In music composition, there are five parameters that composers use to create a complete piece. This article will discuss these elements and answer the question of how to compose music.
Being able to write music is a rewarding skill in today’s music scene. From creating a song from the scratch to seeing it being used by other musicians or media companies, or even releasing it yourself, can be a joyful career.
So, nowadays, you have plenty of options to get your music out there, you can use online production libraries or releasing it yourself. When someone asks me how to compose music, I see it as them wondering how to become a music composer. Being a music composer means you make a living from the music you create. In this article, we will delve into composing music and becoming a music composer, also known as a songwriter.
Developing your Talent and Refining it
The first stage of your career as a music composer is to develop and nurture the musician in you. This website you have visited now is your first resource that will help transform you into a professional electronic music composer.
Let’s answer your question of “how to compose music.”
The five parameters in music composition which I know, those parameters are:
- Rhythm
2. Harmony
3. Bass line
4. Melody
Structure and Arrangement
Music composers use rhythm to keep everything in time. Apart from that, rhythm creates the essence of every composition, the groove. Many of us think of rhythm as the drum rhythm of our favorite dance song, but rhythm is present even in the simplest piano piece.
Harmony is essential for maintaining a cohesive relationship within a family where members agree and maintain harmonious interactions. This involves ensuring that each instrument is in tune, selecting the appropriate scale, constructing chords thoughtfully, and aligning the melody and bass line within the same scale when composing music.
To compose music, you first choose a scale by using a formula of tones and semitones (intervals). Once your desired scale is chosen, you then construct chords and their sequence within your chosen scale. Once chords are written, it is best to use notes used in the same chords to write melodies and bass lines. Then you can move to your structure and arrangement phase.
There are a few things that you will need to become a composer. The first is knowledge. You need to learn the basics of music theory and learn to use your computer to compose music. In this writing, we will focus on electronic music composition, using electronic devices to compose music. You will also need a computer or laptop and install a Digital Audio Workstation. The last thing you need is a MIDI keyboard. Assuming that you at least have a computer with a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) installed, let’s try to see if we can demonstrate music composition by deconstructing a tune by Ralf Gum FT Monique Bingham, Raw Artistic Soul remix. We will only compose basic chords and melody, and please note that the sound may not be similar to the original production, but we just want to demonstrate how electronic music is composed.
For this project, I used a woodblock percussive sound, and you should be able to find a similar sound on your DAW, regardless of the DAW you use.
The notes of the C minor scale are C, D, D#, F, G, G#, A#, C. Don’t worry if you don’t know anything about scales for now. Below is the image of the C minor scale.
Set the BPM of your DAW to 124. Now, from the notes of the scale above, we can construct simple chords known as triad chords. These chords are constructed with only three notes playing simultaneously. With a woodblock or similar percussive sound, program the notes as shown in the image below.
The notes are C D G-C D G- C D G-C D G- C D G-C D G – G1 A#1 D2- G1 A#1 D2-G1 A#1 D2-G1 A#1 D2-G1 A#1 D2
Notice that we used the same notes in the scale to build chords; this is called harmony. Now we can use the same notes of the chords to write a melody.
Using the same chords, program the melody as shown in the image below. The notes are G3- G3- G3- D3- C3- G2.
Are you done? Congratulations, you have just composed a chord progression and a melody using a woodblock percussive instrument. This is how you put your idea down when composing music. This idea can be developed using the same notes of the C minor scale. We can add bass lines, lead lines, strings, and proceed to structure and arrangement. There are also many forms of scales and chords that you should learn about if you want to take things seriously.
How Does a Composition Make Money for You?
A composition makes money when it is performed live by you or another artist, when played on radio or TV, when it is used in ads, films such as movies, or any other format of a film, downloaded from online stores, or streamed from streaming platforms.
For a music composer to make real money they need to be knowledgeable about the music industry; they need to wear a businessman’s hat. One of the business entities they need to work with is a publisher. Publishers work closely with music composers. The role of a publisher is to ensure that a composer is compensated for all uses of a composition. It is also important to research topics such as royalties and record labels. You can draft a business plan and work with a producer who will help you with the engineering side of things and release your music on your own.
