I’ve said it before, and here’s another reminder: having good notes and a clear plan for your composition is essential—especially when life throws your schedule off track.
As I shared in my last post, work on my symphony was unexpectedly delayed when I had to prepare a different piece for a concert I hadn’t originally planned to be part of. After that concert, things didn’t get any easier. A family emergency took me out of town for two weeks. When I returned, construction started on my house to replace a leaky roof. Somewhere along the way, I caught a cold. Altogether, I’ve been unproductive for nearly a month.
Now, I’m finally in a position to get back to composing—but after such a long break, I feel completely out of sync. Fortunately, I kept thorough notes and organized reference material, including audio clips I’d set aside as inspiration. With those tools, I don’t have to guess what I was doing or where I left off. I know exactly what I’m supposed to be writing in the next section—I just need to reestablish my routine.
This is why it’s so important to plan ahead before you start composing a large-scale work—especially something as complex as an orchestral piece. Good planning doesn’t just help you stay organized during the writing process; it also makes it much easier to recover momentum if you’re pulled away unexpectedly.
Here are a few types of notes I’ve found essential:
- Form and structure – What is the overall architecture of the piece? Is it a sonata form, theme and variations, through-composed? Even a rough map of sections (and approximate durations) gives you a strong anchor.
- Pitch sets, scales, and harmonic language – What tonal colors are you exploring? Are you working with modal centers, atonality, extended tonality, or a specific collection of intervals (like a particular hexachord or synthetic scale)? Jotting these down helps keep harmonic cohesion.
- Thematic material – Are there motives, rhythmic cells, or gestures that you plan to use throughout the work? How are they varied or developed? Even a few sketches of how you expect them to evolve can give future-you a lot of guidance.
- Orchestration concepts – What are your main colors and instrumental combinations? Planning the density, register layering, soloist vs ensemble roles, and timbral contrasts can prevent orchestration from becoming reactive guesswork.
- Immediate working notes – This one’s easy to skip, but crucial: what were you doing when you stopped? What’s next? I always leave a quick summary of where I left off, what section comes next, and what problems I was trying to solve. It’s like leaving a message for future-me.
- Reference materials – Save those playlists, masterwork excerpts, and orchestration tricks you’re borrowing inspiration from. If you’re aiming for a certain energy, texture, or pacing, having your references at hand makes it easier to reconnect with your artistic vision.
The goal isn’t to box yourself in—it’s to give your creative mind a reliable framework to return to when life inevitably pulls you away. It’s about preserving continuity. So when that rare window of time opens up and you’re finally able to write, you won’t waste it trying to remember where you left off. You’ll be able to jump straight into the music. That’s where I am now: I know exactly what comes next—I just need to rebuild my routine and pick up the momentum again.
That’s why taking the time to create a strategic plan for your piece is so essential. Document your decisions, jot down thoughts as they arise, and update your notes as the music evolves. You never know when life might pull you away. Those notes could be the difference between restarting with momentum—or struggling to find your way back into the work.
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Tags: in progress
Hi Michael. Great set of suggestions on keeping notes for a composition. Do you mind sharing the logistics of your process in terms of where & what tools / programs do you use to keep the notes in, paper vs. digital, etc.?
Thanks in advance.
Eduardo Martinez
I’ve been making the switch from Finale to Dorico—not exactly by choice. I’ve been using Finale since 1990 and am definitely set in my ways, but the transition became necessary, so I’m embracing it. I’ve shared a few posts on that process here: https://blog.michaelkcooke.com/tag/finale-to-dorico/
I’m happy to share—my blog documents a lot of the logistics behind my writing process. My notes range from marked-up physical scores and sketches on paper (like this: https://blog.michaelkcooke.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/ScoreNotes.jpg) to separate musical idea files in Finale or Dorico, where I write out themes and develop them in parallel to the main score. Here’s an example: https://blog.michaelkcooke.com/2025/04/back-from-the-islands-and-back-to-the-symphony/
I usually begin by improvising themes on an instrument (though not always), then notate those ideas separately to test how they function. Alongside that, I keep a running text file of written notes to myself, which I update at the end of each working session. Once I have a complete draft of the score, I go back and revisit those notes with fresh ears and eyes.
The reason I do this is I try not to let early imperfections slow me down—if I stop to fix everything too soon, it can disrupt my flow or lead to writer’s block. I’ll be posting more on this next week, including a new tool in Dorico I’ve been using to better manage those notes.