Best music composition books according to redditors
We found 199 Reddit comments discussing the best music composition books. We ranked the 66 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
We found 199 Reddit comments discussing the best music composition books. We ranked the 66 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the top 20.
A counter-melody is a 'less important' melody played against the primary melody. Historically there was a period when playing multiple melodies against each other was the absolute essence of music, and folks like Bach dominated (called 'counterpoint' music). A very famous example, that is 'simple' so easy to follow is Bach's Invention #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzU7xQmmXGE
His 'inventions' were for two melodies. He also wrote 'sinfonias' which were for three voices, and are a bit more complex, for example his Sinfonia No.2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoZwnXDjbV0
Listening to this with headphones while trying to consciously follow all melodies is quite a peculiar experience. :)
And if you want to feel depressed and talentless, check from 10:54: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCUcZ5KK7Q. Here he starts with the primary melody and then has the second melody join. This is exhausting to *really* listen to and my peanut brain is too small to ever hope to play something like this. Shredding? Sure, I can start slow, practice a ton and end up fast. But having both hands play *this* independently? Awe-inspiring. Sitting down and composing this on a piece of paper almost 400 years ago? Madness. :D
In baroque counterpoint the goal is to make every melody interesting in and of themselves, and make it sound 'effortless harmoniously together'. It should sound like these melodies were born together. In practice this aint easy at all and you'll be tempted to see one as the 'primary melody' and the others as 'subservient' where you can take shortcuts to make them fit the main melody. At that point it is no longer true counterpoint but you can still call it a counter-melody. Taken further you'll have things like arpeggios; parts that obviously fit the primary melody but are themselves so bland they are clearly accompaniment instead of a melody in their own right.
If you're interested, a very well-regarded (though rather pedantic) book that starts at the basic and offers exercises is the many century old https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772. If you want to go *really* old-school you can go as close to the original here: http://hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/3/31/IMSLP370587-PMLP187246-practicalrulesfo00fuxj.pdf
I think it'll help most songwriters/composers to know the basics, even if you dont care about classical counterpoint at all. :)
There are a lot of courses. Any specific topics you're interested in?
Edit: I'll just list a few anyway that I've used in classes (this may not reflect all professors' choices for the same subjects).
Tonal Harmony: Kostka-Payne - Tonal Harmony
Counterpoint 1: A Berklee book by the late professor Rick Applin. Some also use this Fux translation/adaptation
Counterpoint 2: Bach Inventions & Sinfonias (any edition, really)
"Advanced" Counterpoint: The Well-Tempered Clavier (again, any edition)
Early Twentieth-Century Harmony: Persichetti - Twentieth-Century Harmony
Post-Tonal Theory/Analysis: Straus - Intro to Post-Tonal Theory
Instrumentation/Orchestration: Adler - The Study of Orchestration &
Casella/Mortari - The Technique of Contemporary Orchestration
Western Music History - Burkholder/Paiisca - A History of Western Music (8th or 9th edition)
Conducting 1 - Notion Conducting
Conducting 2 Notion + Stravinsky's Petrushka
Berklee's own (jazz-based) core harmony and ear-training curricula use Berklee textbooks written by professors which, as someone else mentioned, come unbound and shrink-wrapped at the bookstore. You can find older (PDF) versions of the Berklee harmony textbooks here. Of course this list only represents explicit book choices - there are a lot of excerpt-readings, and there's a lot of instruction that isn't found in these books even in the associated courses.
15-20 minutes is going to be pretty ambitious for your first classical composition! It'd be a real treat if you pull it off.
First, find some tutorials on the internet for reading sheet music. There's tons of them and it's not worth getting a textbook for; it's just something that needs constant practice. Once you're reasonably fluent in sheet music, you've won half the battle.
Second, get the fifth edition of Walter Piston's Harmony. It starts out with the very basics - scales and intervals - and proceeds to cover all the important contrapuntal and harmonic practices of the Common Practice era, then gets into some modern stuff at the end. It also has exercises for the reader to work out. However, it assumes you can already read sheet music.
If you have the time, I'd recommend teaching yourself the basics of piano as well, just enough to know your way around a keyboard. It's a terrific visual aid when it comes to classical music and theory. Some famous composers got by without it though (most notably Berlioz).
