Writing music in your head

Hello everyone

I have never been able to do this, I always have to play at a piano to come up with a melody or accompaniment or rhythm. However it is something I want to train myself to do, I know everyone has their own methods of composing and writing at a piano is perfectly fine. I just think it's so awesome how someone can write an orchestrated piece in their head, I think it would be a wonderful thing to be able to do and would like to hear from people who do this.

When trying to come up with a fully orchestrated idea in your head:

1) Do you write for one instrument then start coming up with other instruments that go with it?

2) Do you come up with the musical ideas and then try to assign them to different instruments?

3) Do you hear everything happening at once and then try to figure out exactly what it is/what instruments you are hearing so you can get it down?

If you often write music by just sitting down and thinking then please share your process if you have one, or are you not really aware of how you do it and it is just a very natural thing for you?

Thanks for your time

Hello everyone

I have never been able to do this, I always have to play at a piano to come up with a melody or accompaniment or rhythm. However it is something I want to train myself to do, I know everyone has their own methods of composing and writing at a piano is perfectly fine. I just think it's so awesome how someone can write an orchestrated piece in their head, I think it would be a wonderful thing to be able to do and would like to hear from people who do this.

When trying to come up with a fully orchestrated idea in your head:

1) Do you write for one instrument then start coming up with other instruments that go with it?

2) Do you come up with the musical ideas and then try to assign them to different instruments?

3) Do you hear everything happening at once and then try to figure out exactly what it is/what instruments you are hearing so you can get it down?

If you often write music by just sitting down and thinking then please share your process if you have one, or are you not really aware of how you do it and it is just a very natural thing for you?

Thanks for your time

I've written songs in my head before, usually they are right after some big moment in my life, usually they are really good, and usually I don't get the chance to write down or record them.

Hello everyone

I have never been able to do this, I always have to play at a piano to come up with a melody or accompaniment or rhythm. However it is something I want to train myself to do, I know everyone has their own methods of composing and writing at a piano is perfectly fine. I just think it's so awesome how someone can write an orchestrated piece in their head, I think it would be a wonderful thing to be able to do and would like to hear from people who do this.

When trying to come up with a fully orchestrated idea in your head:

1) Do you write for one instrument then start coming up with other instruments that go with it?

2) Do you come up with the musical ideas and then try to assign them to different instruments?

3) Do you hear everything happening at once and then try to figure out exactly what it is/what instruments you are hearing so you can get it down?

If you often write music by just sitting down and thinking then please share your process if you have one, or are you not really aware of how you do it and it is just a very natural thing for you?

Thanks for your time

Well, I write music in my head ALL the time. The thing is, in my head, the music never stops: See, it can be a piece of someone else's, a well known piece I'm thinking about, but about 50% of the time it's a piece of my own. When it is, I always think about some rhythms that I randomly tap out, then the melody, harmony, etc all come to me at the same time, all bunched in there. It's so natural for me, I never even thought about it being unusual. I mean, I also can get the idea anywhere, so I guess that's just me!

Heckel

1) Do you write for one instrument then start coming up with other instruments that go with it?

2) Do you come up with the musical ideas and then try to assign them to different instruments?

3) Do you hear everything happening at once and then try to figure out exactly what it is/what instruments you are hearing so you can get it down?

mostly #3 happens for me. Things are just swirling in my head, fully orchestrated and harmonized, and I have to figure out what the hell they are. Dictation and ear training are important skills for me because of this.

There's an orchestra, wind ensemble, opera singers, percussion ensemble, etc, etc, etc, all in my head. They're really freaking good. This is one reason I actually don't like it a lot when people play music around me. Usually it's popular music, which mostly bores me because I can often hear all the details, harmonies and textures in it, it's that simple (I, iv, IV, V, in half notes, repeat, anyone?). And it interrupts what was going on in my head, which was usually better (although, I can now sustain one musical line in my head even while other music is going on, and I'm working on more).

And yes, I have to try and figure out what the heck they're playing. Usually the melody and some basic harmony is obvious, but there are so many little details in there (middle voices, small articulations, dynamics, and more) that figuring out how to write it all down is a chore. I haven't been able to do it very well; thus, I haven't ever finished a single orchestral piece (although I'm getting really close with one). My ear needs more training. I can sing any interval up to an octave from any pitch I hear, and I can figure out many chords, but finer shadings elude me. I'm hoping that I can get some help with this, and also with orchestration (which I've never had any formal lessons in) when I get to college in August.

