Creating Your Own Compositions

The idea of actually creating a complete piece of music to play frightens many students. They just don't understand how someone could come up with something, put it down on paper, and call it their own.

The good news is that you don't need to read music to compose. All you need is to understand a little about chords and musical phrases.

For example, in the lesson "Reflections in Water," we have 4 chords to create with. We have the order in which the chords are to be played - and then we play, creating an entire piece of music.

Now this piece is actually an improvisation. But if I wanted to "compose" this same piece, I would just draw bar lines, notate where the chords should be played, i.e. every 2-bars, every 4-bars, etc., and either pencil in the first 2-bars of melody, or record it so I could remember the melodic idea.

This is how I compose! I've been doing it for a very long time and it's a great method to quickly capture musical ideas. If I were to write out the same piece note for note, it would take hours! There's no need to do this because once you have your chord changes down and know the arrangement of the piece (Reflections in Water is a broken-chord arrangement) that's that!

Edward Weiss is a pianist/composer and webmaster of Quiescence Music's online piano lessons. He has been helping students learn how to play piano in the New Age style for over 14 years and works with students in private, in groups, and now over the internet. Stop by now at http://www.quiescencemusic.com/piano_lessons.html for a FREE piano lesson!

Latest News


ABC News

Classical musicians get shot at fame on YouTube
Reuters - 6 hours ago
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The video-sharing website YouTube will take classical music out of pricey concert halls and bring it to the masses by holding an online ...
Getting to Carnegie via YouTube New York Times
YouTube Symphony Orchestra: Google sees a future in fancy music of ... National Post
Thomas signs on for YouTube symphony project San Francisco Chronicle
The Associated Press - Digitaltrends.com
all 353 news articles

eJamming Inc. Inks Licensing Deal with MTV Networks Music Group
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
Jeff Yapp, executive vice president of program enterprises for MTV Networks Music and Logo Group, said, "The combination of interactivity and music speaks ...
eJamming inks licensing deal with MTV Networks CNET News
all 11 news articles

Omstream.com Announces Signing of NuTone Music and Their Catalog ...
MarketWatch - 10 hours ago
"Omstream was created out of a need to locate and purchase music that elevates consciousness amid the clutter of millions of songs available on iTunes and ...

WHDH-TV

BSO launches its own music download service
Boston Globe, United States - 17 hours ago
Four albums of music created under the baton of BSO music director James Levine will be available in February. (Michael J. Lutch) By Geoff Edgers After ...
BSO offers music downloads at its Web site Boston Herald
Marketing style leaves maestro miffed Toronto Star
all 12 news articles

How Does This Sound? Motorola Introduces MOTOROKR EM35, Delivering ...
MarketWatch - 8 hours ago
A device designed for supreme audio performance both as a mobile device and music player, EM35 delivers an exceptional audio experience for both music and ...

Grammy Museum takes a broad, hands-on approach
Los Angeles Times, CA - 35 minutes ago
But those pieces are vastly outnumbered by technology-centric stations, some of which are designed to educate visitors about music from different eras and ...
Harman International Technologies Featured in New GRAMMY Museum MarketWatch
GRAMMY Museum All About the Music blogdowntown
The GRAMMY Museum(SM) Officially Opens Its Doors to the Public on ... MarketWatch
MarketWatch
all 25 news articles

Contactmusic.com

Chris Brown, Britney Spears, Coldplay, Leona Lewis And Alicia Keys ...
MTV.com - 8 hours ago
They include mild-mannered Chris Brown — whose videos and interviews were reportedly seen 43 million times on the on-demand Music Choice TV service. ...
Coldplay & Leona Lewis Top iTunes Sellers People Magazine
Top iTunes sellers released WNDU-TV
Coldplay, Leona Lewis Are Tops on iTunes TheCelebrityCafe.com
Gigwise - Contactmusic.com
all 169 news articles

New York Times

Music Review | Lost Dog New Music Ensemble
New York Times, United States - 1 hour ago
The Lost Dog New Music Ensemble, from left, Miranda Cuckson, on violin; Laura Barger, on piano; and Emily Brausa, on cello. By STEVE SMITH Community is a ...

Ars Technica

Online seen claiming 41 pct share of US music market
Reuters - 22 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Digital music sales account for 18 percent of the US music market and that figure will grow to 41 percent in five years, ...
Report: online to be larger piece of shrinking music pie Ars Technica
Report: US Digital Music Sales Growing; Not Supplanting CDs Digital Media Wire
Music Industry Decline Accelerates U.S. News & World Report
WiredPRNews.com (press release) - FMQB
all 23 news articles

Music Review: Scott Weiland is 'Happy in Galoshes'
San Francisco Chronicle,  USA - 1 hour ago
By JOHN KOSIK, AP Writer Fresh of his five-year stint with Velvet Revolver and a brief reunion tour with Stone Temple Pilots, enigmatic frontman Scott ...

Resources