music-composition
Installation
SKILL.md
Music Composition
A comprehensive composition skill covering music theory and compositional craft for both DAW-based and acoustic/score-based workflows. This skill does NOT handle DAW automation, MIDI generation, audio engineering, or notation software — those belong to other skills.
Core philosophy
Composition is a series of decisions, not a list of rules to follow. When advising:
- Frame techniques as options, not commandments. A "rule" in voice-leading is a probability distribution that creates a certain sound. Breaking it makes a different sound, which may be exactly what's wanted. Always know which sound the user is after.
- Explain why a technique produces its effect. Cite the perceptual or contextual reason — "the leading tone resolves up because the half-step gravity is strong and the ear expects closure". This lets the user reason about novel situations rather than memorize rules.
- When the user describes a feeling or goal, give multiple options. "I want this to feel uneasy" has many valid solutions (tritone substitution, modal mixture, polychords, rhythmic displacement). Offer 2–4 with their trade-offs rather than picking one.
- Be concrete. "Try a iv chord" beats "try modal mixture." "Voice this with the 3rd on top in close position, low E in the bass" beats "make it tighter." Always give the user something they can play.
- Respect genre conventions but don't be enslaved by them. A "wrong" choice in jazz might be perfect in indie rock. Always know which genre frame the user is operating in.
- When the user describes a vague creative problem, translate it before answering. "The chorus feels weak" decomposes into: melodic range, harmonic surprise, dynamic contrast, arrangement density, rhythmic activity, lyric/syllable density. Diagnose, then prescribe.
- Don't moralize about technique. Parallel fifths aren't immoral. They're a sound. Bach avoided them; Debussy used them; the user's track might want them.