Musical Composition - Composing Music

Composing Music

People who practice composition are called composers. Compositional techniques are the methods used to create music. Useful skills in composition include writing musical notation, music theory, instrumentation, and handling musical ensembles (orchestration). Other skills include extended techniques such as improvisation, musical montage, preparing instruments, using non-traditional instruments, and other methods of sound production.

Methods

One method to compose music is starting with a base series of chords. These chords could be selected arbitrarily or with specific purpose to reflect the tone of the emotion being conveyed. For example, selecting a minor key, but with mostly major chords (i.e. III, VI, VII) might convey a hopeful feeling. Once the series of chords is selected, additional lines are added to embellish, adding depth to the music. Usually this includes at least a lead melody line and often one or more harmony lines. Popular music is often written this way (see: Song structure (popular music)) where a selected series of chords forms the structure of each of a particular section of the song (ex. Verse, Chorus). The melody line is often dependent on the writer's chosen lyrics and can vary in detail from verse to verse.

Another method involves free playing of your desired instrument. For example, a pianist might simply sit and start playing chords, melodies, or random notes that come to mind in order to find some inspiration, then build on the discovered lines to add depth.

As technology progresses, new and inventive methods of music composition come about. One such method involves using computer algorithms to directly translate the phonetics of speech into digital sound.

Structure

Composers may decide to divide their music into sections. In classical music, one common form of songwriting is Sonata form. This form involves an Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation. The end speaks to the beginning, concluding things, while the development allows for deviations from the norm of the exposition. Many contemporary songs are organized into sections as well. These sections are usually alternating verse and chorus, often with a bridge before the last chorus. The differing verses will share chord progressions while the chorus is often exactly the same throughout.