Advice for beginning composers

[chozartmaninoff]

Ive noticed a few people asking about composing, and help, and where to start so ive written some advice.

This is aimed more at beginning composers who don’t really know where to start but theres some advice on thickening up and varying music also at the end.

I’m going to assume we all have a good level of theory after all to start composing you need to know your way around a piano.

I’m going to write a piece of music as a demonstration and tell you exactly what I’m doing as I do it. Using simple methods I will compose a song. There are some sound samples to show you the stages of the piece I compose and then there is the finished piece attached at the bottom of the post

Once you’ve done yours, it would be nice if you would post it. Also let me know if this was helpful.

Making a start:

Give your piece a name that will reflect what you're piece is about or at least have an idea of what it is you want the piece to say? For example choose a name like “Looking back” which is what i will call my piece. 

This name should set the tone of the piece, the tempo, weather its major or minor piece. It should be your theme, remember the piano can’t speak, so the more you use your name as inspiration, the better people can relate to your piece.  Tell stories with you’re your music. (Some people, especially improvisers, will write a piece then name it) 

The piece I’m going to write will be called “Looking back” and is going to be a reflective piece. In this music I am creating a man who is looking through the window on a sunny day, and he watches the children on the park outside playing games, and remembering what it was like to be a child.

Ok next, write the structure of the piece. Structures are important. Remember that “mood pieces” without a strong melody line should try and be short, there’s only so long you can entertain someone with a repetitive mood piece.

I’m going to Structure my piece like so……….. (Remember you can do it as you please)

•   Short introduction

•   Main melody

•   Second melody

•   Variation of Introduction leading to chorus

•   Chorus x 2

•   Variation of main melody

 (Variations of melodies or chorus etc are often good, they can make people remember the piece and also repeat parts without making it the same and boring)

•   Outro

So now we have an idea or theme for the piece and a structure. It’s now time to choose the key – I would suggest for your first compositions to use the key of C which I will use for this example.

Chord Progression

Now you can choose either the chord progression first or the melody. I’m going to do chords first. Spend time playing around finding chords you like the sound of.

TIP: If you’re struggling with finding a chord sequence, find a song you like and use that sequence or just copy the one below. Alternatively try playing with the circle of 5ths

Chords I have chosen:

Introduction:                   G7

Melody 1:                       C //  F // G/B  // C

Melody 2:                       Am // F // C

Intro Variation:              G7

Chorus x 2:                     C // Am7 // Dm // G

Melody 1 Variation:       C // F // G/B // C

Outro:                             F // G7 // C

So theres my very simple basic Chord sequence.

 LISTEN TOO – FIG 1 attached below, I have played all the chords in this sequence in order.

Remember simple isn’t bad. Some of the best music wasn’t the most fancy and complex pieces.

Melody:

There are many ways of doing this. Some people and I myself often find that humming a tune and the recreate it on the piano can be a good way. But this in my opinion is not the best for someone starting out or someone who has trouble writing melodies. I would suggest just experimenting with different combinations of notes in the scale, pick ones at random and improvise with them till you find something you like. Remember to keep the song title in your mind at all times.

Notes in the C scale – CDEFGABC   

Melody 1 -      Chords              C          F         G/B      C
                     Melody            C E C   A A    B  D  G E

LISTEN (FIG 2) - This plays the basic chords and melody

Keep doing this following your structure.


Thickining up and adding variation to your piece.[/b][/u]

The left hand is a great way to thicken up your piece. Where plain bar chords can be nice, sometimes varying the type of left hand accompaniment can make a big difference.

•   Octaves – Can add power when you need it, in dramatic passages, outros or nearly anywhere. Or they can make you right hand more full sounding.

•   Strides. – Take the root of the chord and play it on its own, then play the chord further up. Have a listen to Chopin’s Nocturne Op9 No.2 for a good example of these


•   Alternating and stretching chords - Instead of playing a basic block chord try playing the notes of that chord in different orders (also known as inversions) Then stretch those notes, they don’t need to be in the same octave.


•   Arpeggios are one of my favourite ways to make your music flow beautifully. Spread and play those arpeggios all over the piano and add notes to them to make them really interesting


The right hand has some nice tricks also.

•   Grace notes are nice to use in all situations. 

•   Also harmonise your notes, instead of just a C, add a G to the bottom, or use any notes that go well together, 3rds 5ths 4ths 7ths etc etc.


•   Octaves are a good way to add variation to you melody.

Here is my finished piece using the chords and melody above, also adding some of the thickening methods I explained.

NOTE: This piece took me 5 minuets to write, yours should take  longer, and spend time developing the piece and don’t be afraid to have to start again or make big changes, I’ve started a piece and it ended up completely different to the way it started.

Remember to use a variety of the “Thickening methods” to make a really interesting piece.


