music corner

Tips on Writing Music

Category: Music —

Some ideas and advice to enhance your music writing experience:

Write the Lyrics For Your Song

Many musicians write their own melodies as well as the lyrics. If you already have lyrics, consider them when writing your melody. Some questions to ask yourself before composing the music are: What words do I want to focus on? Are there note lengths or timing that will accommodate certain words better than others will?

Consider the following line: I DROVE my CAR down the HIGHWAY. The emphasized words DROVE, CAR and HIGHWAY give the listener an idea of what is going on, even if these are the only words they hear. On the other hand, if you sing the same line but emphasize different words: I drove MY car DOWN THE highway. The listener might have no idea what you’re singing about.

You can emphasize words with a louder note, changing the note itself, a longer note or including a rest before or after the note. Experiment with your song and see what sounds the best.

Listen to and Learn from Other Composers

There is something to be learned from every single musician or band out there. Listen to how your favorite musicians construct their songs—examine the style, the tone, how different instruments work together and so on and so forth. You can implement many of the same ideas into your own music or even take some of their riffs and tweak them to fit your style. This is a great way to come up with new melodies.

Use Music Composition Software

Music composition software can be a musician’s best friend. These programs aid in the writing process by organizing your work and allow you to see what you’re playing. Quality software packages provide features including a metronome to keep beat, playback, so you can listen to what you’ve composed, input, so you can hook your instrument or microphone directly to your computer and notate a song you play or sing and tons of editing tools so you can easily compose a riff.

Look for Musical Inspiration

Before writing a piece of music, it’s critical to feed your mind inspiration. Inspiration comes from all around us: our emotions, relationships, nature, people and experiences—some songs are even about surreal situations. A big part of finding inspiration is putting yourself in situations that rouse inspiration and then recognize it when it comes.

We all have different people come into our lives; relationships have always been hot topic for songwriters. To generate other ideas get out of the house, go somewhere, and do something. This could even be something as simple as walking in the park or down the street. You’ll be amazed where inspiration can be found.

Have Fun

You first started writing music because you love music. If you’re not enjoying composing music, then do something else for a while. People tend to do what they love best.

There is no Wrong Answer in Music Composition

Writing music is one of those things you can do and never make a mistake. Some melodies are catchier than others are, and everyone will write some bad stanzas. It’s all right; that’s why we have revisions. Remember this while writing music: it will make you feel better and help you avoid writer’s block.

Define Your Music Composition Goal

Are you writing music for yourself or for other people? This alone will totally change the tone and style of your music. If you are writing for yourself, you have more freedom to write what and how you want.

In contrast, if you are writing for other people, it is a good idea to identify your target audience and write music they will enjoy.

Seek Advice and Opinions

People are always willing to give advice and opinions; take their comments into consideration when writing music. Give your music to family members and friends to get their opinion of your songs. Though people close to you may be biased, their comments are still valuable.

Do Something Different

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and all of your songs begin to sound the same. Even if you’ve found a great combination of notes or a catchy beat, changing it can be good and help you grow as a composer.

An easy way to try something new is pick up an instrument you haven’t played before. Sometimes you find yourself playing the same old keys or strumming the same chords on your guitar. A different instrument can lead you to melodies you may not have thought of otherwise.

Practice, Practice and More Practice

There is no substitute for hard work and practice—it is the only formula that will guarantee you will become a better songwriter.

Quite Easy to Play Guitar

Category: Music —

If you have a passion for music and you have got all the instruments with you such as the guitar or piano but don’t how to initialize then here are certain tips that shall help you in learning your new skill.

First of all, you need to have on hand, is a guitar and then hold it on your lap with your left hand holding the neck and the right hand draped over the body of the guitar. We are going to use a six string guitar and play it with the right hand. Each string correspond to a musical note and starts with the thinnest string and working our way down to the thickest string – E, B,G,D,A and E again. You should not confuse yourself with the two E strings that are the same note and they differ in the way that the top E is two octaves higher than the bottom E if the guitar is tuned correctly.

The individual strings make up the chords and these chords are accomplished by playing certain notes or strings together at the same time. There are number of simple as well as complex chords but you need to learn A, D and E to play a part of the song.

The major A chord is played by placing the fingertips of the first three fingers on your left hand directly behind the first fret on the guitar. Frets are the bars on the neck of the guitar. When you count for finger positioning, you should ignore the first or largest fret bar. This might seem to be uncomfortable but later you shall accustom of the same. Press the strings down firmly and hold them one string per finger. Next use your right hand to strum the guitar strings from the top to bottom. Perform this act several times and listen to the sound you are producing.

The next major chord D should be played by using the same fingers. Place the index finger on the third string behind the first fret. Place the next finger on the first string behind the first fret. Again, hold the strings down at once and strum the guitar. Again do this and try to listen to the music being produced.

The third chord you need to learn is the E major and for this you have to place your index finger on the third string on the front of the first fret. Place the next finger on the fifth string behind the first fret and place your third finger on the fourth string behind the first fret. Again, hold the strings down at once and strum the guitar and listen to the sound that is being produced.

The last step is the tricky part and therefore to play a simple song you have to switch the positions of your fingers from chord to chord. This shall take some time to learn but if you practice you can do it surely.