano, which I don't really play yet, is also helpful for composing and arranging multiple-part music. (So glad I've got that Fender-Rhodes upstairs.)
One problem I have is that writing down music is a slow enough process that I keep putting it off, so I've got a backlog of things to transcribe. (But if you want an example, "The Jo-Bug Jig" (http://www.radix.net/~dglenn/words/jo-bug-jig.html) is online, and I'll get around to posting "On Aleksandr's Exile" at some point (probably when the new new HCB (http://www.homespunceilidh.com) album is ready, since it'll be on that. (Actually both tunes will.)
On the one hand there are folks impressed that I can write music at all; on the other there are various people I know -- including several bandmates -- who seem to be better at it than I am. I wouldn't mind having someone who reads but doesn't write music try to explain how music can be a read-only language. I'd like to understand it. (And I wonder whether understanding the phenomenon would be enough for me to know how to teach others to notate music.)
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I must confess that I'm always a little confused by that question. I can read music, so it makes sense to me that I should be able to write it, just as reading and writing English seem to go together ... if I can play it, I should be able to write it (though some rhythms that I can play are challenging to figure out exactly how to notate).
Except that I know from what others have said that it's not like that for everyone else. I have not yet managed to grok that disconnect.
I can't write everything I can sing or hum, and I'm not great at figuring tunes out by ear, but if I can figure out how to play something on an instrument, I can usually write it down. The trick to writing down something I've made up is to get it to where I can play it the same way enough times in a row while at the same time paying attention to what notes I'm playing and counting time. (If it hasn't "jelled" yet, focussing on those details will wind up changing how I play it.) Scoring a multi-part arrangement is easier if I can get a computer to play back all the parts at once so I can make sure every so often that what I've notated is actually what I had in my head. A piano, which I don't really play yet, is also helpful for composing and arranging multiple-part music. (So glad I've got that Fender-Rhodes upstairs.)
One problem I have is that writing down music is a slow enough process that I keep putting it off, so I've got a backlog of things to transcribe. (But if you want an example, "The Jo-Bug Jig" (http://www.radix.net/~dglenn/words/jo-bug-jig.html) is online, and I'll get around to posting "On Aleksandr's Exile" at some point (probably when the new new HCB (http://www.homespunceilidh.com) album is ready, since it'll be on that. (Actually both tunes will.)
On the one hand there are folks impressed that I can write music at all; on the other there are various people I know -- including several bandmates -- who seem to be better at it than I am. I wouldn't mind having someone who reads but doesn't write music try to explain how music can be a read-only language. I'd like to understand it. (And I wonder whether understanding the phenomenon would be enough for me to know how to teach others to notate music.)