How do you compose music?

Question

Does anyone here compose music, particularly in the rock or metal genre? I have tried composing music on the guitar by jamming but it is rare that anything comes out of that. i am wondering if anyone can suggest a way to come up with better musical ideas. I tried listening to random and obscure classical music to pick out any ideas to build upon, but that is hard to do given the nature of classical. Please give any tips for productive jams (I play solo, not in a band)

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_theory

Answer 2

Oh my! Oh me oh my oh me oh my oh me0ooooooooowwwwwwwwwww my! =^..^=.
The Guitargadfly is more amused by the answers to this question than he is when answering guitar related questions. He thought that those were a lot of blind people stumbling in the dark, then he read these answers about composition, and he sees blind people drowning in a dark river of disinformation.
:D OK, out of the third person! I have a Master's Degree in Music. That included years of theory, sight singing, keyboard lessons, and in my case several electives of Composition.
Some guy said to you "Many people use music theory for writing. Seems rather confining to me to be honest. If you follow a commonly used scale it's hard to find a short progression not already done by somebody." I am very amused by this reply-- I NEEDED a good laugh. That's a typical response from someone poorly educated in music. It is very much like saying, "Gee, this air is very confining on this Earth. I think I'll try to find some new kind of air."
To quote the true genius composer Paul Hindemith,
"There are twelve notes in music, use them wisely." You see, we have 12 notes in Western music and that's it. That is by definition a "confinement," if you look at it the way that other guy answered, and an opportunity, if you look at it as a real composer would.
Rock and metal are inherently limited in what they can come up with, because those musicians pride themselves on being uneducated about music. So they all wind up just copying each other. It's so common that if someone actually introduces a slightly idea, it is labled a "great innovation" !!! ROFL!
In short, if you want to compose, study composition. I have friends with University degrees in the subject. Doctorates, you know? It's a ART that requires long study.
And, if you do not READ MUSIC, you are going to be doomed to repeat the same copying and monkey-see-monkey-do stuff that every rock musician out there seems to do.
PS, please disregard that person who said you don't have "it" - how the c r a p does she know? In order to find out if you do have talent, you have to learn and try.

Answer 3

I have been a musician for most of my life and for a good part of that was professional. I must say there isn't a book you can read to "know" how to compose music. Either you have "it" or you don't. It is THAT simple.

Every true musician would agree to that. You can be in the middle of dinner and something comes to you. You don't rush to your studio or pick up your midi to punch in sounds or rhythms. Instead you grab a pen or pencil or anything to make shift a writing utensil and write out a song on a napkin or tablecloth.

It will all fall together the first opportunity you get to your ax. You can jot down the music or just chords if you remember the melody by humming it out loud until you play it on an instrument. That is an example of the "it" factor.

There were songs (music & lyrics) I've written in less than an hour and some I could never finish. That's when collaboration comes into play. It's truly amazing. I love music.

Based on what you have told us, it doesn't sound as if you have "it". Please don't shoot the messenger.

Peace,
Raylene♥

Answer 4

I just pick out four or five chords that sound good and are in the same key, or maybe add an accidental minor sometimes. Then get a good rhythm, and progression. If I have words first, that helps, but sometimes I write the music first.

Answer 5

You might want to try a music program like Finale or Sibelius. You can compose on the computer and then it plays it back for you. If you like what you hear, then maybe you can try it on your guitar. I know it works great for piano players, so you never know with the guitar! :)

Answer 6

you gotta read up on some music theory if you wanna do it right...or just make up some junk and put it down on paper

Answer 7

just try and get somethin goin...just chill and just strum and bascially somthin will come 2 u and errythin...if not get a midi program like sonar so u can make a few songs and edit them on a computer so u can make it like u like

Answer 8

First step is always learning a good set of covers to learn chords and techniques. A good 10-12 is probably enough if they are spread out enough to cover several genres and styles.

Not playing in a band makes it harder. I often write songs that take off from a drummer's beat.