Other ideas – Try composing in the style of you favourite composer. It can be fun, but challenging.

Let me know if this was helpfully for anyone and good luck with composing, it is a wonderful thing to do.

Best wishes

[db05]

  Wow, I really appreciate this! I wanted to write something like that, but I'm not sure I'm the right person for the job. Are you a professional composer, by any chance?

I find that learning some keyboard harmony helped a lot. And with a stack of themes/ ideas, the possibilities are endless!

Thank you! 

[chozartmaninoff]

Are you a professional composer, by any chance?

I find that learning some keyboard harmony helped a lot. And with a stack of themes/ ideas, the possibilities are endless!

Thank you! 

Thanks for your reply -

No, not professional although i have played some of my own works in concert. I try and compose in every style and genre, here i chose a very simple style to play to make it easier to follow and understand.
Harmony helps alot yes, as well as knowing all your chords, so eg: C maj can also be Cmaj 7 - C7 - C9 - etc etc. And knowing the combination of chords and learning what goes well with what. Which really is down to a bit of theory but also just practice practice practice. The more you compose (even when you think they are bad) The better you will get and the more you will learn. Its like alot of things, the best way to learn is to get stuck in.

If you need any help with anything send me a message or anything, im always happy to help.

Good luck

[db05]

If you need any help with anything send me a message or anything, im always happy to help.

Okay, I'll shoot. I've posted some compositions on student's corner, but in case you missed them... here. In case you notice some bass notes missing in the piano piece, they got eaten in the editing. The guitar piece sounds weird because I wrote that before I learned the rules on minor keys. Then I wrote the piano piece to practice harmony in a minor key.

I've been taking theory lessons, but we haven't tackled 7th and add chords yet. So I'd like to know more about that.

[chozartmaninoff]

I've been taking theory lessons, but we haven't tackled 7th and add chords yet. So I'd like to know more about that.

A seventh chord is triad plus a note with the interval of a seventh above the chord's root. a seventh chord usually means a major triad and a flat seventh.

In composing, they are good to use when passing to a chord, it can make it flow. For example, If you are going from C (C,E,G) to F, try instead, C, C7 (C,E,G,Bb) to F

If you know about note intervals then its all basic stuff. An interval is just the distance from one note to another, or chord to another etc. so on a piano, (C D E F G A B C). Thats 8 notes. if i say play a C9 - you would play a C chord, (C, E, G) and then count on the piano 9 notes up which would be D. So a C9 is (C,E,G,D) the notes can be played in any order. eg (C,G,E,D) so from that u can work out nicer chords, or more interesting chords to vary your music.

Your composition......

Tis good Try varying temp and rhythm. After a while it sounds like its dragging on. Vary it a bit. Different chords, try a contrasting slower or faster section in the middle to break it up. Use that structure i provided. Other than that keep it up. The more you play the more you learn.

Best wishes

[chozartmaninoff]

Tis good Try varying temp and rhythm. After a while it sounds like its dragging on. Vary it a bit. Different chords, try a contrasting slower or faster section in the middle to break it up. Use that structure i provided. Other than that keep it up. The more you play the more you learn.

Best wishes

This is for the guitar piece......................

For the piano one.

Its better, try adding more runs in the right hand! some trills etc, just flavor it up. They say the best food is full of colours, so is the best music. If that makes sence.

[db05]

Thank you!

Not so sure when to use 7th/add chords as sometimes they get off key. So far, I've just been staying on key and that's pretty much it LOL.

PS. Can you tell when the "eaten" notes in the piano piece are? You know why they got eaten?

[chozartmaninoff]

Thank you!

Not so sure when to use 7th/add chords as sometimes they get off key. So far, I've just been staying on key and that's pretty much it LOL.

PS. Can you tell when the "eaten" notes in the piano piece are? You know why they got eaten?

The "Eaten" notes, i have absolutly no idea, dont do any editing on software!! my midi recordings are from my yamaha clavinova .............Just experiment as to where to use a seventh chord, just play some chords and throw one in, if it sounds good then great, if not throw it in somewhere else. They are usually good anywhere apart from the very starting chord of the melody or the end chord. There good in passing chords. so instead of C // F ..........try C // C7 // F .........listen to some jazz and blues, good examples of 7ths there. Also experiment with 6ths etc. The more variaty of chords you know the better your music will sound and the more variation you can have.

Good luck post me any new ones when you have done some

[dan101]

There is much good advice in the posts previous to this one. I'm a composer and give additional advice here: https://www.musicmasterstudios.com

If you google music composition lesson, you'll also get a ton of advice. The bottom line is that you should have good theory books; one for classical and one for jazz. Also, I find orchestral scores and an orchestraion book to be invaluable.

Good luck.

[jabbz]

Dominant 7ths are usually before cadences, major 7ths are generally used diatonically.