How to be a composer?

Hello beautiful souls, firstly I want to tell you I love listening to music. When I listen to a piece of music, I wonder what the inspiration of the composer behind it is. I want to know if all this talent is god gifted or we make it with practice. I want to pursue music composition as my new hobby, can you please guide me through how I can start?  It’s not like that I know nothing about music as I used to play guitar and piano in my college days but I’m not remember that much now and yes please consider me as a complete beginner.

Thank you. 

Just begin composing. Don't wait to "feel ready" 🙂

You can start for free using Musescore and read scores (highly recomended) on imslp a long with youtube for audio.

Start learning how to read scores with some basic music theory. find a teacher or teach your self. 
Then post the scores here on the forum for feedback.
That a lone can take you far with some patience. 

Just focus on small improvements constantly every day!

Good luck! 🙂

Did you ever have any music theory lessons? How old are you? 

I started by improvising on the piano and then writing down these improvisations. During my intermediate school studies I was intensely studying harmony and counterpoint from 16th to 19th century theory. I learned the use of instruments by arranging numerous popular pieces - I had a band with a flute, clarinet, violin, trumpet and trombone players. They were not advanced players but sufficient enough to learn how to late compose for these instruments.

If I were young today, I would recommend anybody to start with arrangements and harmonizations of folk pieces or children pieces. Initially to use basic functions of tonality (tonic, subdominant, dominant, followed by supportive functions of IInd, IIIrd and VIth chord of the key, and then beginning to venture outside the single key).

5 hours ago, Bjarke said:

Just begin composing. Don't wait to "feel ready" 🙂🙂

Just make some things.  The making will lead to questions, and the combination of the questions, and the practice making will make you better over time.  Don't be afraid to get started.  Don't expect to be any good.  You WILL be bad at this, because you have never done it before, so go ahead and start and just have fun!  We call it "playing" music, so play! 🙂

On 1/28/2026 at 2:31 PM, Bjarke said:

You can start for free using Musescore and read scores (highly recomended) on imslp a long with youtube for audio.

Start learning how to read scores with some basic music theory. find a teacher or teach your self. 

Great advice! I do it sometimes but from now onwards I’ll make a habit to do it everyday. I think first I should start with self learning after clearing some basics then should invest in a physical teacher maybe? 

On 1/28/2026 at 5:00 PM, Sojar Voglar said:

Did you ever have any music theory lessons?

Yeah, I had some but a long time ago.

On 1/28/2026 at 5:00 PM, Sojar Voglar said:

How old are you? 

35

On 1/28/2026 at 5:00 PM, Sojar Voglar said:

During my intermediate school studies I was intensely studying harmony and counterpoint from 16th to 19th century theory. I learned the use of instruments by arranging numerous popular pieces - I had a band with a flute, clarinet, violin, trumpet and trombone players.

WOW! you are professional. Do we need real players to do experiments with compositions? 

On 1/28/2026 at 5:00 PM, Sojar Voglar said:

If I were young today, I would recommend anybody to start with arrangements and harmonizations of folk pieces or children pieces. Initially to use basic functions of tonality

Thank you for your advice! I'll do this.

On 1/28/2026 at 8:03 PM, pateceramics said:

Just make some things.  The making will lead to questions, and the combination of the questions, and the practice making will make you better over time.  Don't be afraid to get started.  Don't expect to be any good.  You WILL be bad at this, because you have never done it before, so go ahead and start and just have fun!  We call it "playing" music, so play! 🙂

 

I have an electric guitar as of now, so should I start playing with it, right? 

6 hours ago, musical_doctor said:

I have an electric guitar as of now, so should I start playing with it, right? 

 

Starting with what you've got is a great idea.  Start with whatever you already know and are comfortable with, and then you can build from there.  So you can try coming up with a tune to play on guitar, and then try writing the notes down accurately using free software like Musescore.  Or, the reverse, try writing something for guitar using Musescore, and then try playing it.  Either will help you get better at knowing when something is a half note, or a quarter note, or a dotted eighth note.  Either will help you get better at reading and writing pitches and knowing when to use accidentals, and when the sharps and flats are part of the key signature.  

I like the advice to start with children's songs or folk music.  You could also add Christmas music to that list, or songs from summer camp, or any music that you know by heart.  Anything you are very familiar and comfortable with is a good place to start.  Do one or two of those, and then when you feel like you can accurately write down the notes and rhythms you want and know the basics of the composing software you are using, you can start arranging pieces, or writing your own tunes.  It's like learning to read and write.  We start with picture books, so we know what is going on, even if we get stuck over the reading.  We start with being read to by someone else, and following along with our finger on the page, and writing letters with a pencil.  We start writing short, simple sentences.  Then we write short stories or poems or book reports, and can read more fluently, and we learn to use Microsoft word and type quickly, and then can write whole novels if we like.  

But for now, don't overthink it, just get started. 🙂