First thing to do is stop playing covers. They lock you into stuff that other folks have done. Don't even listen to the radio for a couple weeks. Get all the noise out of your head.

Pick up a chordbook, look for a chord you've never played before. Use it for something. The end song might not contain that chord but the exercise of tying that chord together with something else will get you in the right place ot listen to your muse.

Don't force it. Common problem is you want to write the baddest most wicked thing ever written. That's like trying to run with your shoe laces tied together. Not all songs are equal and the only way to find out is to birth that song. Once it's born you can work on it, add too it, improve it, or most likely scrap most of it reusing the best phrases.

Another exercise is to pick 3 chords and play them with different tempos and beats. Leave off the distortion, and play it mostly raw. Your listening for melody at this point. I write many Metal and hard rock tunes on an accoustic. It it doesn't sound good on an accoustic all the effects in the world isn't going to save it most of the time. Not unless your jamming in a band. So just to strengthen your writing muscle force yourself ot experiment with beats and tempos you don't normally play. You'll naturally stray into something that sounds good. From there you can start working on chord structure.

One song I wrote just playing around with a funeral dirge. I sped up the tempo, changed the progression a little, then started adding pieces to the song. Some songs just sort of pop out almost complete in one sitting. Others I've worked on for years and still don't feel like they are right.

Many people use music theory for writing. Seems rather confining to me to be honest. If you follow a commonly used scale it's hard to find a short progression not already done by somebody. Though all progressions have probably been done by somebody at one time or another ;) Another song was inpsired when I started to learn Classical gas. I got as far as reading the chord chart and the first measure. The notes inpsired something else and before I knew it I had a rough out of a song. Sounded nothing like classical gas. Never did learn classical gas LOL. Forgot all about it when I was writing "For the people". Another song borrowed a riff from a Dio tune. Really more of a technique than a riff. The song is of course vastly different from the Dio tune. What happened was I was inspired by a chord/technique I picked out of another song. Then I expanded upon it.

Don't expect your first songs to sound awesome. Just as it took time and practice to learn how to play it takes time and practice to learn how to write. Some days it's just not there. Best to practice what you already know than try to force your muse to appear. Unfortunately alot of my best song ideas come when I'm ready to sleep. Needless to say I don't get much sleep. I think my muse has a sadistic streak LOL. She don't wear frilly robes bet she's got a leather outfit :)

Another thing to try is like how I wrote battlements. I was working on a Fantasy novel and one of the main charactors a lady, sad, forlorn about her mistakes in life stood upon the battlements looking into the mists below. Not sure when the guitar lept into my hands while I was pondering how to fix what I wrote to truely bring about the feeling I wanted. It did and I had the basic strum before I knew I was playing it. I refined the progression, the second part just followed naturally. Was a week or two later before I added the last part to the song. Not especially complex, in fact I was going to rewrite it, make is sadder, more somber but two ladies who were practicing wiht us to do some backup vocals were willing to give a try singing something. I didn't see lyrics fitting on the song so I asked them to vocalize. They hit a wicked tone, a little coaching to refine things and the basics were there.

Alot of my songs have been written in jam sessions, either as part of a band or just sitting around jamming. Me and a former drummer called Madstix were sitting around during a marathon recording session. We pulled up the accoustics during a lull and combined to write I think a pretty good tune inside an hour of hammering away at it. Today it's hard to remember who contributed what part, about half the song came from each of us.

Hopefully these ideas help. You need a means of playback. Boombox or into your soundcard works initially but you want at least a 4 track. Best to get a break out box, you can get 1 channel break out boxes for less than $100. Remember your going to forget stuff, half to two thirds of what sounds good at the moment when you play it later or hear it played back sounds like cr@p. Till you can hear it played back sometimes it's hard to tell.

After you have the melody worked out start adding effects, flash, secondary guitars and such.

Hope this helped. I've made a few other posts about composing, some of those might have something usefull I'm not thinking about right now.

Answer 9

I did this piece a few years ago, it explains most of it:

http://www.issues-mag.com/Mar_Apr/theory.phtml