For those who first try themselves as a composer, there is an easy way to compose melodies on the piano. It does not require any special skills and is more like a dice game. Of course, from such a simple melody to a great masterpiece is quite far, however, as a training model, the proposed method is very effective.
So, its essence is to create the simplest musical “square” (sentence or period) from individual motives. If we compose one small motive with a length of several notes, and then make a sequence (sequence) of three links out of it, we can only add to the resulting construction a final turn (cadence) that closes our “square”. And from several such "squares" - "cubes" you can build a whole musical composition.
Exercise in this way in composing small musical "cubes", gradually complicating the motives, changing the rhythm and adding new elements. And so, constantly improving, you can move from composing the simplest melodies on the piano to more advanced musical compositions.
1. Start with a tune
No need to try to compose in your mind the whole song at once and in its entirety. Start with one simple melodic phrase. This melody will be the main theme of the rest of your work. This melody is the basis and core of your song. Start with improvisation based on the main theme and see in what direction the natural development of this melody will go. Ultimately, the main melodic line should go into a “hook” (chorus). Think of the chorus as the goal your melody aspires to.
2. What is your song about?
Developing a melody, think about the emotions that your song should evoke in the listener, about the image that it should convey. What does your song say to the world? About love? About faith? About winter? About water? Whatever your song’s message, concentrate on it all the time while composing. This will help you develop musical thought in the appropriate direction. In addition, it can be useful to determine the name of a song at the very beginning of its composition. In this case, the name becomes, as it were, the goal of your work, holding you in a certain direction.
3. Do I need to make an introduction?
Sometimes I really want to write a long introduction (this also happens often with me) in order to “create an atmosphere”, the necessary mood for the listener. Be careful in such cases. Remember that (usually) your whole song depends on the main theme. The main melodic line creates the integrity of the work, combining its various parts together. Finally, the main theme is that component of the song that the listener will remember. Therefore, introduce the main melody to the listener as early as possible, and do not linger on the introduction for too long. People do not hum intro, they hum melody.
4. Anti-melodic song for yourself?
Sometimes composers just want to improvise, compose something for themselves, express their mood without worrying about the beauty of the melodic lines. I also have several such works, where the melody is not catchy and stunning. It is absolutely normal for a composer to compose such non-melodic songs, expressing his mood. However, you do not need to get involved in this, and speaking in public, remember that too long non-melodic songs can tire listeners, because their mood may not coincide with yours. Try to make such works short - less than three minutes. My longest work "for myself" lasted 2 minutes 45 seconds.
5. Follow the muse
It is not surprising that when arranging your song, you suddenly find that you have gone to a completely different steppe and began to compose a completely new melody. Think about how this new melody fits into an arranged song. Maybe you just got a new musical idea from which you can get new song? Most of my songs were born that way - in the process of working on my other songs. Thus, if in the process of arranging you get a new, interesting melody, then always think whether to use this melody as an element of the arrangement or whether it would be better to make a new song out of it.
6. Repeat interesting
After composing the main melody and the chorus, think about diversity. You can insert a refrain into the song twice without any changes, but when the refrain appears in the song for the third time, it should sound completely different, despite the fact that the main melodic line remains the same. Try to play the third chorus in a different key, add more bass notes, more decorations, try changing the rhythm a little. Try to diversify the main melody a bit throughout the song. Do not let the melody lose its freshnessotherwise your beautiful melody will rub calluses on the ears of listeners.
7. Any composition must develop
Whatever your song is, it must be constantly evolving. Each song is a story about something, and as the plot develops, the main melody should evolve accordingly. Imagine what will happen if parents start reading to the child the first page of the fairy tale, then the second, then again the first, again the second and again the second. Any child will get bored with such reading! With each new page, the plot should develop, sequentially leading the story to completion. Take the same approach to music. Each "page" of your composition should gradually develop the main storyline of the song, leading it to the denouement.
Do not be discouraged by mistakes. Mistakes can lead to new discoveries - for example, to interesting combinations of chords. More than once it was that when I worked on a song, I took the wrong note and found that such a transition is being heard quite interestingly. What you consider to be a “mistake” may be the turning point that will add a twist to your melody. Starting to work on a new song, I make MANY mistakes. This is part of the writing process. Composing music is like pottery. It all starts with a dirty piece of clay (an idea), and then the master’s hands turn this piece into something framed. The result is not always pleasing, but with constant training, skills will come and you can do something beautiful.
9. Change of musical theme
Having completed the development of the main melody, the composer must add a new musical thought to the work in order to maintain the listener's interest. Let's call her supporting melody, usually it’s not as powerful as the main melody or chorus.
I assume that people buy my songs because most of my works are essentially songs. For lack of a better description, let's call them songs without words (I apologize for the cliche). Each of my pieces has a song structure. As an example, listen to "One Night at Mozart's" - one of my most popular songs. Here is its structure:
A) Main melody (Introduction)
B) Chorus
C) bridge
A) Main melody (an octave lower with ornamentation)
B) Chorus
C) bridge
D) Background melody
B) Chorus ending
The song lasts three minutes. Notice how simple its structure is?
Now we’ll analyze another work, “No More Tears”.
* Intro to create an atmosphere, then.
A) Main melody
B) Chorus
A) Main melody (with ornamentation)
B) Chorus
C) Background melody
B) Chorus
A) The main melody (an octave higher) and the end.
See the structure of these songs? The structure of each song is slightly different from the others. Some songs are very simple - A, then B. But the main thing is that a piece for piano is a song. Give your composition a song structure and.
10. Be easier
The most common mistake of many composers is excessive complication. For certain reasons, novice composers try to compose complex works, guided by the principle "the harder the better." Partly they do it to impress, partly because of the mistaken idea that the more complex the song, the more significant it is. No, no and NO. Simplicity is the key to beauty. Clarity is the key to excellence. No need to compose a song in order to impress. No need to write a song for the sake of importance. Just come up with a simple melody, manage to develop it, add an interesting twist and write the ending. All this takes less than four minutes. If you have composed a song that lasts more than five minutes, take a good look at it. You may have overdone it.
I know one very talented pianist who writes wonderful melodies, but his songs are too long. It drives me crazy, because if he had only simplified his arrangements, his album would be perfect. Of course, I will not name him, but look at the structure of one of his songs:
A) Main melody (Introduction)
A) Main melody (Repeatable)
B) Chorus (simple version)
C) bridge
A) Main melody
B) Chorus (simple version)
C) bridge
A) Main melody
D) Background melody
B) Chorus (difficult version)
C) Bridge (with ornamentation)
D) Background melody (with a more pronounced ornamentation, goes into improvisation)
B) Chorus (with a more pronounced ornamentation)
A) Main melody
B) Chorus (simple version)
C) bridge
A) Main melody (proceeds to end)
The song lasts six and a half minutes. The main melody of this song is one of the most beautiful melodies that I have ever heard, but the author drove it to an extreme degree. In the fifth minute of listening, you only think about when this song will end.
11. Everything has its time
Get ready to take years to compose one work. Sometimes I compose a song in two hours, but it happens very rarely (maybe four times this happened in twenty years). It usually takes me 6–9 months to compose a song, and some of my songs have been composed for several years. If work on a song drags on, don't be nervous. If necessary, postpone the work for a while and return to it later. If you postpone work on a song for a couple of months, then returning to it, you can easily finish it.