It's a neologism for harmonic dualism, which already has enough dumb terminology and half-baked woo woo concepts without Mr. Collier's contributions. Jacob cites Ernst Levy's A Theory of Harmony (1985), but Hugo Riemann built his entire theory of harmony around inversion in the 19th century. He tried to use it to justify the minor triad as a consonance, claiming that there was some fantastic thing called an "undertone series" that complemented the overtone series. There is a long history of music theorists and mathematicians fetishizing the harmonic series, but these days that sort of thing is the preserve of crackpots and temperament specialists.
Inversion, of course, is an important procedure in the motivic language of western music. In set theory (which developed in the middle of the last century, most notably with Allen Forte), inversion (and, necessarily, transposition) is generalized. You get derived rows in twelve-tone music by applying inversion and retrograde operations upon a set, for example. It's reasonable in that context because the inversional property is palpable in that music. Undertone series need not apply.
Here's a couple that I've found useful:
And the one I'm reading at the moment, Jazz Composition and Arranging in the Digital Age by Richard Sussman and Michael Abene - http://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Composition-Arranging-Digital-Age/dp/0195381009/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418209939&sr=1-1&keywords=jazz+composition+and+arranging
Hope that helps!
If you think you are ready for some heavier academic writing on music theory, here's how you can get into it:
I would also recommend getting familiar with counterpoint and set theory, if you haven't already! My recommended books on counterpoint are by Robert Gauldin, A Practical Approach to 18th-century Counterpoint and the 16th-c. version as well. It's called "a practical approach" because Gauldin does not teach via the species method. (I tend to find species unrelated, anyway—species counterpoint is a good and important exercise, but not exactly the same idea as 16th- or 18th-c. writing.) For set theory, I recommend Joe Straus's Introduction to Post-Tonal Theory. It's expensive for such a small book; unfortunately, this is a fact of life for any book about 20th- and 21st-c. music, since copyright laws make publishing them quite expensive. You might be able to find older editions for cheaper.
Best $20 you'll ever spend.
And here's a one page "cheat sheet" I made for practice. Prints out nicely on standard 8.5 x 11.
The most basic explanation of chords is that they're made up of a root (1st), a 3rd and a 5th. Minor chords have a flatted (half step down) 3rd.
A good exercise is to harmonize a scale. That means you play the scale, not one note at a time, but by playing chords (constructed by using a note from the scale as the root). So, instead of simply playing the individual notes of the scale C,D,E,F,G,A,B, you play the chords C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim. Note the 7 chord is diminished (flat 3rd and flat 5th).
That's also what is meant by "singing in harmony". The melody line is triple voiced, with a 3rd and a 5th, accompanying the root. To start, for purposes of exercise, your melody will be simply an ascending/descending scale.
Follow the major/minor pattern for chord progressions (see "cheat sheet", where lower case = minor, upper = major). Note that arpeggios are just the roots, 3rds and 5ths of the scale. So, if you know your arpeggios, creating chords from any root is super simple.
Without question, the best way to learn how to arrange is to put in the work transcribing some of your favorite arrangers and dissecting the way they approach things.
Study the chord progressions they use and analyze their voicing. Break down how they use counterpoint vs. countermelody. Pay attention to how they use every single voice, common articulations, and where in the range do they have each part "live" (1st vs. 2nd vs 3rd).
Write down what you observe about how they do things, try to put it into words. Compare/contrast between arrangers. This will help you better internalize what they are doing and help you to find your own style.
But...
