Bon Journal

Composing, arranging, transposing

It's been nearly two years since I last touched Sibelius, the music notation software that I had relied on so much for my compositions and arrangements. It crashed one day and I stopped writing.

Today I sat at my friend's Mac computer and started to arrange Beethoven's Ode to Joy for my piano student. It's the perfect piece for all five fingers on both hands. There's no need to move beyond the first five notes of the C scale. It's in 4/4 time and there are no sharps or flats.

Afterwards, I composed some simple exercises. Then I transposed a piece for the upcoming Irish wedding I'm playing at.

Sibelius makes it so simple to transpose. You just have to press a few buttons and bingo! the entire piece is transposed to the new key.

I miss composing, arranging, and transposing. I have forgotten how much joy I get from creating music.

17 February 2003 Monday