Basic Composing

Hi everyone

Im new in this composing world... and the only things i've composed so far is clasical music...

But since my brother received his new guitar i thought of composing something ....erm... "cool" :happy:

I play the piano and i have the main chords i would use but i dont know how to develop them... so im quite stucked... any suggestion or idea? :D

Thanks so much

(Oops... i think i posted my text in the wrong place... :S)

Im new in this composing world... and the only things i've composed so far is clasical music...

Well, good for you.

But since my brother received his new guitar i thought of composing something ....erm... "cool"

VERY bad for you.

I do feel that you have every right to compose whatever you feel like; don't be discouraged by m is d's disapproval.

No, I think M is D meant bad that he seems to think classical music isn't "cool"... and I'm inclined to agree.

You guys seem not to see the smiley and the quote on quote. Its a frikkin joke lol.

But on to your subject, I'm afraid I can't help you to much, I'm struggling with it as well.

Dude, I think we're joking too... :thumbsup:

Haha. Wow, I feel really ignorant now. Oh well....

Hey, what do you mean when you say "cool?"

not hot, probably :blink:

well, chords can function as building blocks. There are certain , lets say "formula's" or sequences of chords that work well together. try to learn about them. if you make a loop of such a sequence (and play it), you might try to improvise on it. don't forget to modulate (go to other keys) to avoid the music sequences to get boring.

Personally, I work the otherway around. generally speaking

1 First the melody

2 then the base line

3 then the chords(harmony) and counterpoint.

Maybe you know all this, but I thought I should give it a shot, explaining.

pardon my engrish

Also you can try listening to a lot of music. I sometimes look at the sheet music to pieces to see what kind of chords the artist uses and how they transition from one chord to the next. I mostly play by ear though so I do better when I hear chords; or at least play them on the piano. Certain patterns stick out. But I agree that each composer has his/her own style. You can modify the chords to give your music its own unique sense of style.

Maybe you want to study "Chord Progressions." It may help you develop ideas.

Artisimo: Your English is fine. You speak english better than some of us native English speakers :blink:

I disagree with Artismo, when writing anything jazzy or 'cool' I always start with the chord structure. If you're doing this, you may want to remember that all the time in pop music they only use 4 chords, these being the tonic, dominant, subdominant and minor 6th. Also, for the dominant chord, it is often a subdominant chord with a dominant in the bass - ie. Bb/C for F major.

I think I might be able to help a little bit on this topic. I went from writing classical / symphonic band arrangements to more of a cliche 'rock' fashion for guitar, and all you need to realize is this: it's all the same, only arpeggiated differently. If you know your standard major/minor keys, which if you play piano shouldn't be a problem (first, third, fifth, eigth[octave first]), because it works rather similiar on the guitar. Guitar you have your power chords (first, fifth, eigth) which would be your building block right there, which is a good place to start.

I suck, and I must mention this every time I post, but here's what I do.

I write a melody first... then I write a bass line with chords in mind. I might even write in figured bass for them. Then once I do all that, I'll go back and I write the harmonies in. I want to make sure that my melody is not formed by the chords, but that the chords are formed by the melodies.

But I'm not a real composer, so don't listen to me.

(Hey, look, it's a post in ternary form. suck-advice-suck :P )

Yes, listen to this dude above me. Negative thoughts are actually unhealthy, heh. Keep your mind positive towards your capabilities. See your potential. And use it to your advantage.

Cheers