So how many of you guys actually play your own stuff?

[Meeatu]

Numiii

I'm kind of scared to write my own compositions. I know it sounds stupid, but I am. I hate hearing bad notes that don't go well (I play the piano.) so when I hear them, I kind of flinch. Right now, I am just ear playing songs I hear on the radio, like Starlight by Muse, and Stay by Miley Cyrus.

But dissonance is wonderful!  

[Everlasting Radiance]

Lol.

I suck at composing. Don't worry it doesn't bother me all of that much - it's not my passion.

I just don't have it in me. Could barely scrape through with my Music Theory compositions.  

[Kinnect]

Ive made up a few things here and there :3  

[II Stelmaria II]

I was improvising on piano after school at one point and a music teacher walked in. Naturally I was dragged into the head of the music department's office. I wasn't placed in music theory class, they had me work with my teachers after school and gave me books. Sort of an independent study thing. I have been told that it is possible to have talent for composition. I have also been told that tallent in music is possible it's just not what you expect. It's and instinct to put together pitches, tones, and emotions that offten seem too different to be music. I technically was never taught Jazz Improv, yet I am considered one of the best at school and have merrited in it.
I have also been composing in my head with out a music theory class based on ear. Now I have books to guid me but I rearly touch them. Some have natural tallent they can feel the rythem, they know what pitches to use, they let the music flow through them. Others have to work at counting, chords, and getting the tone of a piece just right using musical structures. So in a way you are both right and wrong. There is one other thing that makes up an excelent composer, the ability to listen to not only the ears but the heart. Emotion is key to composition.  

[Toni-Lupin]

I do a lot of composing and some of it is for piano but I do get kind of afraid to play my own stuff.
I'll play it for my girlfriend and my family but for a performance I get really nervous. It's not just because I'm playing the piano for people, added on top is the fact that I'm giving them my piece, something I created that they've never heard before, and I'm looking for their approval. I'm slowly coming out of that as I go through my first year of college because I'll have to play my own stuff if I want it performed at all at the concerts on campus, but it is definitely one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. It's terrifying.  

[Toni-Lupin]

II Stelmaria II

I was improvising on piano after school at one point and a music teacher walked in. Naturally I was dragged into the head of the music department's office. I wasn't placed in music theory class, they had me work with my teachers after school and gave me books. Sort of an independent study thing. I have been told that it is possible to have talent for composition. I have also been told that tallent in music is possible it's just not what you expect. It's and instinct to put together pitches, tones, and emotions that offten seem too different to be music. I technically was never taught Jazz Improv, yet I am considered one of the best at school and have merrited in it.
I have also been composing in my head with out a music theory class based on ear. Now I have books to guid me but I rearly touch them. Some have natural tallent they can feel the rythem, they know what pitches to use, they let the music flow through them. Others have to work at counting, chords, and getting the tone of a piece just right using musical structures. So in a way you are both right and wrong. There is one other thing that makes up an excelent composer, the ability to listen to not only the ears but the heart. Emotion is key to composition.

I agree with you, 100%. I couldn't really start composing beautiful meaningful pieces until I stopped listening to my head and started listening to my heart.
Trying to force out a composition through your mind will not bring great music. Allowing it to just flow out of you is what makes beautiful music  

[Meeatu]

Theory is a tool, not a means.
All music should come from the heart.
But you can express that better, the more you know how to.  

[MrEgano]

I'm actually planning to make composition my profession in a few years. I think I'm pretty good, but my view just might be too narrow. If you think you can help me improve, then I'd appreciate it if you guys could watch my videos. (Piano solos, for now... I'll upload some actual compositions in the future.) Thanks in advance. smile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8rWTl7jShE&list=UUDyvwwnehYSetIu5bntpw6Q  

[Your Explicit Fantasy]

I have to compose for Music Theory and IB music :c So I have to.