Inside the Score Reviews 49

Joining Inside the Score has been instrumental in streamlining my creative process and completing my compositions. The videos and examples guide you through each step, helping to shape your ideas and compositions with a clear structure. Additionally, the active community of like-minded individuals offers valuable insights into different perspectives and methods. Weekly live classes with various instructors provide an opportunity to review exercises and receive personalized feedback on any questions or interests. Personally, I had prior knowledge of composition and advanced musical skills, but I believe it's designed for anyone. It’s advantageous if you have some musical background and experience.

When I showed up I was sort of stuck in my composing. Eva and Oscar were great at acknowledging the work that I had done and then they were both able to show me where I needed to go next. They both show great expertise, understanding of music, and enormous enthusiasm and good will. I recommend the course highly.

Oscar is highly skilled in composition and clear in his communication whether interacting with experienced students or relative beginners. The course features live classes, recorded videos and excerpts from pieces by Tchaikovsky, Ravel, John Williams and others. I appreciate that Oscar acknowledges we’re all different composers at different levels of accomplishment in our musical journeys, that we can and should adapt, as necessary, the core concepts to work best for each individual. He provides ongoing opportunities for students to ask questions and have their compositions reviewed.

I was a bit hesitant to sign up for the course inasmuch as there are so many websites promising great results, or tantalizing short cuts to get there. I was also hesitant because I didn’t want a course based on an instructor’s dogmatic views. In addition, I was hesitant because having had almost no formal musical education, I was concerned that the other students might have extensive training and perform way above my skill level and that I would become discouraged and drop out.

I enrolled because: my melodies were relatively good but the compositions were too short; I lacked some of the basic fundamentals and appreciation for structure, relying purely on instinct; I was aware of score study but didn’t know how to go about it; and, as a do it yourselfer, I wasn’t connected to a community to get feedback and support and therefore had some self-doubt as to whether my pieces were good and why, and how I could improve. The course has been a success in each of these areas as well as imparting additional knowledge that I didn’t know I was lacking which I can draw upon in future projects.

I am in the early stages of my composing journey and have enjoyed being a part of this community immensely.

At first, I was hesitant if I should enroll because of how new I am to composing. There is still a great deal of technique and experience that I need to build and I worried that the program would be geared towards experienced composers looking to refine their craft, rather than beginners just getting started. However I am very glad that I overcame my hesitancy. The experience level of the community varies widely, with some (like me) just starting and others who have been composing for many years. Oscar and Eva provide feedback that is tailored to what each person needs, whether that is a critique of orchestration techniques and mixing, or simple things like melody and harmony.

Oscar and Eva both provide live sessions where they dig deep into a given topic (e.g. analyzing a particular score or composing for film). These sessions are an immensely valuable resource and are also an opportunity for Q&A, so you can have your own questions answered. They are all recorded for later rewatching and study if you can't make it.

The instruction and program materials are all excellent, but the best part of the program is the community. You can learn a lot about composition on your own (the beauty of the internet!), but spending time with other like minded people who can give you encouragement, advice, and feedback is invaluable and worth every penny.

I am still a beginner and have a lot of learning and growth to do, but the biggest thing that has changed for me since joining is making the dream of becoming a composer feel less like a dream and more like a future reality. It now feels like something I can _actually do_, with enough time, work, and practice, rather than just a "wouldn't it be nice if...?"

I had never written a piece for more than two instruments before, but joining Inside the Score's 5-day composing challenge got me writing a full orchestral piece. I then joined The Composer Training System in order to take the next six weeks to expand my piece with a cohort of other composers. Although I haven't yet finished my piece, the weekly coaching and community feedback given to my fellow composers is motivation enough for me to finish. The support from the coaches and the community is excellent, and Oscar is always finding ways to improve the student experience. I look forward to this community becoming one of the most vibrant online gatherings for orchestral composers of all levels!

Oscar's enthusiasm and involvement on and individual leve for feedback is exceptional.

