Music composition methods and techniques. Learn how to compose music, and how various musicians and songwriters approach music composition.
Introduction
Music is said to be the universal language, and through composing music, one expresses his soul. Thoughts, experiences, emotions form part of the created music. Music composition is a disciplined art, one where creativity and form should blend mixing the rules with expressiveness.
Have been learning to play music for a couple of years, I’m sure you would have tried composing your own little piece.
Everybody wants to be able to play a musical instrument, and play popular songs beautifully. But composing your own music is taking it a step further.
In any music school or place where group classes is conducted, there will always be that one student who will tell the rest that s/he has composed this original melody, and that is when the others also start experimenting on their instrument.
Having said that, having a couple of years of lessons (at least) will help you come up with better compositions.
Prerequisites: Skills / Education Required
The assumption here is that you already know music; you have spent a few years playing an instrument, as a singer, or as a songwriter.
You understand basic music theory, understand beats and rhythms, and realize that every song has some sort of structure and catchy phrases.
While the ability to sight-read music on a page is helpful, it is not mandatory.
You require very little formal education unless you want to specialize int he classical music genre. So, if you want to write a symphony, you will need formal education (few years) at a conservatory of music.
There are several composition methods that you may use, but what is more important is practice. In order to get better at composing music, you will need to practice doing it until you become comfortable with it.
Different Approaches to Composing Music
Musical composition is basically the process of creating a piece of music by combining various parts/elements of music.
There are various approaches to music composition; what one chooses will depend on how you have learnt music.
- So when you are still a student, you will most likely create music (a simple one) on the piano (or guitar or any other instrument).
- Lot of self taught musicians do the same (as listed above) but they will record the notes on the computer, in some software, and then play it back
- Then there are people who have formally learnt music for years, know how to write music on sheet, and they will write the piece on music sheet.
Parts/Elements to Include
Any composition will have a melody, form and harmony – this is the structure of the piece that you will compose. The skill lies to create something that sounds good within each of these categories.
Other things that you will need to factor in include tempo, time signature, key signature.
In case you’re planning to turn your piece into a full fledged music, you will also have to factor in the choice of instruments, how you are going to harmonize and so on. You will also need to write the lyrics if you want to turn that music into a song (we have covered that in another post).
Most popular songs have a catchy hook (shorter is usually better) and the more eccentric the instruments used, the funkier it sounds. Add a nice beat to it, and you already have a winner on hand.
“First, she gets few backing/jam tracks from her production team. Then, they play a selection of drum tracks, and she simply hums the melody of the lyrics in the very first go, straight from her feeling – no preparation, no planning, no nothing – she just hits the record button and starts humming,” this is one approach that several celebrity singers take.
How Much Music Theory is Required?
a lot of people want to know if they can compose music without learning music. The answer to this question is “yes, you can”; if you want to compose simple melodies, songs then you can definitely compose if you have learned to play by ear.
However, in order to compose in a wide range of genres, you will require knowledge of music theory to be able to do justice to the composition.
Read: Music theory topics & lessons
Develop a Process
Here’s how to compose music (or how to improve your composing skills).
1. Brainstorming
Do you already have some musical ideas?
If so, bring a piece of paper and start writing those down. Ideas are fleeting.
If not, what inspires you? Go for that and be inspired.
Read a book, listen to music, go jogging. Whatever.
2. Arrange your ideas
Which ensemble do you want/have?
Which instruments would you like to have in your piece?
Do you want some text to be sang or recited?
Which people/musicians would you like to bring in?
This is very important. I know many composers who don’t think for their fellow musicians when they are composing. They simply write down some stuff which doesn’t fit with the musicians they brought in for their project. You are going to write for your musicians.
3. Arrange the structure
What kind of piece do you want to write?
What’s the time? What’s the pulse?
Is it divided in different parts? Does it have a well-known form (sonata, suite, etc.. )?
4. The idea.
So at this time you probably will have a detailed idea of what your piece will be in terms of time, structure, etc.
Now, go on your instrument or at the piano and start playing whatever you have in your mind. Now. If you don’t have a piano or an instrument, simply sing it.
