Student Reviews

5 star rating

Simple technique with profound results

Robin Willis

I couldn’t be happier. I started the course with only rudimentary composition skills. Now I know through George’s class and the work of one of my musical heroes that beauty is not complex and the divine is always close by, you just have to open yo...

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I couldn’t be happier. I started the course with only rudimentary composition skills. Now I know through George’s class and the work of one of my musical heroes that beauty is not complex and the divine is always close by, you just have to open your eyes, ears and heart.

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What will you learn?

The free preview includes the FULL first chapter. This chapter teaches the fundamental practice of applying a tintinnabuli counterpoint to any melody. Even without the full course, you will go away with some deep composing skills and knowledge.

  • How to compose a tintinnabuli counterpoint/harmony with any melody

  • How to use and identify the four different voice types that can occur in tintinnabuli composition

  • To define the core characteristics of a tintinnabuli composition

  • To differentiate melody and tintinnabuli voices

  • How to write like Beethoven. Sorry. We might do that another day.

First Lesson

Tintinnabuli Introduced

Inspire your listeners into introspection.

Whether you enjoyed, hated or simply avoided counterpoint and harmony studies as a composer, Tintinnabuli could be your way in (or around them). Tintinnabuli counterpoint, in many ways, is the antithesis of counterpoint and harmonic progression. Instead, it is about making two become one. You have two parts, but they are bound together. It's in this binding of two parts that instills the music with contemplative and introspective qualities.
I would like to compose introspective music. Take me to my FREE preview.

What will you get?

The free preview includes access to everything a full student gets (limited to the first chapter). Below are a few highlights of the things you will enjoy.

  • Help & Feedback

    Every lesson boasts a text based "discussion" section. Here you can share work, ask questions and help fellow students by offering feedback and answers to their work and questions. George checks the forums daily, but encourages student participation too.

  • 7 Video Lessons & Transcripts

    Short and sharp, we like to get to the essentials in our lessons. Approx. 30-minutes of technique drenched video content will be yours, alongside lesson transcriptions to aid your understanding.

  • Multiple learning resources

    Empowering you to take control of your learning, we provide quizzes and worksheets to accompany our video and transcript content. Sheets to check your work and areas to ask questions in the discussion section: we want to reach and grow the composer inside of you.

  • Self-paced

    Pause, repeat, skip. Not all, but many of us renegade composers are autodidacts. We like to study alone, in our own time and our own pace. The video lessons, transcripts and exercises are there for you to complete whenever you are ready. Take control of your learning.

FAQs

Any other questions, email [email protected]

  • What if I get stuck during the course/a lesson? / What if I have any questions?

    Every lesson has a text-based discussion section that we encourage students to use. Here you can ask questions on the lesson, provide answers to peers or request feedback on work. Alternatively, you can get in touch privately via email to [email protected].

  • What do I need to know to take this course?

    There are no formal requirements. However, we recommend students be able to read and understand music notation to an OK standard. We also approximate intermediate-level music theory. However, the free-preview is intended as an opportunity for you to get a feel of the course. Give it a try!

  • Why do I need to create an account for free previews?

    Accounts are required for accessing the course player and tracking your progress. The details you provide are solely used for this purpose, as a student. You will not be added to any other mailing lists or your data passed on to any 3rd party.

  • How do I get my FREE preview?

    Scroll down to the next section of this site. There you will find a short written and visual guide on the process of getting your FREE preview.

  • How long do I have access to the FREE course previews?

    Purchasing the course grants a minimum 1-year access. Free previews are generally based on inactivity. If we feel an account has been inactive for too long then we unenrol the student. This is purely to keep things tidier our end. Either way, you are entitled to reenrol should the free previews still be active.

  • How can I purchase the full course?

    When you come to the end of your FREE preview you will be prompted to "buy" to access further content. Click "buy" and you will be taken to a secure, encrypted STRIPE payment page. Here you can enter the relevant details to purchase the course.

