How do you usually start making your own composition?

I hear a ton of my compositions while I'm dreaming.

Although it is somehow related to improvising, I sit in my room some days at like 2 in the morning with my lights out sit at my piano and play, very strategically experimenting to several solutions.

Play with your eyes closed.

Improvising...

I think its really hard to make a unique composition today, for there are too many good composers who have used and make experiment in music. I didn't grow up with the music environment just like you. I find it bad whenever I found out that what I am thinking have been already made/used.

It's not bad, take it as a way to examine how you wrote against someone who thought similarly...

It's not bad, take it as a way to examine how you wrote against someone who thought similarly...

I think that might help.. There's always a difference between two different person. Thanks.

as cliched as it sounds Id have to agree with patkk

however for me its usually the core core melody that comes out of my head,

and then I gradually add structural elements to it,

sort of like writing a book, the thesis comes out of the blue as an idea, and then you build around it, delete parts, move things around so it makes sense until you have the final thing, the name of the piece. :P

I mean ive also never composed a piece without a reason either,

usually there's been some sort of catharsis involved.

Ive never been able to "compose on command" or it sounds forced or I get bored and do not continue with it.

I wouldn't say there's any right or wrong way to do it though,

for instance my knowledge of actual music theory in terms of names, "equations" ect, is novice at best,

which is why Ive always done things by ear on the piano roll or on my keyboard. Many composers & musicians would consider that an outrage, even in 2008

but for me Ive always been able to achieve what I wanted to in that medium

The only real backfall is the timing can be tricky and you have to be incredibly careful on where you are placing things,

but even then there are ways around that hurdle.

anyhow now im getting on a rant lol

but the point is, i think its really about how need to achieve your goal/message/catharsis, and there is no right or wrong way to do that, you have to make choices as an artist that a right for yourself.

Some people take music from mathematician's perspective & others from a painter's perspective , ect ect. Thats what makes music so great! It can involve so many different levels of rationale and feeling in its creating process that it allows immense versatility, and it all depends on who is the one creating it and their personal beliefs/influences/emotions/muses/subconcious.

For me I find a lot if it is from the later, the subconscious, its sort of my way to communicate with things I may not usually let out or even be aware of on a daily basis. Like a musical dream catcher. How i do that, i dont really know, but it starts with an idea & builds from there, and at the end i feel relieved.

It varies from noodling about at the piano or guitar to hearing an entire idea which includes melody, harmony, instruments and timbre combinations in my head and then jotting it down.

i write pop songs so heres wat i do:

first i think of a snazzy title

then i think of a snazzy phrase that matches with that title

i put a tune to that phrase

from there things usually just roll

and then i work out the chords and stuff

mash it all together in front of the piano

and then i score a suitable arrangement

most of the time i cbf tho

after i do this i usually scrap the original title and original words and put something else in. the end.

Some people take music from mathematician's perspective & others from a painter's perspective... Thats what makes music so great!

:thumbsup: Thanks for all the replies.. It helps. ;)

I have the same problem as many people here, I have a really hard time starting out. Of the many things I've tried, I've rarely found anything that works for me. Though I have found that I can't just sit down without any inspiration and bust something out. I have to know what I want, have a real inspiration and drive. Then I think about the concept: What do I want to accomplish with this piece? How do I want it to affect people? What do I want it's meaning to be? Then once I have an idea for the "tone" or "mood" of the piece, I sit down and just improvise until I find something that really speaks to me.

I often do have little blurbs that will come to me at random points of the day (yes, even in dreams too), and that is really frustrating. I'll be going along my day, and suddenly this gorgeous orchestration will pop into my head. But I will have no way to write it down or remember it, because I'll be, say, in math class. I can't run down to the band room at the second and plunk it out on the piano. So I sit there in misery as these compositions sing through my mind and slowly slip away... And these compositions I can't bring back to life when I do get the chance to sit at a piano. I try so hard, but all I get are these lame melodies with weak harmonies and unsuccessful counterpoints, so unlike the compositions I had heard in my mind just a few hours ago. This is so frustrating for me. Does anyone know how to help?

Also, mattsims, love what you said, "Some people take music from mathematician's perspective and others from a painter's perspective"

Improvise. Improvise. Improvise. It's what I'm doing right this minute with a piece. Try it. Just play random things. Maybe you're not inspired at the moment, but if you start playing random things on your instrument (keyboard/piano is generally best) you might end up inspiring yourself in turn. Happened for me just a few minutes ago.

*goes back to scrawling measures in his notebook*

Maybe you're not inspired at the moment, but if you start playing random things on your instrument (keyboard/piano is generally best) you might end up inspiring yourself in turn.

Maybe one of my problem is I'm not using any instrument. :( What can you advise? I'm just an ordinary person who love to create my own music. That's why my piece is always an A Cappella Choral..

http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/ssatb-choral-16082.html

If you wanna write for choir, acapella or not, it may help to learn piano. Voice leading is more important in vocal ensemble than almost any other music ensemble, and the rules to follow are strict. You can learn to use the piano to pluck out which harmonies work out and which ones do not. If you have no interest in playing piano as an instrument, just a simple keyboard would be sufficient for this role as a compositional tool.

