I love the old psalms and hymns and regularly play them in church. We have lots of organ music available, but limited variations around the psalms and hymns for piano.
I enjoy making up variations etc at home, but prefer to play from music when in public. I hope the above makes sense?
Looking forward to your response. Kind regards, Rosanne. If you are interested in notation, you can start with Musescore which is free. I use Sibelius and Dorico. Garageband is free on mac, and reaper as well. Windows has some other free ones. I use Digital Performer. A midi controller is really necessary for inputting notes without wasting a ton of time, although Sibelius and Dorico do have fast notation entry from a regular typing keyboard.
I have ideas, i can play music in my mind, i have written few lines say. Nothing is really helping yet.
What is a good set of books to cover and their proper reading order basically everything book-related that a typical undergrad music program along the lines of composition, I suppose would cover?
Do any of those overlap? And what is the proper order to cover these courses i. For example, does orchestration build on counterpoint, or vice versa, or can I study them simultaneously? You can start by looking at some of the books that cover the topic overall in this way, like The Complete Musician. It integrates all of those subjects. Books like this can be tedious to go through on your own though.
As a way of bringing things together though, I would recommend copying scores, reading scores, and transcribing music by ear. I am also trying to learn the piano by following the course which was recommended to me by my husband this one.
I will be really grateful if you share some piano learning tips for adults like me which can make piano learning easy. It helps to be able to say the notes and rhythms in your mind, in both treble and bass clef, without having to reference a chart.
Sometimes with denser passages, you need to work slowly at the keyboard, playing through the examples one note at a time until there is a clear understanding of the elements involved. This is actually a critical part of the process, at any stage. I like to copy scores by hand, because the only way to do it correctly is note by note.
Otherwise you tend to assume too much, and make a mistake. The benefit is that the whole time, you brain is still trying to fill in the gaps, on a note to note level. I found this to be the easiest way to compose using midi.
There are many DAWs out there. Musescore, a free software for writing music, has the possibility of midi input as well. From my memory, you have to tell Musescore how it should interpret the input e. Jon, it is and I am wondering what software or plugins I would need to: 1 Compose music and transcribe for other instruments, classical-style music, from medieval through present eras.
Logic Pro? I have the ideas and know theory well enough for what I am planning. I just want the software for input via note-by-note notation or to play it into the score with an instrument and best virtual instruments for playback. If it is VSL — that is probably out of my budget right now. The big difference in music composition software is between notation software and DAWs.
Notation software is getting better at playback, and Dorico looks particularly promising for the future, as they are adding DAW capabilities, but you are still limited by their playback engine which writes most of the midi data. A DAW is really performance software. DAWs allow you to perform in your music, and manipulate that midi data in many different ways. This allows you to craft the sound of your pieces. Think of MIDI as the language that all the sampled instruments and synthesizers to use to trigger the sounds.
DAWs usually have weaker notation capabilities and so score creation more difficult. I also personally prefer to work out my music in notation form, so I will usually write in notation, and then move to the DAW when I am ready to get a performance version of the piece. As far as what makes it sound realistic — that is a mix of the quality of the sample libraries you use and your ability to perform with them. Each sample library has quirks, and you will get used to them as you go.
I like the Spitfire libraries, the orchestral tools libraries, but there are many others. There are a lot of sample libraries now. Digital Performer, Logic, Cubase, Studio One… they are all very good at this point, and it becomes about your own preferences.
Thank you, Jon. This is encouraging. It is helpful to see your approach with both Notation software and the DAW, using each for what it is best suited.
I was hoping for an all-in-one but I see how knowing both are important. Is there a format you save in, whether in Sibelius or a DAW that allows you to use it with other notation software or other DAWS later, or is that not a concern? Usually I use midi to go between them. I usually perform it in from the individual parts. The exception is drum parts, which for the most part are pretty straight forward. A little manipulating of the midi data brings a human touch, and you can always still re-perform it in.
The other thing that helps, is to perform small chunks at a time. You can get good at doing 2, 4 or 8 measure sections quickly. Thanks so much for your advice by way of sharing your approach. Once I dive into it, hopefully this summer, I may get back to you. I have not started delving into your lessons, etc,. Okay Jon, please give me some advice for this. In no way am I trying to insult the program. While it does move rather fast and can be hard to follow just because music theory was never my thing, it is fairly informative.
Being able to play with more chords would give me more freedom while writing, but I need to know what those chords are.
Here is a post in my forum about 7th chord inversions. I do think I discuss in one of the early videos about tonic and dominant, but you can also check out my article on diatonic harmony.
If you just started wanting to compose but have always had a passion for music where do you start when writing music? I have been in band for almost 4 years now. I can kinda play the piano. Alicia, I would start with a solid understanding of how composition works. The best place is at my Start Here page on the site. From there, you can sign up for the free course which should take you through the process in a gentle way. Are there any books to learn music theory like fundamentals of scales,chords,chord progression etc?
