BY SAMUEL ELLINGSON
STAFF WRITER
In my freshman year, I discovered a really cool website called Online Sequencer. After adding a few notes from my limited knowledge, I made my first song. Proud of my work, I saved it and shared it with friends and family. Little did I know, this was the start of a musical journey that inspired me for the next four years.
Whether you are an accomplished composer or a budding musician, this guide can help you construct a masterpiece.
- Choose your Chords. Every modern song is made of chords, and groups of notes that sound harmonically pleasing. If you have an instrument (or you can go to this link: https://onlinesequencer.net/#t127 ), try playing a C, E, and a G. These three notes make up a C major chord. The C is the first and most important. The E is the 3rd and denotes whether the chord is major or minor. The G is the fifth. If the E were moved down a half note (to E flat), the chord would be C minor. Even if you have no musical experience, you can play around with progressions of different chords, majors, minors, and find ways to make new noises.
- Spice it Up. For those of you who know simple chord progressions, there are some extra variations you should try. Diminished and augmented chords are difficult to pull off but can sound very cool when leading back to the original chord. An example of a C diminished chord would be C, D#, F#, and A. These types of chords almost sound evil if used correctly. Augmented chords (C, E, G#) are a great way to make a mysterious sound. If you have experience with chord progressions, try mixing things up with some of these extra notes.
- Manage your Melody. Once you have a good chord progression, you can add in melody. Make sure your melody mostly sticks to the main notes of a chord. It can be whatever instrument or speed you want. A good tip for melody-making is to have your melody be higher pitched than the rest of the song. Like orchestral melodies typically favor violins, your song should lighten and louden the parts you want the listener to pay attention to.
- Don’t be afraid of the Drums. For the longest time, I never used any percussion in my songs. I didn’t think that adding bass drums or snares would help with the melody. However, that isn’t the purpose of percussion. I’m still experimenting to find out exactly what sounds good, but I like to stick to the classic methods. Try putting the kick drum on every downbeat, adding a snare drum on every other beat, and putting hi-hats in between. You can experiment with rhythm, volume, and intensity, but try to prevent the drum line from taking over the melody.
- Finalize the Structure. Often, songs have choruses, verses, and bridges. There is a lot of complex structure that goes into creating a three-minute masterpiece. For your first try, I recommend keeping things simple and making two parts. Play the first part (part A), then the second part (part B), and finish things with the first. The A-B-A pattern is quite common in music. If you’ve already dabbled in composition, try adding a beat drop, a new part C, or an epic key change!
Hopefully, some of these tips help. However, if you want to go a more unconventional route, feel free to ignore everything in this guide. If you’ve never tried music composition before, I would 100% recommend you try it. Who knows, maybe you’ll be the next big hit!