Composing With Space in Mind

An aspect of composing that I still have an admittedly difficult time with is leaving appropriate amounts of space. By this I mean both moments of complete silence but also rests in the line and overall flow, a chance for the music (and the listener) to catch its breath.There are several reasons leaving space can be difficult:

• Trying to fill every gap.When our role is to fill the air with music, we want to fill the air with music! That's what composing is, right? Open space feels like an opportunity to speak. Much like in a conversation, if the chatter goes silent it can feel awkward and we may struggle to find something to say just to fill the void.

• Not trusting the listener.The cardinal sin of composing music is to be boring, and I think that young composers see open space as boring. What could be more dull than nothing? But really what we need to appreciate is that "nothing" is actually just the equal balance of "something". Silence and rests are also valid things to say.

So what do we make of this?

1. Rests are part of the conversation. I wonder if it would be more beneficial to think of the music as one side of a conversation, and the listener's imagination as the other. Listening to music that just rambles on and on is like listening to a friend on the phone who just doesn't shut up. You can put the phone down, go make a sandwich, and when you come back they never even noticed you were gone!Instead, leaving space allows the listener to fill the void with their own reflection. Hear the rests and silence in your compositions as an opportunity for the imagination of your listener.
2. Rests are contrast.I mentioned the idea of balance earlier, and it is worth deeper consideration. Contrast is a central aspect of quality music, and what could make for a more powerful contrast to music than silence?

Moving forward

A painting that had every possible space filled with a busy texture would be overwhelming and difficult to look at. In the same way, a piece of music with no space for breath, repose and reflection is like a constant onslaught of noise!If I think of space as an essential part of my composing toolkit, my music will be better as a result.