Before doing any of this, however, I suggest to read, read, read. Here are a few books to get your started:
​
The Study of Counterpoint - Johann Joseph Fux
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/
​
Contemporary Counterpoint: Theory & Application - Beth Denisch
https://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-Counterpoint-Theory-Application-Music/dp/0876391838
​
Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony - Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky
https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Practical-Study-Harmony-Dover-ebook/dp/B00DGBMH06
​
Principles of Orchestration - Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov
https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Orchestration-Dover-Books-Music-ebook/dp/B00DGBMDNM
​
Essential Dictionary of Orchestration - Dave Black & Tom Gerou
https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dictionary-Orchestration-Comprehensive-Orchestrators-ebook/dp/B00EUMY7LC
​
Treatise on Instrumentation - Hector Berlioz & Richard Strauss
https://www.amazon.com/Treatise-Instrumentation-Dover-Books-Music-ebook/dp/B00DGBMN8C
​
Arranging for Horns - Jerry Gates
https://www.amazon.com/Arranging-Horns-Jerry-Gates/dp/0876391455/
​
Another excellent resource is Bandestration - https://bandestration.com/
​
BONUS:
Another great read that is HIGHLY applicable to writing for marching music is:
​
Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Musical-Acoustics-Second-Revised/dp/048626484X
​
If you are interested to explore interplay between wind/percussion arranging and electronics:
​
Acoustic and MIDI Orchestration for the Contemporary Composer - Andrea Pejrolo
https://www.amazon.com/Acoustic-MIDI-Orchestration-Contemporary-Composer/dp/113880150X/
​
As a long-time user and refuge of Sibelius, I begrudgingly recommend Finale. It's actually pretty decent. The most important thing is that when you make your choice to learn everything you can about the software itself. If you can master all of the shortcuts and hotkeys it will make your life much easier.
Also, I recommend buying a book on instrumentation and orchestration. Alfred Blatter's book (link below) in particular was the one I used throughout college and even now. Good luck!
http://www.amazon.com/Instrumentation-Orchestration-Alfred-Blatter/dp/0534251870
The library.
Seriously, if you have a University nearby go to that library. They will have tons of great books on basic theory, harmony and other such things.
For actual books I recommend Paul Hindemith's Elementary Training for Musicians or Arnold Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony, there is also a workbook for the harmony book, but I can't find the link.
Both of these composers were seen as avant garde at the time and some of schoenberg's stuff is difficult to listen to (12 tone), but they both were incredibly influencial writers and educators and their books are pretty much the standard for learning theory that encompasses all of classical music history.
Go to your library, if they have it great! Otherwise interlibrary loan both books and read them. Play your instrument with them and write out some of the things on music manuscript paper for you to remember.
Who the hell told you counterpoint was easy to learn?
No, my friend, counterpoint is the pinnacle of composition. It's dreaded by every music major and even the theory/composition majors have a healthy fear of it.
I don't really know of any online source that can teach you what you need to know, either. Maybe some theory, but not counterpoint. You need to get a book and diligently work through the exercises. I recommend Study of Counterpoint: From Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum, Kennan's Counterpoint and Mann's The Study of Fugue for this. Check out both the Fux and the Kennan first and decide on one, then if you find that you want to go deeper go ahead and get the book on fugue study.
I recommend reading this book: http://www.amazon.com/Fretboard-Theory-Desi-Serna-ebook/dp/B004ASNACS
Books, books and more books
http://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Way-Practice-Performance-Wellness/dp/0195343131/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418943223&sr=1-7&keywords=music+theory
http://www.amazon.com/Chord-Wheel-Ultimate-Tool-Musicians/dp/0634021427/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418943269&sr=1-14&keywords=music+theory
http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_15?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418943285&sr=1-15&keywords=music+theory
Cool... alongside the technical stuff (which you'll obviously need) I would definitely spend some time learning some theory to help with the composing.
If you want to do that the "slow and hard way" (but actually quicker and easier than messing around on the internet) I suggest getting a basic harmony textbook and working your way through it. Do all the exercises in a MIDI sequencer so you can hear the results. The book I used back in the day was Piston, but almost any harmony book will probably do. Then get a counterpoint book and do the same thing. Those are strong foundations, and it's stuff you can do away from the guitar. If you get the book and find you're not ready for it, work through the beginner resources in the sidebar of /r/musictheory and then try again.
Aside from that:
A month is a good unit of time to learn something. If you sit down and make a month-by-month plan for the next two years mixing up these elements you should make very solid progress.
I'm sure others will have more genre-specific advice, though!
For anything that involves advanced music theory, or more technical elements of music, your best bet (IMHO) is to stay clear from jazz/rock books or anything "popular" and read from traditional academic/classical composers. That is, if you're looking to understand music from a more historic point of view of how is was used, and how it worked for hundreds of years and how it still works today.