My courses teach how scales, chords, progressions, melody, harmony, and form all work together so you can compose. If you need to learn to read music, I suggest starting by looking around youtube. It is customary, or was until not too long ago, to think of the average rock band as 3 guitars and a drum, expertly manipulating 3 chords to create what on the surface sounded like standard outpourings of music that would quickly and easily be replaced with just another catchy tune.
How about that? Faith has an orchestral accompaniment, a string orchestra no less which is reading from a score that has been composed and orchestrated. Listen to the enormous output of the Beatles for example. Each recording is actually a work of art, and while Lennon and McCartney are undoubtedly hugely talented and creative, I think the real genius behind them was someone with the skills of a classical composer because so many of their recordings feature little bits of genius that only a real composer could deliver.
I guess George Martin filled that role. Perhaps all the members of the group were more than just instrumentalists. Is this regarding the notion that the original composition is structurally devoid of any flaws requiring arrangement as in re-arrangement, remixing context? I apologize if that is a fundamentally basic question, but the context in which arrangement is used around me and by me in my life is not relating to remixing.
Arrangement is a term that is somewhat ambiguous. Arrangement can refer to the form, it can also refer to the orchestration, and it can also refer generally to what instrumentation is used, and not how they are used orchestration. Obviously all of those are important, and they are addressed in other articles, and podcasts throughout the site. I recommend listening to the podcast episodes on orchestration, and form specifically.
When writing a pop tune, if you want an instrumental break do you write the accompianment or leave it to the performer to fill in and just fill in the melody with no words. But I also have no idea what instruments a performer will use, or even if s he will change the music style.
These are all very context specific questions. When I write a tune, I usually write a lead sheet. If I want to make an arrangement of that tune, I will go more in depth on parts, but depending on the band and players, it can be just chords, or it can be intricately written out. Copyright is much more complicated than the number of bars. I recommend reading around the internet on trusted sources for the subject to get a better grasp.
Bob, I recommend signing up for the free course. It should get you started in the right direction. Thank you so much for this encouragement via the lesson.
In fact, I have been shying away from composing because I thought it was pretty difficult. I have a request. I am aware of Sibelius and Finale. You can download the free finale notepad to try out the software. It works the same, but with limitations. Hi, I am 25 years old and Right now I am very fond of Music though thats something late to know my interest, now I am learning Piano with a great zeal and love for it.
My dream is to compose a song, how long does it take to reach there and I am very confused as whether its too late to enter into music field. You can learn the basics relatively quickly. But it will take time to master.
It is hard to say how long, but it is never too late to learn. First of all, I am impressed with this page yours.
In my native language, which is Spanish, there is nothing like it. I write because I am very depressed about my condition, a composer, who does not sing or play any instrument. I feel that I have, already arrived where I wanted.
That is, I feel, because, I get songs like those, who always dreamed of composing. I can compose a song, every week. The fact is, that since, I have many and I want to give them away.
I was born with a rare genetic condition that can determine the exact pitch of the notes that make up a chord. Moreover, since I am a child, hear, all singers, detune. I does not happen with musical instruments but I find them a default tuning, that is, that with my whistle, there paddling.
Anyway, I have no way to motivate me to release my songs. Perhaps it is because I am very lonely. I only know that because, I have 50 years and 15 years have elapsed since leaving me songs that give me the feeling, that are nice … very nice!
I understand, which is my subjective judgment. Anyway, do you want them? Starting, I have prepared a They sound like Yesterday, Paul McCartney. That is the style of melody and harmony.
The tempo is extremely variable. I gave them finished with orchestration, rock all. Of course, they sound different textures. My email is rinaudoismael yahoo. I also possess the power, if that, I, I would propose, compose, for 15 days, 15 songs.
I finish exhausted and must rest a month sleeping 12 hours a day. But I can do it … if somebody motivate me some words of encouragement. I think the best thing for you would be to get yourself out there, and start getting your music performed. Try to find people that can sing or play an instrument that would be interested in having someone else write a song for them to play. I would also recommend, if not being able to play an instrument is making you feel bad, then learn to play an instrument.
The process is not that daunting. I play several instruments myself trumpet, piano, guitar, saxophone, a little clarinet. It just takes effort and patience. I am intermediate pianist, I only took 4 yrs. To be honest, I am not exactly sure what you are asking.
As far as composing advice, I have written many articles on this site about both the theoretical and practical side, and the mental aspects of composing. I would recommend taking a glance at the archives and just clicking through the blog a bit. You can get some work done in a hectic environment, but I would recommend finding a quite place that you can go to get away when you compose.
If you need an instrument to check pitch, then you could start real simple with a pitch pipe, or try to find a place like a school that will allow you to use a piano. There is also a lot of benefit in learning to compose without an instrument. Try writing down ideas, and then checking them later at a piano or using notation software.
You will improve over time. Some composers prefer to improvise their compositions , writing freely and letting ideas flow. Other composers prefer to write down specific themes , and then let their subconscious come back to them later.
