During the 1930s, 1940s and into the 1950s, Joseph Schillinger’s theories for composing music were widely used in the music industry by composers and arrangers writing in all styles. The Schillinger Society strongly believes that, because of this, Schillinger’s system of musical composition is worthy of continued study.

Learning Schillinger’s system can be a daunting task if one attempts to learn it from reading his published writings. The Schillinger System of Musical Composition (1946) and The Mathematical Basis of the Arts (1948) are the primary sources for Schillinger’s theories. However, these books were published after his death in 1943, and they were not edited well enough to be of much help to one who desires to learn Schillinger’s ideas with the hope of using them.

From our research we have discovered that what is missing from the published writings is Schillinger’s own voice explaining his ideas. Therefore, it is our intent to provide you, when we can, with Schillinger’s own explanations about his work.

The following is one example we hope you will find helpful. It is taken from a collection of teaching materials Schillinger had written in which he explained the differences between his system of composition as compared to the standard way of teaching composition.

Shortcomings of [the] Standard Systems [sic]

1. It does not fulfill the goal of supplying the composer with practicable technique.

2. It does not supply the future composer with the sources for original ideas.

3. It is unsystematic, and therefore hard to learn and to remember.

4. It does not correspond to facts of music, either in its rules or in its exceptions.

5. It takes too much time to learn and one must wait too long until actual composing begins.

6. It relies too much on [a] composer’s own quality, and supplies him with too little of useful technical information.

Virtues of [the] Schillinger System [S.S.]

1. It supplies the student with all the necessary technical resources, which infallibly lead him to the goal of becoming a practically fit professional [i.e., a professional who has practical skills] whether in the field of pure or applied music.

2. It does supply the future composer not only with resources which enable him to write in the variety of styles of the past, but in a versatile form of original expression. It is a workable system.

3. [The] S.S. is a system because it is a systematic coordination of the fundamental principles, resources and techniques upon which the actual music works.

4. The principles and the techniques are expressed through formulae in [the] S.S. and for that reason eliminate doubt, are easy to memorize and take a short time to learn.

5. In [the] S.S. the actual composing begins from the start. The process of composing does not depend upon inspiration or the composer’s feeling. It relies entirely on his knowledge of the matter.

6. Composing by this system becomes easy, extremely rapid and expedient, as it enables the composer to write music for a definite purpose.

Joseph Schillinger. “Mathematical Basis of Music”
Archives of The Peabody of The John Hopkins University,
Baltimore MD

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