There are tons of good books out there, but off the top of my head I reccomend:
Regarding the art of counterpoint:
Preliminary exercises in Counterpoint - Schoenberg
Also, you could check out the traditional Fux's Study of Counterpoint, but I think Schoenberg's book is far more complete and incentive.
Regarding the art of Harmony:
For a long time I've always thought that books could educate you in any way, until I met my harmony teacher. After studying with her for a couple years I find it hard to believe how much information, technique, and art is missing from almost every book on the subject, some are exceptions, obviously, but my recommendation is that there is no better way of learning this but with personal intruction. Also, the teacher needs to be someone who has had a strong education in music from well-known masters of the past, as was my teacher.
Anyways, regarding harmony in the more poetical and theoretical sense I reccomend :
Rameau's Treatise on Harmony
and of course, Schoenberg's Theory of Harmony
For a more technical approach to harmony I haven't found any books I'm really fond of, but I do think that Paul Hindemith's book is a very good option.
For something in the middle I recommend this
Regarding form and structure in music:
Once again, I have never seen information and instruction similar to that which I received with my professors, however here are a few good picks...
Schoenberg's Fundamentals of musical composition
and 2 books that I found very useful were...
(these I didn't find on amazon.com)
from German composer Clemens Kuhn: "Formenlehre der Musik" (this is only in German)
and from Spanish composer Joaquin Zamacois: "Curso de Formas Musicales" (this is only in Spanish I believe)
Well, surely there are more books, but I think these are good options for you to start. However, always with a grain of salt
Hey, I’m kind of a book junkie when it comes to common practice stuff, so I’m gonna throw a bunch of em at ya. The common practice era of composition can be broken down into 3 major fields of study: Form/Composition, Harmony and Orchestration. Form/composition is about how music develops over time harmonically and melodically. Harmony is about how vertical sonorities interact with one another, this is one of the most fleshed out aspects of music theory. Orchestration, usually the capstone discipline, dives into how groups of instruments interact with one another on a harmonic level and a melodic one. Harmony+composition can be studied simultaneously considering there is so much overlap, orchestration usually comes after you have a middling understanding of the other two subjects.
There are a bunch of free online materials on these subjects, but here is my personal favorite:
http://openmusictheory.com/contents.html
There are also a few free books on harmony, orchestration and composition, but most of them were published a very long time ago. As a consequence, you may run into outdated or poorly explained concepts.
Harmony:
Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony
Orchestration:
Principles of Orchestration
Composition:
Fundamentals of music Composition
Exercises in Melody Writing
Most of the stuff with comprehensive+up to date information on these subjects is going to be something you pay for. Here are my favorite textbooks. One thing I value in a textbook is an accompanying workbook and/or some sort of exercise based learning, so I’ll be listing the workbooks (if applicable) as well.
Melody in Songwriting
Craft of Musical Composition Parts One and Two
Models For Beginners in Composition
Harmonic Practice in Tonal Music
Workbook for Harm Practice
The Study of Orchestration
Workbook for The Study of Orchestration
This isn’t an exhaustive list but it’s pretty solid.
Recording orchestras is out of reach for most, so you’ll probably need some good VSTs to use and some knowledge of how to make them sound ‘real’. Building an orchestra template is key to making music quickly and efficiently. It’s a massive headache to have to wait for Kontakt to load and instrument every time you want to add a flute or violin to your score. Here are the basics of what you’ll need:
Woodwinds:
Flutes
Clarinets
Saxophones
Oboes
Bassoons
Brass:
French horns
Trumpets
Trombones
Tubas
“Low brass”
Strings:
1st Violins
2nd Violins
Violas
Cellos
Bass
First chairs of each
Others:
PIANOS
Harps
Choirs
Guitars
Vibraphones
Glockenspiels
Etc
Orchestral percussion
Concert Toms
Taikos
Snares
Concert bass drums
Here are some places to get all of that:
Audio Bro (the ARC system is awesome)
Spitfire
8Dio
Orchestral Tools (my favorite)
CineSamples
EastWest Sounds
Heres a resource to make all of that stuff sound ‘real’. It’s a lot more difficult then you may think.
