Songwriting Summary of http://www.bsmny.

org/exploring-music/features/practical-guides/abeginners-guide-to-composing/ Decide on a style of music you would like to write, such as classical, rock, jazz, or folk music. Think of a corresponding mood, tempo, and instrumentation. Decide on a form for your composition Most musical compositions are made up of sections that are the same (repeating sections) or different from each other (contrasting sections). How long will your composition be? How many sections will it have? Remem er that e!ery style of music has its own set of common forms, such as a "#$measure %%&% form in jazz standards, or a '#$ ar lues. (ou may like to stick to one of these forms or make up your own. My ad!ice would e to keep it simple) *or e+ample, if you reak down your composition into two contrasting sections of eight measures each, you ha!e enough material for a "#$ ar %%&% tune) , will use this form for my composition e+ample. -se your tape recorder.computer.minidisc to record some ideas. -se your instrument to come up with some riffs. -se your !oice) /ing little melodies. Do this for at least '0 minutes. Be free to play or sing whate!er you like 1it doesn2t ha!e to e perfect or ready to perform at this point. 3o one has to hear it e+cept for you. 4o for it)

Your First Musical Motif

5isten ack to your recording. ,s there anything that stands out to you6 ,s there an idea that you think you can de!elop into a classical melody6 7a!e you created your first chord progression for your rock song6 8an you decide on an opening line of lyrics for your jazz or pop tune6 ,f you ha!en2t found something that you like thus far, you can always pick notes and rhythms out of a hat. Remem er that your melody or chord progression isn2t long or comple+ at this point. The melodic idea that you decide on will become your first musical motifa two or three note idea that will become the foundation of your piece !ee if you can notate this on paperclap the rhythm and sing or play the motif on your instrument 3ow that you ha!e your opening motif, what are you going to do with it? (ou ha!e some options1you can e+tend it, shorten it, play it ackwards, repeat it, make up something a little different or completely different from it.

&y doing this, you are creating a musical phrasea more complete thought or ideafrom your motif 7ere is my e+ample. 3otice how , ha!e stated my motif, played the pitches ackwards with the same rhythm, and then finished my phrase with a different idea.

,n almost all styles of music, there is a contrasting section that adds interes t to the piece y presenting new material to your ear. That is one of the functions of the 2 ridge2 in pop or rock songs, the & section in jazz tunes, and the De!elopment section in classical sonatas. To write a contrasting section, repeat steps four and fi!e, trying not to play your original motif "an you thin# of a different rhythm? $ill your melody move by steps or s#ips this time? $ill you use repeated pitches? %oes this section have a different mood? %t this point in the compositional process, you ha!e created a couple of contrasting sections1now how will you arrange these sections in your piece? Thin# of your original form %oes what you&ve written fit in with your initial concept? *eel free to make changes. %oes your piece seem whole or do you need to write another section? How does your piece end? $hat would you li#e to add to your piece so you could perform it? %o you need to add a bassline or left hand piano part? %o you need to write a harmony part for a different instrument or singer? (ou don2t need to know a lot a out music theory to start writing chords in your music 9ust try different ideas out until you li#e what you come up with' (ou might e!en e a le to get some ideas for harmonies from pieces you&ve played. *or my composition, , will alter the last line to ma#e my melody sound more conclusive. Then , will add a left hand part to gi!e my piece some harmony.