"How fast can someone ramp up their skill set in Composition? (or How Long Does It Take To Learn Composition?)”
The other day, I sent you guys an email asking what would be the one big question you had about how to become a composer...
After hitting “Send” I went to compose the themes for a new movie I’m working on and really didn’t give it another thought until I finished at 2AM.
I was ready for bed! Tired. But I decided to take a quick look and see if anyone responded yet… and…
HOLY COW!! 206 RESPONSES!!
I couldn’t believe it!! 
Well, now I couldn’t sleep even if I wanted to! I was too curious and had read your questions.
I started with one, then another, and another. Pretty soon I noticed several questions were repeated over and over and over and over again… And I thought:
“Wouldn’t it be awesome if I answered each one of these questions for the next few days?”
So that’s what I’m going to do! I'll be answering the questions that are repeated the most.
But why wait?! Let’s get the first one out of the way today:
"How fast can someone ramp up their skill set in Composition? (or How Long Does It Take To Learn Composition?)”
That’s a great question with a multi-faceted answer that I'm going to try to break down for you. But to do that, I want to give you some context first.
It seems like every day I hear someone harping on the traditional route to education only to find out they’re so against it just because it’s not the route THEY took. In fact - they really don’t have ANY first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to attend a college, university, or conservatory…
… and that always frustrates me.
So, as I give you my opinion - just know, I don’t have all the answers - NOT. EVEN. CLOSE.
If years of traditional study is the route you wanna take - who am I to tell you otherwise. I’ve made plenty of costly mistakes in my life thinking it was the right path - but that’s just life.
What I will tell you is that I began studying music at the age of 6 with guitar lessons…
Followed by conservatory at the ripe ol’ age of 7 years old - that time when boys are usually learning what it is to catch frogs or play sports… I was deep into sheet music… which always made me a little different than the rest of the boys my age.
For the next 13 years - YES -THIRTEEN YEARS! I studied music at conservatory. When I was 20 years old - I finally finished!... well… conservatory at least.
The next two years were filled with 5 courses at Berklee Online.
Done?... Nope! Still more to learn...
After finishing at Berklee I was awarded a scholarship to USC and studied Film Scoring Master.
WHEW!... - nearly two decades of my life spent studying just so I could do what I wanted to do - work as a composer in the film industry.
So… there’s that route… I took it… hundreds of other composers have taken it…
But the truth is - would I do it again? NO.
Why? … the whole truth and nothing but the truth??…
My time at USC was $40k. Half scholarship. Half loan. A LOT of money for me. I had no idea if I’d ever be able to pay it back. Fortunately, I started doing music for movies soon and royalties helped me pay back the loan, but it still took 7 years.
My time at Conservatory cost me 15 years of my life. Now - if all those 15 years were packed with action steps that I could take and use in the “real world” it’d been worth it. But, sadly - that wasn’t the case. There was more useless info than helpful info and most of my time felt wasted. I wanted to be a composer. I didn’t care about classes like music history that - sure, nice to know - but didn’t help me find my first or next project.
My time at Berklee Online was expensive and with little accountability, just tough to stay motivated. I took Orchestration 1 and 2, Music for Video Games, Electronic Music, and Composition for Film 1 and 2 totaling $7k. The biggest problem I found was staying disciplined to show up and do the work.
No one is going to force you to. Full transparency - In some of the courses, I followed through. Others I didn’t. It felt like I was just wasting more money that had taken me years to save. And now - I don’t even have access to that content anymore.
So… back to the question - How long does it take you to ramp up your skillset? This depends on where you decide to study. You can take on the national average of $30k/per year in college - and spend the next 21 years paying off the loans… using whatever you learned that happens to be applicable to your career.
You could attend a music conservatory for 10-15 years, check off the boxes of all the required classes (relevant or not!), and learn from teachers who haven’t been working professionally for YEARS.
Or, you could go a non-traditional route and learn from the experts through Youtube or online courses… but in this field, it’s very very very hard to learn when you’re given the content and then you’re on your own to apply it. Since it’s often not enough to just have one course or learn from one expert you get stuck in the cycle of shiny object syndrome. You keep going from one video to the next one, or from one course to the next one. They keep recommending new stuff you should learn or watch based on their interests and you enter this never-ending loop that makes you feel like you’re never ready to move on.
You’ve probably been there. Or maybe you’re in the loop right now. How many courses have you purchased? How many have you completed? How many have you used?
Frustrating. Right?
I believe that if I’m going to invest my time and money in whatever education I choose, I deserve to learn everything that I’m told I will in order to achieve the result I’m after…
… AND I want to do it in the LEAST amount of time possible…
… AND I want to enjoy myself and walk through the least amount of pain possible during the process to get to the end.
So for me - after suffering through traditional AND non-traditional education I came up with a better way.
It’s what I consider a hybrid education. A fourth option.
I call it “Challenging Education” or “Interactive Teaching”.
To better “get” what I’m talking about - indulge me for just a minute longer - I know this email is getting long and you’re busy, but it’s important…
… Just a minute longer - I promise.
Briefly think about a moment in your life when you learned something that you can still remember to this day.
Isn’t it interesting that you held on to the knowledge for years, but you may not be able to remember what the last book you read was, even if it was just weeks ago?
That’s because when we read something, we remember 7-12% of it.
If we have a conversation about it, we remember between 20-30%.
If we practice it we retain 50-60%.
Now… here’s the amazing part - if we have to apply what we’ve learned in a problem-solving situation that challenges us, then we not only retain 100% of it but we also make perceptions that go beyond the initial learning.
Isn’t that awesome?
This is because it engages us mentally, physically, and emotionally.
It educates in an entertaining way and it empowers us because we solved a problem...