The Guide to MIDI Orchestration 4e
also nice is this book http://www.amazon.com/Algorithmic-Composition-Paradigms-Automated-Generation/dp/321175539X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323458504&sr=8-1
and yeah it's not a new idea, but using a hive-mind approach to evaluate ascii-code-music in oder to find general patterns is a new approach
We have some musical training but have learnt mostly through trial and error. To strictly define counterpoint would be best left to a music academic (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Counterpoint-Jj-Fux/dp/0393002772) but for us we often tend to layer melodic patterns with their own time signature, 3/4 and 4/4 is an easy example to try. There is an interplay between the time signatures and patterns that form because of this.
I download short films on archive.org and mute the sound, and practice scoring to them.
I also wasn't finding much work in film, so I started writing music for indie video game developers. Winifred Phillip's book has been very useful to me (it's a big picture kind of understanding with plenty of practical advice) and I just started reading Aaron Marks' book which has some good stuff in it.
Someone also recently told me about scorbit (started by Berklee I think), which I personally haven't used much but have heard good things. You can set up a free account with them which is nice.
YouTube is filled with great (and shitty) advice. Honestly, I have more sources than I have time to explore anymore, so I'm just picking a few, and doing the hell out of them.
Also, the TigSource forums are great!
My orchestration class in college used this book: The Study of Orchestration (Fourth Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0393920658/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_K8qNBb192BT2P
Blatter's 'Instrumentation and Orchestration'.
BTW I don't know where you got the term "music language modelling" from, but it certainly isn't the term used within the industry. The term used by academics is simply "algorithmic composition". If you're not approaching this from an academic standpoint I what suggest hitting up IEEE, AES, ISMIR and journals like Computer Music Journal and Journal of New Music Research. The Nierhaus book also provides a good overview. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Algorithmic-Composition-Paradigms-Automated-Generation/dp/321175539X
If you get more serious -
Kent Kennan's The Technique of Orchestration was the de-facto standard on orchestration when I was in school. Not sure if a newer one has claimed the throne.
Theres a great book called A Composer's Guide to game Music that I really enjoyed. It'll help you get more into the mindset of producing for video games and what that normally entails.
I think the biggest thing is to think about what type of game music you want to write and look for resources specific to that. I.e. do you want to write for indie games, AAA, fighters, phone games, etc...
I was thinking advanced jazz. I'm a theory and jazz keys major at unt and I'm trying to surpass my curriculum. Like I've already read this book and made sense and put it into practice. But i want not obscure scales to play with the super funky chords I'm using
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0873959922/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_uaNkDbY7SWESB
I'd say build yourself a portfolio with various styles and post it to your website or Soundcloud. You must include it in e-mails. Do contact local studios first, you'll have better luck connecting if you're somewhat close for meetings. I got lots of gigs by e-mailing studios or people I simply stumbled upon on social media. If you're into programmer circles you're surely gonna connect eventually. Also try going to indie meetings to network.
One thing to keep in mind is don't get discouraged by lack of replies. Bigger or rapidly expanding studios generally react very slow (if at all) and generally require prior experience - even if it only consists of indie work.
Also here's a book that really got me going into the mindset of a game music composer: http://www.amazon.com/Composers-Guide-Game-Music-Press/dp/0262026643?ie=UTF8&keywords=composing%20for%20games&qid=1465410856&ref_=sr_1_3&sr=8-3
Good luck!
Try Theory of Harmony by Schoenberg and The Study of Counterpoint by Fux. If you don't mind reading somewhat dated texts these could work well.
sonata #1 sounds like a psuedo Beethoven/Liszt
sonata #2 sounds like a young psuedo Mozart. It sort of feels like you are trying to stuff the music into the form, like trying to stuff a genii into a bottle. The Genii doesn't always cooperate.
:-)
sonata #3 sounds like a psuedo Mozart, but is much more masterful than your earlier efforts. it is the more accomplished, and seems much more listenable and enjoyable. It sounds like you are starting to put in additional layers so that everything isn't obvious on the first go around. This is a very good thing to do. It sounds like you are starting to have fun with the form. It has a good flow.
Keep this up, and we won't have to shoot the critics.
