How Do You Structure Your Music?

[Alex Dunn]

I was always taught about structure in purely musical terms like sonata form or binary form etc. I was wondering if there are any composers out there who think about structuring their pieces in other ways, like painting a picture, or writing a story?

[Ben lunn]

I personally don't structure it really I go with how my mind is telling me to carry on the piece.

[Lyle Raymond]

I have always been somewhat influenced by Schoenberg's "developing variation." I tend to start with a theme or set of themes, and just write from beginning to end. Not unlike Stephen King's method as described in On Writing.

On the other hand, Webern has always amazed me with his capability to produce music that was at once tightly structured and organic. Then again, when your pieces are mere seconds long, you can micromanage the placement of every note.