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I love this, very well made

Recording stuff from when I was younger, and still obsessed with Beethoven! So heavily influenced by Ludwig. 2nd Movement to follow soon! Hope you enjoy. https://youtu.be/uKxwqPNcmFw

It's been a while since I've composed any strict "art music" recently, so I wrote a choir piece, since I don't have many of those under my belt. Any thoughts? Thanks!

My first competition piece and first score. I stayed on a specific point and re used motives for the first time. Would love to hear what you think (also, I really appreciate the member voting, thank you so much!)

Wow he didn't even respond? That sours me on him quite a bit... In that case I'd say go with the Schoenberg book lol!

A book I recently picked up called "Musical Composition: Craft and Art" by Alan Belkin would also be a good choice. He covers alot of the same ground as Schoenberg, but he's a lot easier to understand. He also has a good YouTube channel with alot of free content.

All good melodies have a strong rhythmic foundation which generally remains fairly consistent throughout the phrase. You can identify the tune of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The 5th Symphony, Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Smoke On The Water, Pirates of The Caribbean, Morrison's Jig, Highway To Hell, etc. just by tapping out the rhythm on your desk. The next aspect is contour. Usually, the melody has only one highest and one lowest point which are not repeated in the phrase and if you drew a line through the notes, you will see that it forms a clear shape/path. In most tonal works, the melody usually clearly implies a harmonic progression because the melody will change modal frames at regular intervals. Then there is structure. Pretty much every good melody fits within 8 or some multiple of 8 bars and often in a sentence/period structure or some variant of. 6 and 12 bar phrases also work. Usually, the final bar in the phrase comes back to the tonic, but also offers a pickup that would loop back to the start. So the easiest way to learn how to write melodies is to start with the rhythm and work outwards from that until you can just do all the components at once without thinking about it.

I had thought of this as a possible exception. If randomness were to be considered a melody, you couldn't really ask: "How does one write randomness?" If the composer exerts any kind of artistic control over the sound, it isn't truly random. One the other side of the coin, can random music even be seen as having been "composed"? Can John Cage really be said to have composed "4:33" if it is made up of sounds he didn't write? Or is it merely an artistic statement?

Schoenberg has his famous book "Fundamentals of Music Composition" that covers everything from coming up with motives, developing motive forms, using motives to construct phrases, using phrases to build parts, and using parts to build an entire piece. I've always thought it's not the most well-written book, and a little disorganized, but it has a lot of great information if you're willing to dig through it. Personally, I've always taken an "I'll know it when I see it" approach to coming up with melodies. I try to focus on making melodies that are "singable", so I'll often just come up with them by humming either out loud or in my head. They usually start out in an unrefined form, so I analyze and modify until I come up with something more coherent. Melody tends to be the most memorable aspect of music, so I always place alot of importance on them. I wonder if you can truly write music without it. Wikipedia defines melody as "a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity." I think the ear naturally tries to find these kind of linear successions instinctively. Even if a piece of music is mostly chords or arpeggios, or even percussive rhythms, I still tend to hear those as melodic entities (maybe that's just me). Do you have an example of music you consider to be without melody? I don't think so. I would bet most melodies that people come up with today have been used before in some form or fashion, just in lesser known or unknown works. I think more likely we'll just find new ways to package what already exists. As the saying goes, "there's nothing new under the sun".

I find lucid dreams very fascinating, i don't have them often but when i do i enjoy them very much. And what an interesting composition, i does indeed make me think of lucid dreaming. Very well done

thanks !

Hello everybody, i am new here! My name is Leonardo and i am 17 years old, i am a young composer looking for some feedback! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5zGgmj1ilY I would like to share this with you, hopefully you have some time left in your day and you could take a look at it! It took me 6 months to make. If you want you can comment under the video or on this site, does not really matter! Let me know what you think 🙂

Thank you Hendrik 🙂

Owowowwowowowowowowowwowowowowowowo. If I say the truth, I can't stop myself of coming back to this threat and listen to this piece. Every time I hear it is a totally new experience. I mean now I think it has mor recemblance to the last movment of Shosty's 9th than to Uranus by Holst. Defenetly a great piece like your first movement and the Basson Concerto (wich is a masterpiece on it's own).

Hi Of course there is literature on melody, mainly focusing in classic periods. From the classic The Melody by Ernst Toch until many books on counterpoint explaining motivic manipulation. I think melody is a column of music, with rhythm, harmony, etc.... A piece of music can be valid when one of these elements is not there (or almost). Of course it is no needed if your composition goes other ways. Contemporary music is full of music without a melody or a clear one, or with a mastering of textures instead. Yes, there will always be a voice leading, but the treatment is differente. Bellini: the best melodist. I don't think so. Now we have microtones. Sometimes I have uploaded pieces of this kind...... Reaction: there's no melody!...... (What if I didn't want it!)

This was also my no. 1 pick. I love the awe-inspiring sounds you create in this and the form keeps things always fresh. Makes me want to write in a more through-composed fashion then I have hitherto done. The lines you wrote for the celesta are quite wonderful/magical sounding. I can just imagine a slow motion-picture of the fledgling struggling to achieve flight. Did you come up with the title as you were composing the music or maybe before or after it? Just curious. Nice job and congratulations on 2nd place!

I think i take a big advantage. I will try it

I'd like to echo @Monarcheon in her public appreciation of @Noah Brode; the amount of work he did behind the scenes was stunning. Thanks to all of the entrants for the opportunity to listen to your creative outflow and be involved in this process! It was truly inspiring—and humbling. I'd also like to recognize my fellow judges in their dedication during this competition. The entries couldn't have been in better hands. I look forward to more of these in the near future!