How to get your FREE Preview

You will need to create an account. But this is only to store your progress. Nothing else.

(1) Click the "Enrol now" button below. (2) Enter your first name, last name and your email. [Alternatively you can create an account via a Facebook, Gmail or Linkedin account. Please follow their instructions.] (3) Create a password. (4) Begin your course. Feel free to watch the welcome videos or jump right into the first chapter!
Enrol Now

The (Free Preview) Course Curriculum

What lessons do you get in your freebie?

  • Tintinnabuli Introduced - a lesson on the general background of tintinnabuli

  • Aesthetics and Tintinnabuli as a composition technique - a lesson on the common characteristics (tempo, dynamics etc.) of Pärt's tintinnabuli music.

  • Quiz: Tintinnabuli Aesthetics - a short test on the previous lesson's content.

  • Rules of Counterpoint - a lesson on the two voice types that comprise tintinnabuli writing.

  • Relationships between the two voice types - a lesson on how the two tintinnabuli voices can interact with one another.

  • Quiz: the voices of tintinnabuli technique - a short test on the previous two lessons' content.

  • Tintinnabuli Technique in Practice - a lesson on applying tintinnabuli counterpoint/harmony to melodies.

  • Exercise: Creating Tintinnabuli Harmony/Counterpoint - a worksheet including melodies for you to practice applying multiple types of tintinnabuli voice to a melody.

  • Exercise answers - a sheet for you to check you have completed your tintinnabuli voice writing correctly. Includes dedicated discussion area for questions, answers and feedback.

To the point.

To learn composition, you need to compose.

So often online courses advertise their sheer volume of content. Not us. If anything we want to make our courses and lessons shorter. In our opinion, if you are watching a video, you are not composing and if you are not composing, you are not getting better as a composer.

We aim to give short, sharp video lessons that arm you with something to do right away. You are then asked to apply the idea in practice. By the end of the free preview lessons of this course, approximately 30-minutes of your life, you will be able to write tintinnabuli parts to any melody.

Lesson example: Lesson 3 - Rules of Counterpoint  (3-mins)

(A lesson on the two voice types that comprise tintinnabuli writing.)


Instructor

Who is the handsome devil who will be teaching you in this course?

George Marshall

Composer, Instructor & Founder

George is a seasoned composer and educator, who boasts a decade-long career in music composition, spanning diverse mediums like film, video games, and concert halls. Holding a Bachelor (2013), Masters (2014) and PhD in Music Composition (2020), he specialises in mid-20th-century and contemporary composition techniques and has accrued over 50 project credits. Notable achievements include winning the 21st Century Classical Music's Piano Composition contest and contributions to award-winning video games showcased at EGX. Their orchestration skills shine through published arrangements and compositions for various ensembles, including the University of Hull Orchestra, Severn Duo and solo artists including Anna Heller and Graziana Presicce. With a teaching experience of over two years, their approach revolves around practicality, emphasising continuous learning and portfolio building. Grounded in contemporary creative theory, they advocate a balance between theory and application, acting as a guiding coach for aspiring composers to thrive.

Confine yourself into limitlessness

The great 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky once said ...

that his creative "freedom" lay within "the narrow frame" that he "assigned [himself] for each one of [his] undertakings." And that "one can only build upon a resisting foundation". Time and again constraint and limitation emerge as valuable creative stimuli in the lives and works of creatives. How then, can we find constraints in an artistic world that offers so little? Well, we have to impose them on ourselves. And this is what 'Rule-Based Music Composition: Tintinnabuli" instructs: (1) the power of constraint and (2) how to impose limitation on oneself.
Right. I've heard enough. I need to get started.

Or maybe you'd like the full course right away?

  • £90.00

    £90.00Tintinnabuli Music Composition: a method for composing introspective and beautiful music

    A music composition course that gets you composing and learning new techniques, ideas and approaches.
    Buy Now