Personally for me; I just listen. If you listen to jazz you'll know that it has a different drumming style than say rock. Also, you'll notice that the types of instruments between genres are different. In jazz you'll hear Saxophones, Trumpets, Pianos and the like. But in rock you'll mostly hear guitars and unlike in jazz; the guitars in rock are usually heavily distorted. You'll rarely hear Saxophones and Trumpets in rock.

So do you understand what I'm saying? To learn to compose different genres; simply listen to them and study them.

Personally for me; I just listen. If you listen to jazz you'll know that it has a different drumming style than say rock. Also, you'll notice that the types of instruments between genres are different. In jazz you'll hear Saxophones, Trumpets, Pianos and the like. But in rock you'll mostly hear guitars and unlike in jazz; the guitars in rock are usually heavily distorted. You'll rarely hear Saxophones and Trumpets in rock.

So do you understand what I'm saying? To learn to compose different genres; simply listen to them and study them.

Hmmm, I actually disagree with you. Simply listening to really complex music isn't good enough. Some actual study of the notes/patterns/harmonies used is going to help you dig deeper. For example, can you listen to a Charlie Bird solo and know exactly what he's doing, on a musical theory level, by just listening if you truly are new to jazz? It's doubtful. Sure you can pick up some things but getting a transcription of his solo and really analyzing it on a deeper level will yield deeper understanding. Of course if you're studying a new style that isn't that complex then, yes, listening alone could probably get you most of the way there.

You'll rarely hear Saxophones and Trumpets in rock.

I guess we're listening to different rock playlists. Sure, there are plenty of rock tunes out there with no brass but it's very easy to find many rock tunes that do have a sax and brass section.

Another example - you can understand and recognize the basic call and response of a fugue but without analyzing the music itself, can you really understand all of the various ways a statement can be made? Especially when you get into retrogrades or inversions which may (or may not) be harder to pick up by only listening. Forgive me, but the observations you're pointing out by only listening are at the surface level. Of course listening is important but learning to play in that genre and studying actual pieces from that genre will help so much more. At least, in my opinion.

Of course listening is important but learning to play in that genre and studying actual pieces from that genre will help so much more

I agree, you have to do some study and research to really understand how a genre is defined. It's more than just the instruments that are used. On the surface you could say that Rock is a guitar, drums, and a bass, but there are plenty of Blues bands that have the same line up. There are core commonalities in the composition beyond instrumentation that really define a genre.

Oh also Chicago had a big brass section and they were Rock for sure.

Personally for me; I just listen.

[...]

So do you understand what I'm saying? To learn to compose different genres; simply listen to them and study them.

Hmmm, I actually disagree with you. Simply listening to really complex music isn't good enough. Some actual study of the notes/patterns/harmonies used is going to help you dig deeper. [...]

You'll rarely hear Saxophones and Trumpets in rock.

I guess we're listening to different rock playlists. Sure, there are plenty of rock tunes out there with no brass but it's very easy to find many rock tunes that do have a sax and brass section.

[...]

Yes; that's certainly true. But in general when people think rock they don't think saxophones. If you write a rock song without brass; most people will still see that as rock. However, write a rock song without guitars or drums and most people won't see it as rock.

But the main point is; simply by listening to different genres you can pick up some of the some of the basic differences. Such as instrumentation and also stylistic things. If you listen to an orchestral song and then listen to a jazz song; you can clearly pick up that brass instruments are used differently in each genre. Also by listening; you should be able to pick up the fact that each genre uses a different rhythm. You'll almost never hear a rock or heavy metal song with a jazz beat.

But the main point is; simply by listening to different genres you can pick up some of the some of the basic differences.

I think we can all agree to this but our main point (in respone to you) was that to replicate a new style well, especially a complex style, solely listening may not teach you enough. But learning how to play some songs in that style or studying the actual sheet music of that song can show so much more. Many of the things you noted were surface level things - which while important - may not really show a new composer how to construct a new piece of music in that style faithfully.

I listen to a ton of the new genre, for like 3 days straight, then I don't listen to any of that genre for 2-3 days, than I try to compose something in that genre. If there is some unique instrument, I listen to solos, watch videos of people playing, even if I'm recreating it with a synth or a sample program, I want to obey the rules of how you really play it. This has worked well for me doing some work with the shamisen, lute and various woodwinds, none of which I actually owned or played. I doubt my method will lead to amazing innovations in the genre, but my clients usually end up happy with what I create.

I wanted to add mimicing and what I mean by studying for me doesn't only mean listening over and over but actually taking a piece and trying to replicate 20 - 60 seconds of it note for note, sound for sound. Listening only does so much, and you learn so much more by doing as its a great practical way to program your mind to really start learning something new.

By replicating you can learn to mimic and then personalize:

• Melodic structure / counter melody / harmony / phrasing / tempo
• Sonic Identity - choice of instruments and producing the tones that work together to make a particular song's style.
• Mixing technique - how to put everything together in a mix so the piece is a final product. Stereo field placement, depth and how everything is glued together.

For example, when I first started trying to write orchestral music (I am not at all classically or orchestrally trained) - I first started looking at where the sections were in the physical space - understanding how an orchestra layout affects how you mix. At the time I didn't have any fancy pre-mixed orchestral libraries, just a general midi synth and so I set up my individual instruments in a virtual space reverb plugin. I also learned the instrument ranges so I was staying true to how they are played. Once I got that particular sound, writing a melody initially started out as me using all the instruments, but then reworking the song, breaking sections out to add counter melodies or supporting harmonies.

I took this further by creating a small library for GBA - using only 8 polyphony at a time and started practicing writing with it trying to write small demo tracks. This paid off as I started getting work.

Example

• First 3-4 songs which are from Dragonball Z - Legacy Of Goku II (I had to transcribe by ear the show's composer's music while adding a little of my own flair and technique to it). Mimicing / transcribing around an hour of that music for the project really imprinted some composition techniques / styles.
• Midway you'll hear 'Simpsons' theme that isn't the Simpsons theme, however the excercise was to make a sound-a-like by mimicing style, tempo and the other idiosyncracies that made up the theme.
• The final piece now I think of it has original elements, but some Louis Theme from superman gave me inspiration.

Using this same trick of mimicing - I had to learn Cartoon Network styled music for a cartoon network game. Note, I had never written anything like this before - but the same stylistic / orchestration tricks apply.

Example

Studying the Serenity Theme, I took this further and tried writing something that had some of the stylistic idiosyncracies - Space Western. Also never written anything like this before - and is probably one of my best orchestral works to date.

Example

Then - for an iOs title, I was asked to rewrite a ragtime piano piece they had licensed and make it Elfmaneseque - BeetleJuice / World of Goo trailer style. By using the techniques of breaking down the music into it's components (tempo / phrasing / orchestration / mixing / and melodic content) - I was able to hit what they were looking for.

Example