A faint melody sings in the back of senior Olivia Miller’s head as she works on her homework. As the tune becomes clearer in her mind, she makes her way to her piano, eventually letting her mind and fingers take control of the keys. Miller, an active player in the theater program, is now working on creating her own rendition of a classic work.
“My musical is based off The Aeneid by Virgil,” Miller said. “It doesn’t have any dialogue-based scenes so it’s just rock music.”
Miller has never written her own musical before. However, after creating her own a cappella arrangements, she felt inspired to try something new.
“I’ve been surrounded by theater my whole life,” Miller said. “My mom’s a drama teacher so when I was young I would hang around the high school. Being surrounded by it made it second nature.”
Another student who composes her own pieces is senior Hallie Hunt. Music has always been a part of Hunt’s life which makes it almost a second language for her.
“I started taking lessons when I was five, and I feel so comfortable and at home when I’m playing music,” Hunt said. “Literally every time I go on vacation I miss it so much that I always manage to find a piano somewhere to play.”
Hunt began writing her own musical arrangements a few years ago after being inspired by a pianist on Youtube. Her creative process consists of spontaneous musical thoughts which are transfigured into pieces.
“Usually what happens is I either find a chord progression or a melody that I really like and then build off of it,” Hunt said. “ As for the timing it can be anything from a couple of hours to a couple of months. Sometimes I’ll start a song and create the whole piece in one sitting, but sometimes I make a part of a piece, record it, and then come back to it later. The composing process is not very straightforward, it’s something that cannot really be taught, and that’s what I love about writing music because it’s authentic and comes straight from the composer.”
Miller’s pieces also begin with a melody in the back of her head which she transcribes to musical notes on paper.
“I find that my best work results from random surges of ideas that pop into my head,” Miller said. “I’ll be doing homework or something and suddenly a melody or chord progression will pop in my head, so I’ll rush to the piano, let the idea take over and jot everything down. Following these impulses gives my music an emotional quality that is truthful.”
When Miller creates characters and music, she draws inspiration from both her emotions and memories.
“Since I am writing music based off of a story that was written centuries before the birth of Christ, I try to connect events from my life with the characters’ so their voices and emotions can be as authentic as possible,” Miller said. “I want the humanity of the characters to be most evident in my work.”
Similarly, Hunt uses music as her way of expressing her emotions.
“I’ve always had trouble in English class because I can never really put my emotions into words, which is why I like writing songs,” Hunt said. “I don’t have a method to incorporate my emotions into pieces, the songs I write just come straight from my heart.”
For Hunt, music has become an escape from the stresses of school and other activities.
Hunt said, “When I’ve had a tough day, coming home and playing the piano helps me get everything out of my system.”
Creating her own pieces has helped Miller step outside of her comfort zone. As for aspiring creators, getting exposed to the fine arts is the first step in the creative process.
Miller said, “You don’t know you’re passionate about something until you try it.”
