|
Advice for Pianists:
How to Compose Piano Music...
In my 20 years of writing
piano music, I've arranged over 120 compositions, about 85 of
which I've released to the public on CD. A fan who read my advice
for pianists article asked if I'd write a similar article
for beginning composers. So, I've put together these 12 composition
tips for anyone who would like to compose music for the
piano.
1) Start With the
Melody
You don't
have to come to the piano with an entire song already in
your head before you start composing. Just start with one simple
melodic phrase. That melody will be the centerpiece for everything
else in your composition. It's the foundation and the focal
point of your piece. As you begin to compose, improvise on that
melody and see where it naturally wants to take you. The musical place
it leads you to is usually your 'hook', or what I'll refer
to in this article as your chorus.
Think of your chorus as your melodic destination.
2)
What is Your Song About?
As
you develop your overall melody, think about the
emotion or image you want your composition to convey. What is
the song's message? Is
it love? Faith? Winter? Water? Whatever your song message is,
keep it in the forefront of your mind as you compose. Doing
so will influence the direction the composition takes. I find
it helps to give the composition a name early in its
development. Then the song title becomes the 'goal' you're
working toward, in a manner of speaking.
3)
To Intro or Not to Intro?
It
is sometimes tempting to write a long introduction (something
I'm guilty of) to 'set the mood' for your composition. Be careful
with this. Remember, the melody is (typically) what makes or
breaks your song. It is also the device that holds the various
elements of your composition together. Finally and most importantly,
the melody is the part of your song your listener will
remember. So, get to the melodic point quickly, and don't
linger too long on your introduction. People don't generally
hum introductions to themselves - they hum melodies.
4)
The Anti-Melody Song?
Some compositions are just
'mood' pieces. I have a few of these, which don't really have
a melody so much as cool, ambient sense about them. There's
nothing wrong with writing mood pieces, but be warned, you can
only carry a 'mood' for so long before the listeners ear tires.
Keep your mood pieces relatively short. Under 3 minutes is a
good, general rule. Most of mine are about 2:45.
5)
Follow the
Muse
It's not uncommon
to find that while you're developing a composition, you find
yourself taken into an entirely new musical direction. The question
to ask yourself is, does this 'new direction' belong with
your original melody? Or, have you accidentally stumbled upon
a new, second melody better suited for an entirely new
composition? A great number of my songs originated as spin-offs
of other compositions. So if you have a great melody and it
takes you to a second great melody, consider whether you're
might really be working on two different songs and whether you
need to split them apart so they can 'play' in their own separate
worlds.
6) Repeat
with Style
Once
you have firmly established your melodic phrase and
chorus, don't pound them into the ground. You might
play your melody twice the same exact way, but by the third
time you ought to be embellishing it so that even though it's
the same melody, it sounds different. That might mean playing
it in a different octave, adding more bass, more flair, or a
slightly different rhythm. However you do it, enhance
the melody throughout the piece. Don't let it grow stale or
your beautiful melody will begin to grate on your listeners'
ear.
7) Build Slowly,
but Build Something.
Whatever
you do, do something
with your song. Remember,
you're telling a story with your music, so arrange your song
in such a way that it keeps moving in a particular direction.
When you read a storybook to your kids before bedtime, you don't
read page one, read page two, then go back to page one again,
and then read page two, read page two, and read page two once
more. Your kids would get really bored! With each new page,
the story needs to advance
toward the happy ending, in proper order. Do the same thing
with your music. Every 'page' of your composition should develop
your storyline a bit more, building to a gratifying conclusion.
8) Mistakes Count
Don't
fret too much about making mistakes as you develop your
song. Mistakes can lead to some very cool sounding chords. More
than once I've played the wrong notes and then thought, "Hey,
what a switch, that sounds cool!" Your "mistake"
might end up being the very twist you need at the end of
your song to add spice to your tune. When I first start
composing a song, I make a LOT of mistakes. It's just part of
the process. Music composition is like pottery. You
start out with a dirty blob (an idea) and you mold it
into something. The process isn't always pretty, but In the
end, with persistence and skill, you may end up with something
beautiful.