I was on my way to find the solution for my songwriters block when I first saw some Youtube videos by Inside the score. i saved most of them for watching later, but as usual, they stayed unwatched.
Then came a newsletter with a 5 days challenge. At that time I was full of self pity so I decided to join... And boy! That was a good decision!
I never invested musically in myself before, so I wasn't sure of what to expect and how this all works... But following the steps, keeping the rythm with the video led me to orchestrate a full, few minutes long song from piano sketch to fully orchestrated mockup.
I can only encourage everyone to join the program!

I am very happy to be part of this course, they give great tools for getting the juices flowing and keep going, the coaching sessions are useful and fun, clearly presented material and a welcoming community.

This is the first course that I've taken in music composition that I would recommend to others. As someone who is a long time musician and also arranger, I've looked for a long time for a course that would teach me how to go about composition, but could not find one that was either ridiculously expensive, or lacking in content and active support.

The course at Inside the Score is supported by experienced tutors who are actively working as composers. The content is provided week to week but you can complete in your own time, which I am doing. Seeing the results from other members of the community is both fantastic to see the progress from week 1, and motivating in itself.

I would highly recommend this to anyone in a similar situation to me.



Before joining this course, I was overflowing with half-written pieces and unfinished ideas, but I lacked the structure and tools to turn them into real music. I often got stuck in endless loops, shifting notes around until something sounded “right,” but without knowing why.



I stumbled into the 5-day challenge and my whole view shifted. In just a few days, I achieved more than I had in months on my own. Oscar’s teaching has a rare clarity, kindness, and depth, and the support of the community made me realize: this was the opportunity I’d been waiting for.



I no longer lose myself in endless note-shuffling. Instead, I can take an idea, give it structure, and actually know how to finish it. My melodies flow more naturally, my motifs and hooks feel stronger, and even old fragments that once frustrated me now feel alive with possibility.
Writing is no longer guesswork—it’s a process I understand.



Composing feels joyful again. Instead of being overwhelmed, I feel like a kid in an amusement park: everything is an opportunity to grow, not a dead end.



The live calls, feedback, and score studies are highlights every week, and for the first time I feel encouraged rather than judged. I even catch myself proudly saying, “I am a composer”—something I never dared to do before.

The amount of knowledge, workflow, and the community are truly special.
If you’re looking for a course on composing, this is the one. My honest advice is: do it! It might just open the same door for you that it opened for me.

Great course with a structured approach to composition. It greatly helps me to make progress in my composition journey.

Great course that really helps build momentum and provides structure for finishing more music, developing ideas and stacking all the building blocks together for more cohesive final results.

Being part of Inside the Score has helped me organize my creative composing process and finish songs. Through their videos and examples, you can move forward step by step, giving your ideas and compositions a coherent structure.
In addition, there is an active community of other people in similar situations that helps you see other realities and ways of working.
Finally, you can access weekly live classes from different teachers/speakers where you can review your exercises and ask for feedback on any questions or interests you may have.
In my case, I already had some knowledge of composition and an advanced level of music, but I think it is suitable for all types of people. In my opinion, it is better if you have a musical foundation and a minimum of experience.

I have taken a few courses in music composition and I have the benefit of some grounding in music theory. This course in orchestration provided a whole new dimension to my ideas about composition. First, there were the ground rules about how to structure musical ideas, building to a climax, telling a story. Then came detailed information about how to develop harmony, voicing and select chords and their structure. Wonderful scores examples were featured, excerpts played and reviewed demonstrating how Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Wagner and other used these techniques to tell exciting musical stories. The biggest take away was a process that I can used to overcome composing challenges, press ahead with musical ideas, and complete a musical score. Ideas for enhancements were offered. Important feedback was given live, on line, and by our composing collective memberes. This course has opened a new portal for me to achieving my musical composing goals.