Still other composers would work out their music systematically , step by step, using formulas and mathematical equations. None of these methods are better or worse than any other. The end result still needs to be music you composed that you can live with, and hopefully enjoy. In fact, they are really just ways of generating ideas. Generating ideas is only one step in the process. First, all music must be initially inspired , whether in complete form, in fragments or even in the idea of mathematical equations.
This is the inspiration that brings us to compose. How composers get this inspiration is as varied as the musical product themselves. Some get it from reading, others observing the world. Many have inspirations from life events. Inspiration may not be in the form of a flash of brilliance in your mind. It may be one note.
Or maybe a rhythm. It may just be a word describing an emotion — love, hate, fear. Whatever the inspiration is, you must be able to recognize it. Inspiration may not also come immediately. Many composers are fond of writing down many ideas, improvising, or just playing freely until they hear something they like. Sometimes, you will not have inspiration. What do you do? You need to stir your imagination. What works for me, is to feed myself with as man sources of potential inspiration as possible.
If you write down music, ideas will come eventually. Sometimes you have to work to be inspired. Sometimes inspiration is not enough. If it were, then everyone would be a great composer. That is because everyone is inspired by something.
Everyone has emotions and almost everyone wants to express themselves in the most true way possible. But the great composer has to be able to do one thing above and beyond others.
This is the suppression or even removal of inhibition. Inhibition, or letting the conscious mind throw away ideas before they have germinated into something more powerful , is the enemy of inspiration.
Some composers struggle with this more than others, but all great composers have come up with a process of removing inhibition from their minds while composing.
The first sketches of an inspiration may not be the best you can make with that inspiration. Inhibition will prevent you from even getting those first sketches down.
Composing can sometimes be like raising a child. You give birth, and it is the most beautiful thing in the world. But after a few hours, you realize that this little thing, poops, cries, scratches, needs to eat, and seems to wake up immediately after you fall asleep. But if you tend to its needs, feed it, change it, love it, teach it — you will end up with another fully formed soul, that lives on its own.
Discussion focuses on subjects like the mood and tone of each scene so that the composer knows what direction the soundtrack or score should take. Revisions will often need to be made before the score is deemed ready. Composers have distinct personalities. They are unstructured, original, nonconforming, and innovative. Does this sound like you? Take our free career test to find out if composer is one of your top career matches.
Movies, television shows, video games, plays, commercials, songs, and orchestras all require composers to bring their projects to completion. I am familiar with music theory but never studied it detail. Any good composer with a good ear will do a lot of those things naturally.
As a musician, I can figure out just about anything that makes sound and translate it accordingly. Music theory or engineering won't teach you how to write good music. That all comes internally and we are just the translator or the vessel. I believe many composers to have been gifted 1. The ability to hear a melody in their head and 2. Having a great ear to translate into existence. Music theory is very key here. By understanding how notes together create consonance and dissonance, it's possible to compose some music without even playing, but to do this effectively most composers trained their ears to hear pitches, or at least to hear intervals examples hearing a C note or a major third in a song.
To do this an understanding of counterpoint helps. Counterpoint serves as the origin for modern harmony, so it can be very helpful. Beethoven, Mozart, and Wagner all studied Counterpoint from the same book, but that book is in latin and very expensive. While I could list a bunch of information here,Instead I'll give you some sources.
I can't play any instrument well, I play the piano but I would never ever perform in front of an audience, not even my own family, nor do I know much about music theory I'm an autodidact , but I constantly hear music going on in my head and have been composing for many different instruments since the age of six.
Some kind of schizophrenia, I guess, because I'm definitely crazy in some way. Maybe it was the same for Mozart or Beethoven, because I can tell that those melodies aren't the result of some fragmentised trial and error-improvisation process; there are continuous musical ideas behind their works.
When I was eleven I started to work together with a producer to record some of my songs I sing , and I've been using GarageBand and various notation programs on my iPad the last few years so that I could compose music wherever I am I have zero patience, when I have an idea it will be gone if I don't write it down immediately, and then I get bored with it.
Of course there needs to be immense amounts of skills and knowledge when it comes to creating great pieces of music, but I see it merely as the means to get the ideas out of one's head, and to get those ideas in the first place musical intuition is required.
Anyone can compose classical music the difference is what becomes a master piece and what not. Think if you knew how to play guitar or another instrument you could come up with a small piece for 2 guitars or 4 guitars. If you are comfy in how they sound and each piece you could almost 'imagine' how 2 guitars would sound together although, many old composers had people that would come over pupils even that would play a piece just for a demo run. For the most part, the longest time in writing music for gifted composers is writing down what they already heard in their heads and its hard to do but not impossible.
Think of a song you really like and close your eyes and attempt to hear it. Can you hear all of it or most? Well, same thing.
Classical composers are just extraordinaire especially from centuries back because of the technology they had to work with and also because some symphonies have dozens of different instrument in different keys and voices!
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