Now, I do write pieces at the piano. But those pieces are all for piano. And they're the ones where all I've got is a theme and I often rely on theory and playing around on the piano to develop it. Too bad I'm a terrible pianist, and I have wrist problems bordering on carpal tunnel that keep me from changing that. :thumbsdown: But, I had to choose between oboe and piano, and I like oboe better. Ok, sorry for that completely off-topic ramble. Hope I sorta answered your question. :happy:

Well, sometimes I hear a complete piece sometimes I have to improvise at the piano. However, when I am really working out something at the piano it is only an initial idea - say 8 - 12 measures, to get me started. One person observed me doing the latter and he thought it strange that I'd wait 2 minutes for another chord --- so I guess I do inner listening in response to what sounds.

When I hear external music (performed or on CD etc) I hear individual lines' contours - unfortunately my ears are not well trained to transcribed right off the chord structure. I mean I will recognize a simple chord pattern - though not identifying the exact chord right away (just its basic quality). I am working hard on my aural skills. One result is I find a ton of the R&B stuff from the sixties sound much richer - mostly because they take a very basic song and add on (for the best songs) wonderful arrangements. Here is one example:

As for instruments assigned - sometimes when I hear a piece (which btw Heckel I have the same problem - it never ends ... just fades or transforms into something else or stops)I know generally what instruments I want. For example I have an opening statement for an orchestral piece and I know the orchestral choirs I want to use, but holding off writing it down. Reason is I am working on writing away from the piano and computer - eg relying on my inner hearing for my viola piece. A suggestion, if you want to develop this one great way to start compositionally is with a solo melodic instrument and use a variation form. Why? Well, the hardest work will be coming up with a theme but once you do that, you will have a framework to focus your inner hearing upon which makes it easier to expand your piece.

Nevertheless, eventually I have to hear it performed or play it on the piano for the overall form. One draw back to writing just to your inner hearing is myopia -= you focus on getting down several measures once in awhile and forget the larger form.

Of course the main advantage is it frees you imagination from physical constraints.

Thanks for the responses everyone! very interesting.

When I write music, I have got to hear it in my head first. I basically create music in my head from beginning to end, and if it sticks in my head, I write it down. If it doesn't stick and I forget it, then I reason it's because it was forgettable and should thus not be written down. It's not that I have a bad memory -- my memory is super sharp. But I first test my pieces in my head, and if I can't play it back the same way I hear it the first time, I know I shouldn't write it like that.

Fortunately, I have a good ear for what sounds are what. I remember growing up as a child, and because of my being trained to play piano at a young age, I was able to grasp the relations between notes and how they sound/want to resolve, etc. I could hear complete chords, and separate the voices in my head (HAHAHA) to figure out what I was hearing.

Now that I'm into composing, this has come to be incredibly handy, and now it's only a matter of writing out the music on a piece of paper (time-consuming, but SO worth it), and then translating that to a virtual reproduction on the computer.

(Keep in mind this is information coming from the vantage point of someone who strictly only writes for the solo piano right now. What I've said about memory-testing probably wouldn't apply to someone trying to write for an entire orchestra, but when it's only the piano you're dealing with, it's much easier to remember.)

You probably wouldn't want to follow my example on this, since it's an awful harsh method of composing, but it's just how I happen to do ^)^ I hope you find it interesting, at least? :laugh:

Hmm, interesting thread you've got here.

When I make music, I sing it. :D Contrary to Serge, my memory is :thumbsdown: because everytime a melody comes to me and I'll just forget it in no time.

Often, the music that comes to my head depends 90% on my mood/circumstances I am in. It may seem quite unstable but trust me, it works for me everytime.

I think it is best to compose together with a piano situated infront of you so that atleast you can play it and have a deeper impression of it, enhancing your memory(or is it mine? LOL) and the playability of the piece(if it happens to be for the keyboard) at the same time.

I get musical ideas all at once in my head at RANDOM times, and it's quite hard because I am someone who prefers to develop a piece to its maximized potential before having another new idea. So you can say I kinda try to assign the ideas at different locations when a bunch of them arrive at the door.

I've written mostly piano works perhaps because of my better acquaintance with piano and sometimes I try to play around the piano to see if I can bring some ideas to my head. That is something you can do if your mind is wandering around aimlessly :D

Underlying note, just listen to any voice that speaks in your head(the voice is referring to music in this case, not any other type of voice) and do not reject any of them. You don't know how far and broad they can develop into. Even a high random Bflat from the brain's oboe when you are preparing to sleep at night can develop into something..more. Just perhaps.