Before this course, I had not composed in months, if not a year or two, and nothing regular, nothing finished. Even if I made it past the ideation phase of coming up with melodies and motives, they never felt right, and I never had any clue how to structure anything I wrote.
I wanted to go back to composing orchestral scores, but everything seemed flat. I barely got to piano sketches, and I would often leave melodies half-written and undeveloped on staff paper.
My only hesitation in joining this community was over whether or not I could devote the time to this course that I needed to in order to actually get something out of it, because I knew Oscar knows what he is talking about, and it would be intensive.
What convinced me without a doubt was that Oscar wasn't talking about composing a certain way, tips and tricks, etc, but creating a structure and system for yourself to stay motivated and keep composing and improving. Something that would help you improve on your own and continue writing (something I've already built for myself in the creative areas, but hadn't yet cracked for music).

Since joining, I've found myself more motivated to compose and less stressed about it. I have a framework that I can rely on, and the process from initial sketch to orchestrated piece was dramatically quick. I'm making music and having fun doing it for the first time in far too long, I'm able to develop my melodies and compose in a DAW, playing in developments rather than writing everything down on paper or in notation software. This course has helped me be less rigid and more free in my thinking about composition, and makes me think I could actually not just compose regularly, but improve my skills and consciously evolve my style as I go.
If you are hesitant about joining, but you want to have more autonomy in music-making and more motivation to compose that will stick around, you need to join this course/community!

I really love this course and being part of something that feels genuine and honest.

I'm incredibly busy at the moment, but this course has inspired me to write and/or learn something new every day. There was so much material in 5 weeks that I could have spend 3 months on it!

I am well behind but somehow I don't feel distressed because we have time to revisit things and the course is evolving to suit our needs. Very different and very refreshing :-)

I would have given it 5 starts but I live in Western Australia and the live classes are at killer times - 4am or from midnight until 1.30am. Having said that everything is available to watch later, but I would love to be part of the "normal hours".

All said - it's sincerely for me, well worth the money.

THE Best coaching you can find right now !!!
I made more progress in five weeks than in a year of traditionnal teachning, or may be tow...
Everything in this program is presented in a clear and accessible way, even some particularly difficult theoretical points.
Pedagogy is centered on practice : the coach explains the point, shows you how he does it, you do it your turn, and you got feedback and tips from the coach and the community.
Evrything I do now is much more fluent, quick and qualitative, and I am much more creative and self confident in my work.
The best investment of all my music student life

I enjoyed a free 5-day composition challenge with Inside the Score so much that I signed up for the full course. Focusing on the stages of composition and having constructive feedback from the coaches and the community has helped me improve my music production process immensely. Approaching composition as a key discipline before reaching for instrument samples and stacking loops has changed the way I think about creating a piece of music. Defining the outcome in more detail has sped up the process of reaching a finished piece by bringing clarity to the decisions rather than trial-and-error evolution. The last piece I wrote over 5 weeks has been a much more enjoyable and purposeful creative process. The team at Inside the Score has been super helpful and friendly with their constructive, detailed feedback. I would highly recommend the course to anyone who feels their music lacks direction and struggles to finish a piece. The approach can be applied to all genres, not just Orchestral pieces.

Oscar and his group of composer-instructors do a wonderful job of reviewing-critiquing our works each week and providing feedback via personal phone call from Oscar and recorded critiques from each instructor.
This has been a most valuable experience for me even though driving an 18-wheeler full time, while also singing the Duruflé Requiem followed by Bach's Cantata #105 Cantata during the time of this course. I have not contributed as much as I would have preferred, but all the feedback received was still extremely constructive and positive.

I signed up for the 6 week Composer Training System on a whim and I’m so glad that I did. I had wanted to write a piece for orchestra for almost a year beforehand, but didn’t know where to start or how to go about it, so I wound up with a whole folder of files on my computer of pieces I had started but never finished. Oscar and the team developed a program that makes the composing process both straightforward and fun, and in just a few weeks, I had finished my first ever piece for symphony orchestra! Despite it being my first real composition, I’m really happy with how it came out. Most importantly, I can now take Oscar’s system and the skills I have learned from this program and apply them to all of my future compositions, and I’m confident that my next piece will be something I’m proud of too. Thanks, Oscar, Isaac, Eva, and Jonathan!