… When we solve the problem, we get a dopamine hit (a chemical that creates natural reward circuits in our brain). What’s that all break down to??...
We feel good and we want more of that thing, which equals - we practice it more often and master the skill faster.
Pretty incredible bio-hack, huh?!
And because this is the best and the most effective way to learn things quickly... we modeled this concept when we built MTCM (Music Theory and Composition Master) some years ago.
And you know what?! It worked so well with our students. They keep growing every day and their results inspired us to do something even better
- hey hey hey! Hold your horses Marc! what is this MTCM thing?
- gotcha! You may be new here :) Let me get you all caught up so you’re not missing out on anything.
MTCM (Music Theory and Composition Master) is a curriculum we developed around 2020.
For many students it's "the best course we've ever created" and, for sure, it's been the course with the biggest waiting list we've ever had.
Basically, it takes you from 0... and we promise to teach you anything you need to know to become a composer in 30 days. I know, bold statement but I’ll tackle that in a different email :)
Unfortunately, it's not open for enrollment at the moment.
But we're about to announce something even better! We're taking this to the next level! 
...It’s really incredible. Even though I naturally second guess myself and get concerned about not delivering enough for you - I’m just super excited about this new thing we're about to introduce in a few weeks. I feel like it’s a combination of my life’s work, my over two decades of study, and the lessons I’ve learned through all of my painful trials and errors in this industry.
Really - you’ve just got to see it to believe it. There are countdown timers, challenges, live group composition, interactive chats, support pre/post chat videos, masterclasses!!
– "what is it!? what is this next thing!!?"
We're taking the MTCM concept, and we're transforming it into a LIVE EVENT... a SUMMIT! With a real live engaged audience, multiple teachers, invited speakers (dozens!)... oh man!!
More about that later this month... but if you want an sneak peak of a few details...
Music Theory and Composition Master... LIVE Summit!
It's a live event! It's online! And I've got so many things that I want to talk about... but this email is just too long. I'll just say that:
- Tickets start selling on November 26th... BUT
- there are limited spots, AND
- if you'd like to have access to tickets one day before everyone else (the 25th) join the waiting list for EARLY ACCESS.
Also, there are ways to get FREE tickets! 
I know you'll have many questions. Join the waiting list if you're interested and we'll keep you posted.
Back to the topic at hand.... a related question that kept repeating is - how long does it take to start working on projects and seeing profitable, sustainable revenue consistently come in?
The truth is - it’s different for every student because It depends where you start. To give you a general idea of what to expect, you can look at the breakdown and decide where you will be on day one and how long it may take to create a career in composition.
#1: Absolutely NO tech and composing skills (expect 6-12 months at a minimum).
#2: Has some basic composing skills, maybe a bit of orchestration, and can play around with a sequencer (expect 4-6 months).
#3: Has done some short movies OR has worked on low-budget video games or feature films with not enough budget for recording. All mockup. (expect 3-4 months).
?#4: Fluent in tech, has recorded with real musicians, and can pick up new systems quickly and easily (expect immediate to 4 months).
This is an estimation. And it assumes that you truly take action towards finding projects. Things have changed radically after Covid. I live in Los Angeles... and the Hollywood Industry pre/post Covid has completely shifted. Everything has changed. There's a lot to talk regarding this topic... but
The reality is - time goes by no matter what. Right? No matter if it’s 4 months or 12, it’s going to happen. But by embracing the truth that you never END learning composition you can enjoy new challenges no matter how good you are at it right now!
Doesn’t it make sense to get the knowledge that really matters first (like for 30 days), so you can leverage your time learning and not waste it? Then once you understand that skill you can practice it faster and begin working at mastering it sooner?
If you know me at all you know I’m not one to brag about anything I’ve done. I am as extraordinarily ordinary as they come! But my students… I just get so encouraged about all of the amazing composers who are learning new skills through Cinematic Composing - nearly all of those who came here to pursue a professional career as a composer... started from zero, saw a significant difference within one month and started finding projects within four to six months - that I just have to share it!
Each of them remained willing to do the work, put in the time, stay "coachable" with their mindset, and make the investment in their own education through the tools, programs, and my expertise.
Now, we're taking this to a new whole level with MTCM Live. It's not just me teaching, it's multiple teachers (me included) and speakers doing masterclasses... It's so much that I can't share! haha! But I will soon in the following emails I promise!
For now, want a sneak peek of the schedule?
The Music Theory and Composition Summit curriculum schedule shakes out this way:
The first 30 days are daily classes:
- Week 1 Workspace Configuration + DAW Setup + Basics of Music Theory & Harmony + Orchestration & Synthestration
Friday: Q&A - Week 2 The 3 Musical Forces + Basic Styles (Love, Sadness, Suspense, Action)
Friday: Q&A - Week 3 Fantastic Styles (Fantasy, Magic, Supernatural, etc) + Adventure Styles (Hero & Villain)
Friday: Q&A - Week 4 Production + Mixing + Mastering
Friday: Q&A
The next 5 months are weekly classes and we will... (I'll explain this in another email... along with the exact dates and more details... but
We're giving time for people to work through the modules (which have several units each PLUS homework for EACH unit). The idea is that if you start from scratch… after the first month, you will have the skills, the tools, and the confidence to write in any style.
Sounds exciting, right? More than anything I’ve ever done, I’m most excited about this Live Event! We’ve seen amazing results so far and I know it’s going to help so many composers have the career they want with the tools, skills, and confidence they need.
"Music Theory and Composition Master... LIVE!" tickets start selling in…
Join the waiting list to have access to it one day before everyone else.
Thanks for reading! I hope you got some value! Love! :)
Marc Jovani
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