Also, you can improvise with your voice as well. You don't just have to start everything on the piano. Go find a set of lyrics, such as a poem, or write your own, then improvise a melody to it by singing. You can use a piano/keyboard to help figure out what notes you are using when improvising with your voice and you can start there, filling in the harmonies and counterpoint as you go.

Also, you can improvise with your voice as well. You don't just have to start everything on the piano. Go find a set of lyrics, such as a poem, or write your own, then improvise a melody to it by singing. You can use a piano/keyboard to help figure out what notes you are using when improvising with your voice and you can start there, filling in the harmonies and counterpoint as you go.

I think that might greatly help. I'm a newbie and I found out that my style is limited to bach rules.. I'm now starting to create ideas which I based on my knowledge about theory.

Thanks. Enigmus.

I almost always start at the piano. From there, I get a basic melody, add chords, then listen to it in my head and figure out which instruments will play what. And then I write it all down and get a symphony or something. I wrote the fourth movement of my first symphony completely by hand without my computer (it was broken at the time). I just sat at the piano and played with the melodies and harmonies until I got it to sound exactly how I wanted it.

Sometimes, however, I don't start at the piano. Sometimes I just get a melody in my head and go straight to my computer. While I'm at my computer, I don't really know what happens exactly, but after a while all of my ideas have been written out and I have a finished piece.

I wrote the fourth movement of my first symphony completely by hand without my computer (it was broken at the time). I just sat at the piano and played with the melodies and harmonies until I got it to sound exactly how I wanted it..

wanna hear one of ur composition. I'll wait for it. ;)

I usually just open finale and then start with an introduction. I'll compose a few bars and then see how it goes. Sometimes, I find, my best work just comes to me - other times, like when I have a particular motif in my head, I'll sketch it out and see what it may or may not offer. If its strong enough to be melodic material I will work on the accompaniement pattern. If not, I'll see if perhaps using it in a contrapuntal manner is fruitful. Once a composition gets off the ground I then move my eye to the structure and form. How does the material present itself? What form/structure best suits the ideas inherent so far? After that is worked out, I then proceed with the composition.

I usually start with a melody: something that's stuck in my head or something i've create from doodling on the piano. Sometimes when I find a chord progression i like i will start from that and make up a melody to go on top.

There are many of starting a composition though:

*A melody

*Chords/harmonic idea

*Rhythmic idea

*An idea about form (ABACAB etc)

*A certain combination of instruments/sounds

I think just let your inspiration take you as far as it can

I think about it and then I do it

I usually just open finale and then start with an introduction.

That's one of my weakness, I often find myself using phrase on either the stanza or chorus of the piece, which I think might not be too effective.

Sometimes when I find a chord progression i like i will start from that and make up a melody to go on top.

I found regressions not too good when I am about to hear it in my score writer. I'm wondering why.. Eric Whitacre have lots of great compositions using unconventional chord progression. :veryunsure:

I think about it and then I do it

That's a nicely condensed version of what I call Cerebral Contextualization:

[distilled from several previous posts]

Thinking about it. Instantly the generalities of the piece are created. A lot of time is spent in a pre-compositional state where I uncover and define the main elements of a piece. Starting often with a single idea: a chord/scale, rhythm, bass line, melody, texture.An this step come basic orchestration (nonet? jazz orchestra? string trio?) and the overall shape/form of the piece.

With consideration more specific details take shape. Melody, a solid form, soloists, and exact orchestration, etc.

I usually end up spending a lot of time in this stage - never omitting it, and often never getting past it. I Spend a week or two (or less... or a lot more) just thinking of the piece, playing it in my head almost constantly. Tweak it - fix it - scrap it. Iron out the kinks before setting pencil to paper.

THEN hit the piano with paper/pencil and figure it out; often flip-flopping back-and-forth between thinking and sketching.... The rest is easy, when I've already (basically) finished the 'composing' part of it, mentally.

That's the important step - everything else, exact voicings, backgrounds, physically writing the damn thing out, computer input, part extraction...it doesn't matter, unless I LIKE the thing - in my head.

For me it's kind of strang. I always try to write something each day. I normally start with chords. If it's working I go into a "trance-like state" and I write for hours... Then I step back and look at whats on the page and say: "How the hell did that get there?"

I had my "world premier" several weeks ago. My first composition was publicly performed by my local orchestral. I directed...:D

I always try to write something each day. I normally start with chords. If it's working I go into a "trance-like state" and I write for hours... Then I step back and look at whats on the page and say: "How the hell did that get there?"

Yes, I also write continuously as ideas came out to my mind.. And when I have to check, I didn't know why I made such thing. Lol. :)

Congratulations for the performance.

Before commencing my own composition, I like improvise something. When I will create an interesting melodic theme, which is usually too short for a composition, I wait and endeavor to find other themes. When I have an enough amount of ideas, I fit the harmony and try miscellanous chords. When the chord progressions are ready, I create a pattern. I do not possess a habit to write the articulation and dynamics. And, the composition is transcribed into MIDI, I can correct the errors, which were heard by me. The piece is ready.

at first i drink my donkey off. then go through lots of hangover depression. after that is a hard part of doing engineering things - searching for sounds, editing them, looking for colours you feel like good at the moment. what's left is just a pure and beautiful act of creation, using some ideas from neverending eternal pool of thoughts.