Pastiche

Pastiche, noun. 1. A literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work.

From Merriam-Webster

Pastiche gets a bad name – just look how often it’s preceded by the word bad. We look down our noses at pastiche artists, as not really forging original ground.

But pastiche should be a bigger and more conscious tool in creative education. Learn three songs by an artist. Now write a pastiche song. Then do it again with a different artist.

If you’re a vocal arranger, write a Take 6 pastiche, a pastiche of Gene Puerling. If you’re learning composition, don’t write a Romantic-style art song – study a song cycle and then write a Schubert pastiche. A Debussy pastiche! If avant-garde is more your style, how about a Conlon Nancarrow pastiche in your sequencer?

Certain styles are particularly imitable – lean on those and learn from those.

Do enough pastiche, and you’ll start to find your own musical preferences and eventually your own sound.