Iris Posted December 16, 2018 Posted December 16, 2018 (edited) Hi! I recently have had some initiative to write down my compositions but its proving to be pretty difficult. My ideas, for the most part, are in my mind, I can hear every part. I usually will sit down at the piano and continue to branch out on my ideas there, and so recording is the only way to save my music. I need to learn to write my music, and right now, im really stuck, and I feel slightly frustrated. Im running out of time, and honestly have no clue as to where I should start. I don't know what's best for someone who does everything almost 100% by ear. In addition, I tried to look up "Help writing music", but only search results of how to make your own song or composition come up, which I already can do and wow. It's just a rough time. Any recommendations would be amazing. Edited December 16, 2018 by Iris Quote
aMusicComposer Posted December 16, 2018 Posted December 16, 2018 Being able to get ideas is great, and many people compose entirely by ear. All you need to be able to do is transfer the notes you are playing onto a manuscript sheet. Take a video recording and you can see what notes you are playing which can directly help you. This comes with practice, so keep working at it. Good Luck! Quote
pateceramics Posted December 16, 2018 Posted December 16, 2018 I think I understand that you are not able to read and write music easily because you mainly play piano by ear? Is that the difficulty? If so, look for resources on "how to read sheet music" or "learning to read music for beginners." If you can read it, you can also write it. It does take time to learn to do fluently, just like learning to read and write English, so if that is what is holding you up, expect that you will need to spend a little time every day practicing your reading skills before it comes easily. Beginner piano books generally include explanations of how to read music along with their music exercises on "row, row, row your boat," so that might be a user-friendly place to start. Be sure to look for book one, even though it seems babyish. Book two will assume you already understand all the concepts they explained in book one and won't discuss them again. Here's an online explanation of how to read sheet music that might be helpful: https://www.musicnotes.com/blog/2014/04/11/how-to-read-sheet-music/ If you use a software program to type out your compositions, instead of pencil and paper, you can use the playback feature in the program to hear what you are writing. That makes it easier to check for unintentional errors in the way you wrote it. The program will play back exactly the notes you have entered, so you can listen and hear whether or not the notes sound like what you intended and make adjustments. I use the Musescore program, which you can download for free. It allows you to make a very professional looking score, once you learn how to use it, and has a playback button at the top of the page so you can hear what you are writing, and catch mistakes. Since it is free, there is nothing to lose by giving it a try. I hope I've understood the problem correctly! Good luck! 1 Quote
Luis Hernández Posted December 16, 2018 Posted December 16, 2018 I think one of the best things that helps to write music is listening to music and watching the score at the same time (in youtube you can find almost anythinthing). That's the way you learn how to write what you hear. 2 Quote
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