BookatlasPiano Rabbit Hole: Improvisation Theory & Practice
13151 / 18210 · Workshop 103 — From Arrangement to Original Composition: Building a New Piece from Motif, Bass, Harmonic Function, Form, and Constraints← prev⊞ allnext →

103.163Mini-project 6 — compose from reduced DNA

Take one existing public-domain tune such as “Happy Birthday.”

Extract only:

  • phrase-length pattern
  • approximate contour
  • climax location

Do not reuse its actual melody.

Write a completely new melody using those abstract constraints.

Now you are composing from formal DNA.