My Tools for Composing Music

 

1. Manuscript Notebook
   • Nothing beats good old pencil and paper.  As you experiment with motives and chords, jot down the general outline of the melody and write chord names over top. I always leave room for the bass clef as well, but typically fill in the patterns later. 
2. MuseScore Studio 
   • Free software that has recently gotten a huge makeover. I am really enjoying the upgraded instruments and the regular updates. This program can be used with your computer keyboard or a MIDI keyboard. 
3. Recordings
• Regardless of how many books you read about how to compose or how many scores you study, you must be listening to lots of music.  I actually bought a 65 set of classical music cds that I used to receive by mail order as a kid. I found it on eBay. It's called "In Classical Mood". I essentially learned orchestration simply by listening to this huge collection of classical composers.  I can hear the tone quality of each instrument in my head and decide when I want to apply in my own music. 
• Streaming services work too! But I am definitely in hard copy mode as of late. 

Read more »