It could be a melody, it could be a certain progression of chords or even a rhythm.
Now it’s simply a deal of memorizing and writing down what you just played or sang.
Then, you will add what’s missing to your existing material.
Just like making a layer cake. If you have a melody, you can go poking with some harmony to support it and then add the rhythm or vice versa. It’s up to you.
Composing Music for Various Genres
Once you understand the process of composing (of course there is creativity in it but a lot of it is a process), and once you understand how technology work (you will most likely record your music on a computer), you can compose music for any genre.- Solo Instrument Tracks for Songs or anything in between
- Make Background Music
- Loops
- Ringtone
- Video Game Music
- Sound Clips for Apps/ Website/ Blog
Even if you have not composed for any genre before you just have to closely observe its characteristics – rhythms & patterns especially, and you should be able to do the same.
Composition Methods & Forms
Here are some popular composition methods and forms used by musicians. Though most only use a few of these, it’s good to know about them.
ABA Form
Also called tenary or song form. The song form is composed of three parts, the main refrain (the A), a bridge, (the B), and the repeat of the refrain (A). Many medieval folk-songs are written this way as well as may baroque arias and dance forms like the polka. Reference to this form is also the 32 bar form because typical refrains are four bars and the middle eights (the B) is eight bars. It’s usually designed 4-4-8-4-4-8. See the all about arias page for information on vocal music composed in this form.
Through-Composing
This composition method is described as composing from start to finish, with no parts repeated. New music is composed in each section. No material is refreshed to form. There are usually no remnants of the music that came before a current point in the music. You wouldn’t see a sonata form movement through-composed. This is what I’d like to call “scratch music” since it is done from start to finish from scratch.
Binary Form
This is a two sided form. It is also called A-A-B-B form. In each of the B forms, you go to the third degree of the scale or five depending on the reckoning of the piece if in the minor key. If in the major key, I goes to V. (See the music theory page for more on this.) The final stretch of music goes back to I.
Bar Form
Referenced as A-A-B, this form involves a verse and refrain pattern where the A is separated into two parts, the Aufgesang with two stollen or verses and the B, the Abgesang (bridge or refrain). An example of this could be a song with two verses before a chorus (if you want a modern example).
Sonata Form
Also called sonata-allegro form, the sonata form typically has an introduction, a proper first part called the exposition or opening theme, followed by the transition (in the minor key to III or the major key to five). It uses lots of modulatory material – chromaticism and modulatory chords.
Impressionism
This technique is characterized by the art and music of the Romantic period of the mid to late 1800’s. This type of music was used to develop an “impression” of a mood or feeling or sequence of events. This, as a composition type took standard elements of sonata-allegro, sonata and other forms and turned them into uncharted territory by altering what chords each part of the form would land on, thus violating the rules of the first version of common sonata or other form.
Beethoven was one such composer who took the form in sacred and secular forms to new heights exposing major and minor to newer twists that no one had heard before.
Other composers, at the end of the Romantic era were using what are called chromatic mediants (using major and minor forms of the third and sixth degrees of the scale to advance music. This is one of the first places where soundtrack music originated as purely new age.
Expressionism
This was the followup technique to impressionism. The 1900’s started some of the most out-there music composed. Composers like Schoenberg, Webern and Berg were making pieces as reactions to things that were happening in the world at the time. Most of this music is very chromatic, full of reactive imagery and at times atonal, therefore definite chord structures become harder to see.
This composition method is still widely used by composers today. Actually, a mixture of expressionism, eclectisism, minimalism describes the type of classical music that is composed today.
Eclecticism
This technique calls for the implementation of different styles of music mixed into one unique form of composition. An example of this is Leonard Bernstein’s Mass that includes shades of ’70’s rock with with choral church passages reminiscent of the Mass Proper form.
Minimalism
This composition method is precisely the simplest type of compositional technique to emerge in the twenty-first century. Composers like John Adams and Philip Glass are widely known for creating pieces based on one note or chord and exploiting it in many different ways, either by increasing note and dynamic values or manipulating the simplistic music by electronic ways.
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