Thank you everyone who has hosted and participated in this competition! And for a first time in a competition on this forum, it's really encouraging to win something! Also I send my regards to @Leonardo C. Núñez, his bassoon concerto was really good! 🙂 edit: Also I apologise for any slurring or playability mistakes, I completed this just barely before the deadline and the check-through was quite rushed, it's clear I missed out some very big playability errors. I will work to refine some transitions as well.

I am happy you liked it

thank you, the bassoon part in entirely playable but very hard indeed. I had my father in head when composing it, he is one of the leading bassoonist of his generation (not my words). All the high notes are also playable, i made sure that i made it on such a way that it is possible. I have no idea what set theory is. And i think i just started on C and ended on C, I am not very good with keys. I have a lot to learn! Thank you 🙂

Well i wish i had something amazing yo tell you, but to be honest i am just a kid who writes music he likes to hear.. I have no idea what to tell you haha. I understand if that answer is not satisfying for everyone. I don't know how to write for brass rip hahah. thank you

Good job. Even though this wouldn't be the typical instrumentation for a waltz, it still sounded fine, if not somewhat heavy (and electronic lol). Using the brass for the underlying waltz rhythm maybe wasn't the best choice. I would advise you to explore more modulations and harmonies (as mentioned above) and it would make this even better.

Thank you, I don't know when I will make/post the next movements but it will happen! 🙂

sure 🙂

Thanks everybody, i love all of you ❤️

You've come to the right place if you are interested about learning composition, there are some talented and knowledgeable composers here that are really supportive. Im fairly new to composition myself but I do have some advice for those starting out. Its tempting to jump into the deep end and try immitate the music we enjoy listening to when we start composing. This is fine as long as you are studying basic theory and doing exercises to learn the craft at the same time. One of Mozart's students, a talented English virtuoso pianist and aspiring composer, asked Mozart to teach him counterpoint because he was anxious to start composing fugues. Mozart replied that it will take a year of exercises before even attempting a fugue. The English guy like most of us starting out wanting to jump straight into the fun stuff which is understandable but music is complex and needs to be broken down and assimilated through exercises. First focus on learning melody writing by composing melodies every day, Mozart said the essence of music is the melody. Choose a simple musical form such as the minuet to practice melody writing and add a walking bass. Also don't be afraid to compose amateurish music, we must learn to be comfortable as 'the fool' before become 'the master', so manage your expectations and look for improvement over time. My efforts so far after a few months are amateurish but I'm improving which is what I'm focusing on. In the beginning I would say quantity is more useful than quality. You can learn more composing 10 minuets over the course of a month than a month spent sweating over a piece that is currently beyond your ability to bring to a successful conclusion. What text books are you studying? I've combed the Internet for free textbooks on every subject of composition which I can send links if you want to add to your library? My opinion of your string quartet is that its the musical equivalent of a stick man drawing, I know the artist's intention was to draw a person but it lacks basic proportion and depth and indistinct quality. I can see and hear some harmony knowledge and in places there's beauty but its not convincing as a whole. It comes across as a bit strange to my ears but so does a lot of beginners music and I'm sure my efforts have the same effect to other's ears! Its a great start and I look forward to hearing more from you. Have you written any chorales?

I takes time to go out of the standard harmony.....

Yeah i like it, it shows you know. You could make a symphony with it. I was wondering how old you are?

it is always possible.

yeah cool piece bro, i do thing the bartok pizz wont fit well in this piece, if played like that IRL it sounds way more percussive. I would just put a normal pizz with accent :).

Very cool, reminds me of game music. Very impressive for a first original composition. I will let you know that this is waaaay better than my first composition 🙂

Oh sh*t, good luck bro. If you need someone to talk to...

So its aug 14th right? because is still need my 2 weeks lol

oh i forgot to say, but i do prefer leonardo even tho leo is fine as well 🙂

I make dissonant music, and i don't think i have very big balls. If you like the sound of dissonant music you should just start writing it. Maybe listen to some of the famous composers of the impressionism, neo-classical and expressionism. You can start like i am doing now, imitate them.

great peace, i think the playback doesn't do the piece justice! I think IRL it would sound absolutely amazing. I honestly don't even know what i would do to make it better, other people have said the right things i think. anyways, keep going and have a nice day

Thank you! Shostakovich is by far my favourite composer, I will probably grow into my own style after a while 🙂

Ah that is indeed a good view to have! I will keep it in mind

Thank you very much! All these tips are very handy and useful. About the div and unis: I usually don't really mind how it is played, as long as the notes are being played. And my mother who is a violinist at the concertgebouw says that the players would chose them selfs how they would play it. But it is good that you say it, i will pay a bit more attention to it. The clarinet part name of course is a typo XD! Thank you again, because these are the type of tips and help i need!

My parents bought Notion for me like 2 years ago or something, i have never used a different software before so i don't really know if it is better etc. But I like it, and I think it hasn't creatively helt me back or anything yet. I don't know if I will always use notion or switch to something else ever, but for now it has been very useful . It is good to hear that you dig the piece 🙂

I'd like to enter as entrant

I will keep that in mind. I made the score using notion 6, also the playback is from notion 6.

Love to hear some star wars again, i like the new themes you made. Reminds me of a time when they did use to make good star wars movies hahaha

Yes i like it, some interesting chords there. Have a good day 🙂

I am very happy you enjoyed it 🙂

Amazing

Thank you! I am going to put the PDF right now for you and everybody else, I very much appreciate the comment! have a nice day 🙂

wow, reminds of like pokemon battle music hahaha. i am into it

Yeah, i am totally into it. beginning is very calming, like i am meditating. At the 1 minute mark it gives me kind of the creeps hahaha, very cool. the beat at around 2 minutes is very nice as well. Overall very cool and satisfying