9)
Change is Good
After
you've developed your melody, you'll need to change things
up a bit to keep the listener interested. The 'change up' might
be a secondary melody, though it's usually not as strong as
the primary melody or chorus.
One of the reasons
I think people enjoy my compositions is that they are basically
songs. I write them to be, for lack of a better description,
songs without words (sorry for the cliché).
Every one of my songs has a song-like pattern to it. For example,
listen to 'One
Night at Mozart's', one of my more popular songs. Here's the
pattern:
A) Melody established (Intro)
B)
Chorus
C) Bridge
A) Melody (Octave lower with embellishment)
B)
Chorus
C) Bridge
D) Change Up
B) Chorus to End
and there you have a 3 minute
song. Notice how simple the structure is?
Let's look
at another composition. This time, 'No
More Tears.'
* Intro to set the mood,
then...
A) Melody
B) Chorus
A) Melody (with embellishment)
B)
Chorus
C) Change Up
B) Chorus
A) Melody (octave
higher) to end.
Do you see the structure of
the songs? Every song is a bit different. Some songs are as
simple as "A" and then "B". The point is,
a composition is a song.
Give it a song-like structure and...
10)
Keep it Simple
The
biggest mistake I hear in others' composition is over-complexity.
For some reason, beginning composers try to make things complicated
- as if bigger is better. Part of this, I think, is the need
to impress others, and part of it is the mistaken assumption
that the more complex a song is, the more significance it has
in the overall scheme of life. No, no no. Simplicity
is the key to beauty. Clarity
is the key to perfection. Don't try to write a song that will
impress and don't try to write a song of significance. Just
find a simple melody, develop it, give it a twist, and finish
it. You should be able to do it in less than 4 minutes. If you
have a song over five minutes, examine it closely. You might
be doing too much.
I know a very talented pianist who writes incredible melodies,
but his songs are way too long. It drives me crazy, because
if he'd just simplify his arrangements, his CD would be
a thing of beauty. I won't name him, of course, but just look
at this song arrangement:
A) Melody (Intro)
A)
Melody (Repeated)
B) Chorus (simple version)
C) Bridge
A)
Melody
B) Chorus (simple version)
C) Bridge
A) Melody
D)
Change Up
B) Chorus (complex version)
C) Bridge (with embellishment)
D)
Change Up (with much embellishment, turns into a vamp)
B)
Chorus (with much embellishment)
A) Melody
B) Chorus
(simple version)
C) Bridge
A) Melody (to end)
The song runs at six and a
half minutes. While the song has one of the most beautiful
melodies I've ever heard, the artist plays it into the
ground. By the time you're five minutes into the song, you're
really wishing it was over.
Keep it simple.
11)
Let Time Have its
Way
Realize that
it might take years to complete a piece. Now and then, I'll
write a song in two hours flat, but that hardly ever happens
(like maybe 4 times in 20 years). Most of my songs take
6-9 months to complete, and some songs have taken years
to finish. If it takes you awhile to finish your composition,
don't get frustrated. If you need to, set the composition aside
for awhile and come back to it later. Sometimes if you take
a couple months off of a song, then come back to it, you'll
find it easier to actually finish it. .
12)
Get a Tape Recorder
Finally,
have a tape recorder right beside you so you can record your
ideas while you're still sitting at the piano. There's nothing
more frustrating that having a great idea, getting interrupted, and
then forgetting it. With a tape recorder handy you can take
the two minutes you need to record a rough-draft of your melody
and come back to it later if need be.
There you have
it.
David Nevue
http://www.davidnevue.com
Home
| CDs
| News
| Sheet Music | Booking | Bio | Email
|
|