How to Compose Music

Composing music has been a part of my life as far back as I can remember. I always loved to compose songs and make a bunch of music parts to blend together to make a piece. I have been inspired by music all of my life and, through this site, I hope to help you to create inspiring music for others.

The starting place for many individuals when composing music may vary, but usually composers like to start by either writing lyrics and choosing music that goes with it, or by composing the melody of a song.

When composing the melody of the song, a composer needs to try many different combinations of notes and try to listen to what sounds the best and fits the piece a composer is shooting for. There are many different things to keep in mind when composing a melody, but the most important involve the basics of rhythm, major/minor sequencing, and where the melody is flowing to/from. Basically what this means is that a composer needs to know what the song "is about", where you want to go with it, what emotions or energy you're trying to stir up with it, a message that wants to be given, if you want the listener to feel energized, emotionally touched, or relaxed, and a composer needs to make sure that the melody will work rhythmically.

After coming up with a good melody to be the base of a piece, a composer generally has a lot of different venues to explore, whether to start with lower toned instruments to drive the piece and the beat, middle pitched sounds to accompany the melody and complete chords, or higher ranged tones to add finesse to a piece.

The key to lower sounding instruments tends to be linked to held notes and quicker notes, such as eighth notes. Basically pull out the bass guitar and lead the chord changes to the destination the piece is going. (Chord changes go with the melody and are the stem of the notes that are played during each certain part of a piece). Lower instrumental parts, of course, can be as creative as the composer wishes, but newer composers like to stick to more basic parts in the lower range.

The middle section is usually where the melody is played in, but it definitely varies and changes in and for each song. Middle tones can be great for adding a melodic third accompaniment to the melody, or may just be the melody itself. A good tip for writing middle ranged parts is to decide what instruments/voice ranges will be making the music and to work from there.

Finally, the upper end of pitches can be great for completing chords as well as doing key change melodies and can help the lower tones to keep the piece rolling. Higher pitched instruments generally are categorized with sensitivity and grace, the flute and harp quickly come to mind, so its good to keep in mind the style of music when choosing upper ranged instruments for a piece.

A big decision, and crucial decision, for composers to make is what instruments and voice types you want to use on a part. Obviously, most composers choose instruments based on the music type that they compose: Classical usually means harpsichord and piano, rock can be attributed to electric guitar, bass, and drums, etc. Think of what style your music is, don't be afraid to try new things, and make music.

Putting many parts together can be a huge challenge at first, but after trial and error, you can compose inspiring music. I currently have a program from a link below to record and edit my music, but there are many strategies to doing so. I like to record one part at a time and then listen to them together instead of getting a band together to help me out, because time managing is easier for me that way. Depending on your musical capabilities, I'd definitely recommend learning a little piano so keyboard usage and different musical instruments via the keyboard will become accessible for you. This will greatly enhance your perception for music and help quicken the trial and error process. I wish you the best of luck on your musical composition journey and feel free to comment and ask questions, I will lend a helping hand.