madbass6
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- Jan 13, 2009
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When to Start Composing?
- Thread starter Matthew_84
- Start date
....my work is done here
All you really need to know to start composing is three or four chords on guitar, and have some decent ideas for melodies and lyrics. Many have done so with nothing more than that.
But I won't lie: that alone will severely limit your scope.
So I would encourage you to do the following:
But I won't lie: that alone will severely limit your scope.
So I would encourage you to do the following:
- Start learning how to chord and accompany on piano
- Learn music theory, especially keys, chords, and progressions
- Play and sing your favorite songs. Learn how progressions work, and where chords tend to go.
Wow, I really underestimated how valuable it is to sing and record your melodies...
In the past when I had a melody come to me, I would usually grab my bass or open FL Studio and try to flesh it out right then and there. However, after I would figure out the first few notes I would often lose the rest of the melody, the rhythm, or what I was planning to do after. I often thought it was likely because I didn't transcribe the melody right and that's why I lost it. I also thought that if I had better theory knowledge or ear, I would be more accurate and wouldn't lose it. This also happened a few times to me yesterday.
However I had two other melodies come to me while I was away from my PC or bass, so I had no choice but to sing and record them, and this morning I figured out the notes on my bass, and then sequenced them into FL Studio, listening back and forth and ensuring not only did I get the notes right, but the note durations and rhythms were right.
Of course, the melodies that I came up with off a vocal recording were much more interesting, catchy, and rhythmic than the ones I made up on the spot...
So yeah, even if I have my bass in hand, I'm singing and recording everything that comes to me from now on.
TL;DR - Working off a recorded melody is the way to go as it helps you keep the original melody in tact.
Thanks everyone for your help.
In the past when I had a melody come to me, I would usually grab my bass or open FL Studio and try to flesh it out right then and there. However, after I would figure out the first few notes I would often lose the rest of the melody, the rhythm, or what I was planning to do after. I often thought it was likely because I didn't transcribe the melody right and that's why I lost it. I also thought that if I had better theory knowledge or ear, I would be more accurate and wouldn't lose it. This also happened a few times to me yesterday.
However I had two other melodies come to me while I was away from my PC or bass, so I had no choice but to sing and record them, and this morning I figured out the notes on my bass, and then sequenced them into FL Studio, listening back and forth and ensuring not only did I get the notes right, but the note durations and rhythms were right.
Of course, the melodies that I came up with off a vocal recording were much more interesting, catchy, and rhythmic than the ones I made up on the spot...
So yeah, even if I have my bass in hand, I'm singing and recording everything that comes to me from now on.
TL;DR - Working off a recorded melody is the way to go as it helps you keep the original melody in tact.
Thanks everyone for your help.
another reason to start composing now is:
being prolific matters, you must create a lot.
like 10 times more than you think you should.
(Bach , so they say, wrote a fugue everyday before breakfast)
question the quality after you create, not during.
the way to create something truly good
is to create 1000 things and discard the worst 999.
being prolific matters, you must create a lot.
like 10 times more than you think you should.
(Bach , so they say, wrote a fugue everyday before breakfast)
question the quality after you create, not during.
the way to create something truly good
is to create 1000 things and discard the worst 999.
+1
And apply Thomas Edison's thinking to your prolific writing; he never had a failure, he learned from the thousand things that didn't work.
And apply Thomas Edison's thinking to your prolific writing; he never had a failure, he learned from the thousand things that didn't work.
Never too early to start composing. Apart from HS garage bands, the 1st band I was in was originals only. We were pretty blessed with ability to come up with decent stuff. In fact, I came across some of it last night, sifting through some old, unlabeled CDs. I'm on a pairing down, and purging binge right now...
Anyway, the stuff I found was pretty good. Rough as all smell, but good... Had we decided that we needed to get good in covers before we could "graduate", it would have probably never happened, or would have happened in a way that influenced the trajectory that we would have otherwise taken.
Anyway, the stuff I found was pretty good. Rough as all smell, but good... Had we decided that we needed to get good in covers before we could "graduate", it would have probably never happened, or would have happened in a way that influenced the trajectory that we would have otherwise taken.
I like this post a lot. Thank you for sharing. I, to date, have really struggled with questioning the quality while creating and it has definitely made me lose inspiration making to piece, or made me forcefully tear is to shreds and pier it back together again, and it never sounded naturally (to me anyway) after that.
I'll certainly get cracking.
Also, I know you know your theory so may be able to help, or maybe someone else can...
Do you have a good resource for describing the various classical music song forms?
I like classical music and want to use it for some of my inspiration, but a lot of the descriptions I read for various song forms don't explain it clear enough for me. Now, maybe I don't need to worry about the terms too much, but I am curious.
Thank you for this post as well.
In my bass playing history, I haven't learned how to play a lot of the songs of the style that I wish to create (though I listen to it a lot), but I noticed my playing style wants to go back to a different style which is more inline with what I've learned to play.
I was debating spending more time learning songs of the style I want to compose for before I start composing, but that's non-sense... I'll start composing now, as well as learning some more songs along the way. I'm not really improvising anyway, so I have the time to evaluate my composition and change it into what I want it to sound like.
Question for you guys...
A lot of my composition ideas are for really complex pieces. I'm talking like classical symphonies with stories told through instruments playing different sections with different tempos and key centres.
I know this is far beyond my reach and I need to learn to crawl before I can walk, but can anyone recommend me on a path to take that will allow me to learn how to compose these kinds of songs well?
It sounds like I may need to learn a bit more more about classical composition, so I don't know if anyone knows of any good resources for me, but any recommendations would be appreciated.
I realize schooling/teachers would be the recommended course, but that's unfortunately out of my reach my now, so any books, resources, or exercises to do would be great.
A lot of my composition ideas are for really complex pieces. I'm talking like classical symphonies with stories told through instruments playing different sections with different tempos and key centres.
I know this is far beyond my reach and I need to learn to crawl before I can walk, but can anyone recommend me on a path to take that will allow me to learn how to compose these kinds of songs well?
It sounds like I may need to learn a bit more more about classical composition, so I don't know if anyone knows of any good resources for me, but any recommendations would be appreciated.
I realize schooling/teachers would be the recommended course, but that's unfortunately out of my reach my now, so any books, resources, or exercises to do would be great.
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You must acquire a level of theory and ear training that lets you unambiguously identify what you hear in your head.
Anthony Wellington demonstrates this beautifully:
It really is crawl before you walk - there are a number of standard texts for composition, but they're not for beginners. They don't explain simpler concepts, and all use examples written in standard notation, which you will have to read well to understand.
The usual school-based music theory curriculums go into the study of basic composition. The standard soprano, alto, tenor, bass (SATB) forms are used to examine excerpts of four-voice pieces and explain the rules and devices used in counterpoint, harmony, composition, and arranging.
The college textbooks used for theory classes are usually Walter Piston's "Harmony" or Kostka's "Tonal Harmony". You don't have to buy new editions because the info stays the same. Much less expensive, but not as in depth is "Music Theory for Dummies".
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Start here: www.musictheory.net. Go through all of the exercises. Having this basis of knowledge will make learning composition much easier, especially for more complex pieces.
There's a lot of info on YouTube about songwriting. Knowing how all the instruments piece together will make it easier to create.
Berklee Online
Berklee Online
First theme of the 'Allegro' of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik...
First 2 bars: Dah-h-h da dah-h-h da da da da da dah-h-h-h where melody starts on 1 and ends on 5 over I-V, is the call. Next two bars - same rhythm but tune starts on 4 and ends on 5 over IV-V, is the response.
