Composition Teaching
with Daniel Fladmose

I am a Copenhagen-based Danish composer and composition teacher. My teaching rests on a straightforward conviction: good musical education is about craft, listening, structure, and historical awareness — and these things cannot be separated from one another. Composition, taken seriously, is not self-expression as a first principle; it is informed decision-making in sound, and that requires real knowledge and careful, sustained practice.

My work is aimed at students who want genuine guidance rather than vague inspiration — students who are prepared to engage with the discipline of music, who want tools that will actually last, and who are willing to do the patient, careful work that musical development demands. I have taught young composers in individual and seminar settings alike, working with students who range from ambitious beginners through to advanced pre-conservatory level.

The goal, in each case, is the same: to help students strengthen their technique, refine their musical thinking, and develop — over time — the artistic independence to sustain a voice of their own. Not by imitation, but by genuine, grounded understanding of the music they are working within and alongside.

Lessons may concentrate on composition itself, but more often they address the deeper foundations that make good composition possible. Harmony, chromatic voice-leading, counterpoint, form, rhythm, texture, orchestration, score reading, and the disciplined study of repertoire are not separate disciplines — they are aspects of the same musical intelligence. Teaching them as integrated practices, rather than isolated exercises, is central to how I work.

Beyond technical foundations, we work closely on how musical ideas behave over time: how continuity is created and sustained, how tension is built and released, and how style can be understood from the inside rather than copied from the outside. That distinction matters. The aim is not imitative music, but the understanding and control from which genuinely personal musical choices can emerge.

Online lessons use effective digital tools built specifically for detailed musical work at a distance. The central tool is real-time score annotation with a digital pen, which allows precise, responsive work directly on the score during the lesson itself — marking voice-leading, harmonic analysis, structural observations, and compositional suggestions in exactly the way one would work on paper, but shared immediately on screen.

This makes it possible to engage closely with notation, structure, detail, and listening across considerable geographical distance. The experience is not a compromise or an approximation of in-person teaching. With the right tools and a clear working method, online lessons can be just as precise and musically immediate — and in practical terms, considerably more accessible.

Yes. In addition to individual lessons, I offer workshops and seminar-based formats centred on analysis, listening, craft, and compositional thinking. Group work provides something individual teaching cannot fully replicate: students gain direct experience of the rehearsal process, the practical realities of writing for instruments, and the shared, rigorous discussion of musical ideas — which is itself a valuable form of musical training.

Workshop formats can be arranged for institutions, conservatory preparation groups, or groups of independently convened students. Enquiries about workshop possibilities are welcome by email.