[BEN]
How
Do you come
Out of numbingly humble beginnings
And get to be me?
How
Do a few
Little doodly-doodles
Turn into a beautiful symphony?

Can you make what is merely so-so
Into something big league?
Take a tip from a virtuoso
(Me, Tchaikovsky and Grieg):

What you do is construct yourself
By the way you conduct yourself
You don't have to disclose yourself—
Compose yourself

Find your tune
Set your key
Claire de lune
It may never be
But make the most of the music
That is yours
If your range
Isn't great
You can change
It, just modulatе
Make the most of the music
That is yours
Till it soars!

Composе
Add to your theme till it grows
Nothing extreme:
Say, a note of disdain
Here and there—
Gives the refrain
A certain flair

Compose!
Blend it like cream
Till it flows
Gathering steam
With a note of success—
Flaunt your talents
A note of distress
Though, to stress the balance—

Compose!
Don't lose the pace of your bass notes
And when you have to erase notes
Replace them with grace notes
Like a note of wit
To give it style
A note of glitter
A note of guile
A note of tact
A note of friction
A note of fact
In amongst the fiction
And to counteract
Any contradiction
A note or two of complete conviction—

[BEN & ENSEMBLE]
Compose! Compose! Compose!

[BEN]
Luscious harp
Soft high-hat—
If you're sharp
Then you won't fall flat
Make the most of the music that is yours!

Give it sweep
Add a fill
Give the people
A great big trill
Make the most of your music till
It soars—
Till it scores!
[BEN & ENSEMBLE]
Compose!
Blending the highs
With the lows
Just so it rises
An up-tune
Upbeat
Long as it keeps climbing!
Upscale
Upstreet
Everything is timing!

Find the blend
Set the beat
Keep ascending—
Don't compete
Compose!

Comes the day
All too soon
When you may
Have to trust your tune
Make the most of your music
And who knows?
You may even get to like
What you compose!