Stephen P Brown

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Stephen P Brown
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  • String Quartet 2 by British American Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown
    Articles

    #PsalmQuest 11 – String Quartet 2

    It feels like forever since I published a #PsalmQuest piece, and I guess it was, really – over a month ago! In fact, I finished composing that last piece at the end of September, so it’s really been 8 weeks. Some of that time was spent resting, but much of it was actually spent re-writing. This was a difficult piece to extrapolate from the recesses of reality and it saw several completely written-out ideas before I hit the ‘delete’ button on the whole lot. But it’s here now, and it has quite a story to it, methinks… String Quartet 2 (actually, the title was bothersome for quite some time as…

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    It takes courage to share. Often we're told to without knowing why.

    The courage to share

    September 23, 2020
    British American Conductor Composer Maestro Stephen P Brown Psalm Piece 4 Wind Quintet Classical Music

    Next piece: Wind Quintet 2

    June 28, 2013
    Acknowledging your limitations and moving forward with grace and enthusiasm

    Acknowledging your limitations, and moving forward with grace and enthusiasm

    August 8, 2021
  • Evelyn Glennie marimba
    Articles

    Piece #8: Sonata 2 for Viola, Marimba, Piano

    This is a fun little ditty! Another stab at the traditional Sonata Form, this piece is for a trio of performers: viola, marimba and piano. To my thinking, there is not enough marimba included in the standard instrumentation these days, (click it to tweet it) yet like the saxophone or bass clarinet, it has a great many experts and has become a common option thanks to folk like Evelyn Glennie. Sonata Form Structure This piece is based on Psalm 102 and although it does not follow a similar structure (the focus of this piece was the structure called “Sonata Form“) I did use the content of the psalm to influence the…

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    I’ve got 7 years left – #PsalmQuest Compositions

    May 3, 2013

    Don’t forget emotional health!

    July 7, 2020
    British American Conductor Composer Maestro Stephen P Brown how to compose classical music

    How I compose: Step 1

    July 12, 2013
  • How to play guitar chords
    Articles

    How I compose 3 – Chords

    “A chord in music is any harmonic set of three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously.” (Wikipedia, accessed August 7, 2013) To me, chords form the shell of a piece of music – the walls and roof of a house, so to speak. For me, this is the most difficult part of composing and always has been. Possibly because I’m a percussionist and therefore spent a lot of time focusing on rhythmic patterns and combinations rather than harmonic. Harmony? “Harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches (tones, notes), or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of…

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    Technical perfection or delivery of "goosebump moments" ...choosing your focus

    Technical precision or delivery of “goosebump moments”…choosing your focus

    July 18, 2021

    Music is…

    October 1, 2020
    Somebody somewhere has to pay for something. Always.

    Somebody somewhere is paying for something

    September 2, 2020
  • Conductor Composer Stephen P Brown's "Bagatelle for violin"
    Articles

    Next Piece #7: Bagatelle for Violin

    This was a surprise! In my 7 year composition quest, piece #6 took a little over a month to write. This one took a day. Yes. One day! Solo violin It helped that the piece was being written for just one instrument alone, which is a complete contrast to Warrior Peace. Another contrast is the style: actually, I’m not too sure where this style came from but it is clearly a “contemporary” piece. I followed my usual system for composing music based on the psalms (Steps 1 & 2 I’ve already shared with you, and step 3 is coming soon) and after composing the closing melody, decided the piece was…

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    Technical perfection or delivery of "goosebump moments" ...choosing your focus

    Technical precision or delivery of “goosebump moments”…choosing your focus

    July 18, 2021
    How Understanding Makes You Irresistible

    How “Understanding” Makes You Irresistible

    December 14, 2018
    How to grow in musicianship and confidence and play with "more feeling"

    How to grow in musicianship and confidence and play with “more feeling”

    July 11, 2021
  • Stephen P Brown Warrior Peace
    Articles

    New psalm composition #6: Warrior Peace

    Well, this was an unexpected mammoth! (If you are not aware of my current composition quest, click here to read the introduction.) I knew that composing for larger ensembles would take time, and was sort of risking things a little when I decided to write for a larger-than-normal ensemble but I didn’t plan for this piece to take a full month. Think of a chamber orchestra that plays Mozart and Haydn symphonies. Then take away all the string players. That’s what this composition is for! It’s not a standard combination of instruments, so I decided to call it a “Chamber Orchestra Non-Strings” ensemble. Says what it is, right?! The actual…

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    British American Conductor Composer Maestro Stephen P Brown Psalm Piece 3 Piano solo classical music

    New piano solo – Covered

    June 21, 2013
    Discovering your own uniqueness and using it wisely to connect with others

    Discovering your own uniqueness and using it wisely to connect with others

    September 5, 2021
    Stephen P Brown loves Orchestra Flash Mobs

    Flashing is popular again

    January 16, 2014
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Conductor Stephen P Brown
“There’s more to music than music!”

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Hello! I'm Stephen P Brown and I help musicians accomplish far more than they ever thought possible. I do this by sharing my experience and insights as a conductor, composer and teacher through concerts, workshops and coaching. You are very welcome to find out more about me!
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