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.
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.
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.
Music Scores
Own and study lots of scores. If there is a sound you are looking to achieve from a reference recording, look at what the composer did in the score. How did they voice the chords? What dynamics did they indicate? What were the articulations?
IMSLP.org is a great source if you know what you are looking for and don't mind old scans.
Handbooks
Music Composition: Alan Belkin
The Study of Orchestration by Samuel Adler
Sightsinging by Ottmann
Music Theory and Harmony
YouTube
Alan Belkin
Ryan Leach
Digital Piano with MIDI
Sound Recorder
You can use Voice Memos, Motiv Audio, a DAW, or in my case, a built-in recorder to thumb drive in my digital piano.
When it comes to movies and video games, I'm most interested in who wrote the music. Not the actors, not the directors, not the writers, the composers. Composition is a career that I've been drawn to for over 25 years. It has been a wonderful hobby and creative outlet.
How I Started Composing
When I was about 5, any time I visited a friend's house, I would grace their family with my “piano abilities.” I did not have a piano at home, so my improvising was quite… modern. One time, around age 7, a friend told me her mom didn't like hearing people play who didn't know how…
My very first composition was called “Butterflies”. I was 9 and had asked for a piano; I was handed a flute. I made the most of it!
A transcription of my first composition.
The following summer, my mom purchased an Acrosonic piano at an estate sale. I began teaching myself piano using song books.
In 2001, at 13, my brother asked if I could try to learn the opening to Linkin Park's "In The End." It was a very popular song at the time and I did my best to pick out the introduction notes in D minor.
I think it was that day that I decided to try playing my own piece in D minor. My left hand played open 5ths down the minor scale: Dm, C, Bb, Am. I improvised a repetitive melody over the top. And I mean repetitive. I made a middle section of repeated fifths, then I finished by playing part one again, this time an octave higher.
My first composition for piano. As you can see, it's extremely repetitive!
I typically wrote in D minor or D dorian because it reminded me of fantasy stories about princesses and kingdoms. In middle school, I spent a lot of time in class drawing my story and character ideas on the back of school handouts. It's a time of my life that I remember with fondness; a reminder that I love being creative. I even started world-building and designing original characters. I was going to write, draw, and animate an original story! And, of course, I would score it too.
Ambitious? Yes.
Impossible? No.
Has it happened? Not yet. Never say never!
My Planned Fiction Story Soundtrack
I created similar themes using this same chord progression. The tunes were short and I didn't know how to develop new motives and sequences. I have no idea which piece came first; The Legend of Kanali handwritten above or the Kanali transcription I was sure was my first composition.
When September 11th happened, I wrote "Song of Peace".
I wrote a piece for my mom.
I wrote a piece on the black keys that sounded like it was from China. My friend in high school played the guzheng, a Chinese harp. She was able to learn my piece by ear after I played it for her on the piano.
If I recall correctly, the transcription below has so many cross-outs because I didn't leave enough room for the accompaniment.
Around this time, my dad bought me a music writing software called Music Write. He said he would pay for any music I wanted to copyright with the Library of Congress until I turned 18.
I didn't take him up on it because I thought my music wasn't good enough to warrant an official copyright.
I didn't major in composition because I thought what I had created wasn't good enough for a portfolio.
Dear traveler, never pass up opportunities when you hear "not good enough" in your mind. How do you know unless you try? Failure is an option and it's a good one, contrary to popular belief. It helps us grow and learn.
I was embarrassed by the compositions that I created and didn't feel like sharing them because I thought they would be ridiculed. Honestly, my cultured piano teacher, Mrs. Turner, was less than thrilled with my musical taste and time spent composing! I had the support of my family, but I tended to discount that because of course they would say it was good, they were my family.
In college, I remember receiving my homework and my professor, Dr. Edwin T. Childs, had mentioned that he liked my bass line. He was the composition professor and I wish I had asked him if he thought I could change to composition when I developed repetitive motion injuries from being a piano major. He was very kind and encouraging. I’ll always remember that.
About a year and a half ago, I ventured into the world of orchestration. Remember the repetitive music I wrote when I was a kid? The final movement of my 8 and a half minute piece is a mashup of those themes. I hope to write a post about it in early 2024.
