Composition Strategies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[3/2026: I have imported them into an LLM, and you can now use prompts to get song "recipes", to wit,

Prompt: Create a strategy for a song using an entry form each of the categories and create a list.

• Abstraction: Turn on a radio stream and integrate something you heard into the work (such as news, a commercial, or music).
• Arrangement: Start with a title before beginning the composition.
• Dynamics: Use a Soft to Loud progression throughout the piece.
• Harmony: Use no thirds in your chord structures.
• Key: Set the song in G major/E minor.
• Melody: Compose a melody using 5 notes.
• Meter: Use a 6/8 time signature.
• Mood: Incorporate expansive strings to define the atmosphere.
• Rhythm: Ensure the bass never plays the downbeat.
• Style: Produce the track in an Ambient style.
• Tempo: Set the pace to Medium: 80-128 BPM.
• Topic: Focus the lyrical or conceptual content on The Sea.
• Treatment: Apply alternate tunings to the instruments involved.

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I created the Composition Strategy Cards in the mid-1990s as a creative device for composing new pieces of music in the absence of a solid idea. They are interesting in that every aspect of the process is reduced to a random event, which eliminates the need to make conscious choices about what to compose. Very often the decision-making process in songwriting can be paralyzing; compounded by the fact that creative decisions have to be made democratically in a group situation, and use of the cards is a way to break those types of creative blocks.

The cards are designed like traditional playing cards and have 12 suits: Rhythm, Tempo, Key, Mood, Abstractions, Arrangement, Melody, Style, Topic, Meter, Treatments, and Harmony. In each suit are 6-12 Cards, including an Ace. When playing the game in a group situation, the cards are dealt to each band member, and each person rolls a pair of dice, one numbered 1-6 and the other 7-12, representing the 12 suits. For example, one might roll 4 and 9, which are, Topic, and Mood, and that person will play a card from those categories. The player that has the Ace gets to play the card of his choice in that suit, even if a card from that category has already been played. For example, if someone has already played a Topic card, the person that holds the Ace of Topic takes control of that category and can replace that card.

A sampling of the deck: 

Sci-Fi (Treatment)
Use an exotic scale (Melody)
Tango (Style)
D major/B minor (Key)
All Minor Chords (Harmony)
3/4 (Meter)
Drums only on the chorus (Arrangement)
Vast Waves of Sound (Abstraction)
Mellow (Mood)
Loud Soft Loud (Dynamics)
African Polyrhythms (Rhythm)
Extremely Fast: 200-300 (Tempo)
Scene From a Movie (Topic)

Decks

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Mini Cards

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The Complete List

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