Even a high random Bflat from the brain's oboe when you are preparing to sleep at night can develop into something..more. Just perhaps.

At first when I saw this I was confused, but it's true. Sometimes I can develop something from hitting a wrong note on the piano... it's true. :P

I have once dreamt of having Finale directly installed into my brain.

I improvise for hours then I transcribe... Painfully but happily if done right. Later, I transfer to finale and correct a few things. (I write chamber music mostly). If using Finale, however, I play back as many times as possible whatever I notated down until I get the sound I want. Usually I would hear some of the music previous notating it though most of the time I am wrong on what I think I notated right... good thing I correct it in time to get the perfect sound. (time consuming unfortunately)

So after some thinking and exploration I came with some theoretic solutions on how to notate on paper successfully without having the aid of a musical instrument. This treatise on the subject follows:

It is encourage to master 4 part writing and voice leading rules if one writes tonal music. This is crucial in a the sense that one see interval relation and the aesthetic that brings from writing in that form. ( and yes I mean no parallel 5ths!)

There are two ways to write music. You can visualize the piano for interval/chord recognition first before notating it on the staff.... Or you can visualize straight on the staffs without doing the mental parallel from the piano. I think the later should be aimed at. Why? Because one relies less on the piano.. thus saving time: you become used to visualizing things on treble and bass clef and line terms. instead.

So a way to improve on that could be to learn/play a piece on the piano visualizing the score in your head as you play it... closing your eyes... not so much worrying on whether you are playing the right keys or not, but hearing intervals and chords structures(open and close position) in your head instead. One can start with small simple pieces, original or not..<transposing those little piece in different keys is very! molto! tres! important..so that the brain can start recognizing patterns)

Speaking of patterns, it is suggested to create them . Practice ,for instance, just writing down arpeggios of a kind of chord ...say a major seventh triad.. several times. Visualizing and hearing it as you write them... say 10 times. After that,one can move to doing little motivic figures or musical ideas.. using maybe app., pt, nt, sus,... with some chromatism even... again all of this should be done several times and in different keys. It is suggested to sing them too ( only if you are 100% how they sound in your head) so writing patterns 10 times is good...why not 20 times :)

Lastly. Write down a note... any note and try to hear an oboe...or a clarinet...or a violin..or a horn( don't forget to do the proper transposition)Try to do this for 10 seconds everyday.

The ear should improve gradually hopefully if doing this exercises daily (that means less TV, play station, you tube, Facebook,YC off topic etc). There is room for improvement and an broader imagination to create more exercises of this kind... and though I am currently using the stravinskian way of writing music... I am at same time also doing this exercises with confidence it will enable me to write music using the mozartoviankovskian way.

my 2 cents...

i have music playing in my head 24/7, but it all sucks

I am able to do all three of the options. Most of the time, though, I do hear the entire orchestra and know the instrumentation. Honestly, I don't know if it can be learned. I have always listened to music- jazz, classical, country, metal at every waking moment of my day and even when I sleep. Good luck though.

Hmm... Orchestrating in my head for me is easy and a breeze. I don't know how I do it, but when I want a piece to be orchestral I just hum or think of the melody and POOF! I've got a full orchestra in my head playing out the piece. It's really weird when I realized that not many people can do that. And now that I think of it, I can hear not only strings but woodwinds, brass and even full percussion with timpani. I don't know how to teach some to do this though, that's my only problem with that. :veryunsure:

-Jared

I do hear orchestrations and melodies and such (I get the same floaty cello melody in my head every time I'm in an airplane...), but mostly I hear the corresponding emotion I want the music to generate. I don't have all the theory in hand to know exactly what it is I'm hearing, but I know how it makes me feel, and I know it's right when I reproduce on piano or Finale and I get that same emotion. But yea, stuff is swirling in my head literally all day.

I get the same floaty cello melody in my head every time I'm in an airplane...

Have you written it down? ;) I'd be interested to hear this "floaty cello melody"!

When I write music from my head, I usually do number 3 on the list (hear everything at once and pick the individual instruments out of it). However, I think my best music comes from using javileru's method (improvising for a long time and transcribing). Like many of you, I have something playing in my head almost constantly.

