One Simple Way of Composing Music on the Piano...

- by Marius van Dyk from RenegadeProducer.com

Composing music may seem like a dark art reserved for the elect few, and in a way it is. Good music composition lays on the other side of hard work and that's why so few make it as noteworthy composers.

Talent, skill and experience will contribute though even with these in place you still need to do the work to compose good music.

In this article below I'll run through one of possibly infinite ways of composing music on piano. I assume you already know music theory terms.

Use the process below as a guide and improvise to make the process work for you and the music you want to write.

So, now, a simple way for you to compose music on the piano...

Start with a feeling, emotion, or theme.

What do you want to express?

It could be love, anger, frustration, silliness, confusion or the entire rest of the spectrum of human thought, feelings and emotion.

Focus on the feeling you choose and try to get familiar with it by meditating on it for a while.

Now, ask yourself...

"What does the feeling sound like?"

You don't need a definite answer, just an internal idea of what the feeling would sound like.

Keep that in mind and then...

Create a basic chord progression.

You want to express your main idea and theme with your chord progression so experiment by substituting different chords in your progression until you sense you have a progression which gets close to the feeling you want for the song.

Now...

Carve a melody on top of your chord progression.

Choose notes in the chords you are playing in the progression and form a melody with your right hand.

Let the chord progression and the main feeling you want to express guide you with the melody you create.

Your melody will be the piece which stands out in your composition, the part most people will remember and recognize. So, make it good and then...

Create your hook.

Play your chord progression and melody over until you are comfortable with it and then create the main chorus of your song, also known as the hook.

Next, create three or four variations of your hook to keep to the listener's interest and build intensity as your song progresses.

Then, once you have your hook worked out...

Compose the rest of your song...

You could start with an intro to set the stage for what's to follow or you could go straight into your chord progression.

Next, create a second progression or melody to counter or compliment your main hook's progression and melody. You can also create fills and bridge parts to transition between your main verses and chorus.

Arrange the different parts together until your ears and intuition tells you that you have a good song. Trust your judgment and stop when you feel the song is done.

So, that's one way out of an infinitude of ways you can start to write music on your piano.

Remember to always keep a recorder handy as this can help you capture ideas as they happen. Experiment and try not get rigid in your ways of composing music.

The main secret is to nurture the correct mindset for composing music and then to keep honing your skills until you're composing music the way you want to.

Oh, and always keep an open mind and pay attention to your world as you can never quite be sure when the Muse will next visit!

Author Bio:

Marius van Dyk is a renegade musician, producer, entrepreneur and independent music and web business help-elf.

Check out RenegadeProducer.com and the Renegade Report Music-Business-Life Newsletter which he has created to provide you with practical insights, tips and strategies to help you further your independent music artist career.

Query in my composition

by Angel Warren
(QC Philippines)

Hi David,



Just got hooked on your videos. Did someone told you that your accents make you look more sexy?

Anyhow, I am converting my composition from melody to chords.

Your chord lessons helped me well and made me limit my composition to

D# Major scale.

However, Im having trouble with the C#.

C# Does not seem to exist in the D# Scale.... So temporarily I named the Chord X until i found it.

Thanks and more power.


Angel

how to write down the melody I just wrote

by Luis Omar Ayala
(Vega-Baja PR)

Hi, incredible site you have!!!
Thank you so much...

I just found youre site and I'm really excited. I've been trying to learn piano with youtube videos but since my knowledge in piano are really shorts, still dont know many things.

BUT, I already composed a melody by myself and did some arragments too. Need to write it down in sheet, but really dont know how to.

Can you help someway. Friends are asking to write it down because they like it and want to play it, and I feel sad not being able to share my melody. I'm really hoping to learn a lot with youre site, thanks a lot for the help you can give me!
Luis Omar Ayala

from Vega-Baja, Puerto Rico

Please Help!! Creating Mood

by Tim
(Miami)

Hi, new to the site and have learned a lot already, easy and comprehensive.
My question is how do I write a sad sound song, what are the key elements? I've tried softly playing the chords, I've tried using all minors, majors and minor mixed up, tried playing slowly.
It just doesn't come out more melancholic.

I know sad means different to many people, but the sad I'm going for are for songs like "Fade" "Something to remind me you" "Waste" All songs are By the band Staind.
Others songs that I feel have the emotion I wish to recreate are "Get Out Alive" and "Never Too Late" by Three Days Grace.
Using their chords does not help because it either doesn't sound the way I wish, or it sounds just like their song. A singer by the name of The Weeknd has the mood I wish to capture on many of his songs as well.
I just don't understand, I can make happy songs fine, but to have the dynamic I would like to create more somber music. Any help from anyone appreciated.

PS. Those are not type errors, both artist omit the "e" from their names.