I trying to get the music in my head and there are a few things I do to further my quest: (I know I'm not answering your questions, but maybe you find this helpfull as well).

- I try to learn pieces I like by heart, only by listening to them. I'm currently trying to learn Beethoven Piano concerto no. 2 mov. 2 by heart. ( Not the theory, but just the sound)

- I learn scores by heart. Usely these are scores I'm want to learn on the piano. The thing is to try to imaging the notes as the sound.

- I attempt to write music in my head without any help of the piano. When the (little) pieces are ready I write them down in Finale and see if I heard it right in my head.

- I have a little solflege app on my Iphone, which I practice with when I'm bored.

You can of course take lessons in soflege.

I wrote a song in my head yesterday. All I remember was it was jazzy (Almost bossa-nova sounding), had a ukulele and an ocarina, and some of the melodic phrasing was reminiscent of Zelda music.

Why do I write all my best music in my mind and never remember it? And why don't I write music in my head more often? Lol.

I am a mixture of all three methods you mentioned and more. Sometimes I will hear a feature instrument and think "oh, that's quirky/pretty/sad" and then I try to figure out what the rest of the orchestra is doing. Sometimes I'll hear the whole orchestra, like a movie score when I see something as I go about my day, and then I'll try to remember it and begin to capture it later. Sometimes, like one song I just finished a few days ago, I just have a chord progression in my head, then I figure out what instrument(s) is/are playing it, and how, and then I build the rest of the orchestra off of that instrument. There are times when I'll sit at a piano, messing around, and then I'll come up with an idea that I like, and then the rest of the day(s) will be me thinking and trying to develop that small idea into something larger.A lot of times, I'll hear something, but it'll be difficult for me to translate it, or single it out, and then write it down. This is where practice comes in.

I think ComposerOrganist mentioned the pop music of the 70s or 60s having a lot more complex orchestrations to listen to than a lot of current music. I like this sort of stuff because it's not as complex as listening to full symphonies and trying to train your ear to pick out articulations in every single instrument, but it's still a nice challenge for practice. I especially LOVE The Carpenters. I have their gold anthology (40 songs) and it's odd to think that they become so popular considering all or most of their songs are actually arrangements of other popular songs. Almost nothing they had was original. Although Karen got most of the face time, Richard Carpenter was the source of all the instrumental accompaniment. He did all the arranging and orchestrations, and some of them are absolutely brilliant. They are definitely worth a listen, and a good source to start ear training to hear details, instead of jumping to Mahler or Dvorak, or Debussy or whoever else.

Why do I write all my best music in my mind and never remember it?

Why? because we're human and our memory sucks. :P

I think i do not have the talent of this.

It really depends but usually its a mixture of all three of these. But what sucks about it is sometimes I can never remember the idea for that song and it makes me sad when I get to it and I don't even remember what it is. But 7 times out of 10 I can remember what I wanted it to be

Well i use a mixture of loads of different methods, but i generally follow particular steps in my approach to composing

first step~ concept.

as an aspiring film composer, having a concept is really important in my personal opinion. it gives me a straight-forward sense of direction in terms of where i want the composition to go, so when i compose i usually come up with a theme first.

Another method for using concepts is usually from my art or other artworks as well. i'd go to an art exhibition or just look at some really interesting concpet art and write music that expresses my own perspective of the work

Second step~ developing melodies

In terms of developing melodic ideas or just coming up with melody parts or sometimes even an entire piece, i usually do this mentally. i prefer to compose from my head because this method of composing doesn't limit you to your abilities on an instrument.

It also allows me to be a lot more creative, because i find that when you compose more with just using piano, not only are you limited to your skills as a pianist, but your ideas don't come as fluidly, and you tend to subconsciously steal ideas from stuff you learned how to play beforehand, unless you're already an extremely talented instrumentalist

Third step-Texture/Sound design

This is where the tech comes in. since my work includes loads of cinematic soundscapes, sound design, atmospheres and most importantly texture, when i'm done creating an a concept and a main melody, i work on sound design next. creating fitting textures, soundscapes, sweeps, effects and everything else that's needed for the piece sound design-wise

(sometimes i switch this step around with the second step)

Final step-Composing

Putting it all together, this is where all my equipment comes in hand, digital piano, midi keyboard, EWQl complete composers, kontakt, ableton, reason etc

I layer all the individual instruments over the recently created texture and develop my ideas from there

And voila! Tis done ;)