Recommended reading: Charles Rosen: Sonata Forms
http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309724749&sr=8-1
"Composing Music: A New Approach" by William Russo is pretty good. I've been working through it for a few months now as I get time. It's aimed more at people with moderate musical experience than experienced composers but it deals with minimalism, cells, rows, a freer approach to harmony (than Classical harmony), picture music and so on. It approaches each topic mainly by setting you composition exercises - short pieces mainly - with a little bit of explanation, so if you're after something that's heavy on theory this won't be for you.
I took an arranging course for my music degree and I really love the textbook they made us purchase. It's this! http://www.amazon.com/Study-Orchestration-Third-Samuel-Adler/dp/039397572X/
I personally think it's very helpful. :) I know it's expensive, but I think the investment is worth it.
As for counterpoint, I like Joseph Fux! There was a textbook that I used, but unfortunately I don't remember it. (It's at home and I live at an off-campus apartment) http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772
I hope this helps :) But if you want somethiing free there's this .... http://imslp.org/wiki/Principles_of_Orchestration_%28Rimsky-Korsakov,_Nikolay%29
Can't speak on the exercises you seek, but best composition book I've ever come across is David Cope's Techniques of the Contemporary Composer.
Might have to dig around the web for an affordable copy, though.
Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, Guide to the Practical Study of Harmony
Arnold Schoenberg, Fundamentals of Musical Composition
Music Composition For Dummies
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition
Music Composition 1: Learn how to compose well-written rhythms and melodies (Volume 1)
More at Amazon.com
https://www.reddit.com/r/Composition/
A collection of thoughts
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As has been said
> Don’t be afraid to build up a giant stack of half formed ideas on top of your piano.
Beethoven is notorious for his sketch books, and for playing with and developing ideas for years and years and years after the initial thought.
The original ideas for the 5th symphony are junk, for example. but he kept playing with it
get this book for more on this
https://www.amazon.com/Beethovens-Sketches-Analysis-Style-Sketch-Books/dp/0486230422/
part of music is the actual musical architecture and structure of the music. This is covered in the subject of "musical form" but this goes deeper
see this short video by whitacre on the subject
"Discovering the Golden Brick"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwjqptQ5R-w
---
for more general instruction on the basics and the bigger issues of music composition, see this YT channel by Alan Belkin
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUQ0TcIbY_VEk_KC406pRpg
for a more popular music perspective, see Rick Beato and related channels
https://www.youtube.com/user/pegzch
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One of the longest traditions in music education is the making of arrangements and transcriptions of other people's music. This seems to far more effective if you do it by hand, and copy out all the parts yourself (again by hand)
Bach arranged Vivaldi, Mozart arranged Bach, Beethoven arranged Handel, etc.
If these masters did this as part of their own musical studies, maybe you could so this for your own education, using the music you admire most.
Even if it is arranging the music to a new key or mode (major to minor, etc)
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As a general thing I recommend books by Charles Rosen for music of the Classical era
https://www.amazon.com/Sonata-Forms-Revised-Charles-Rosen/dp/0393302199
https://www.amazon.com/Classical-Style-Mozart-Beethoven-Expanded/dp/0393317129/
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Probably the best place to start is by writing "etudes" which basically means "Studies" You could also call them "Experiments".
These would be shortish pieces where you try out different things. Thus if you do not know which way to go with something, you try them all or most of them, and flesh them out into separate things. Each is an experiment.
one idea might give a dozen experiments (major vs minor, slow vs fast, 3/4 vs 4/4 vs 5/4 = 12 combinations)
As experiments, not everything has to work. (but you might come back to it later)
Nothing has to be perfect, They are experiments
Later own, you experiment with ways to make it better. (see the Beethoven sketches again)
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part of the musical problem of form is to how to continue something in order to maintain interest, without it getting boring for a variety of factors. Traditional forms are solid solutions to the problem but you can come up with your own.
As an example, check out the old popular songs of John Denver (!) many of which do not follow a conventional common practice song format. What is he doing there?
If you would like to end with Chopin, you only need to study tonal theory. So twelve tone topics are not of any use since that topic is 20th century, after tonality.
If you didn't do voice leading (SATB harmony): Are you interested in voice leading? If you want to get to the more advanced topics of tonal theory, you'll need to cover that. If so I would suggest this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Musicians-Guide-Theory-Analysis-Third/dp/0393600491/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936804&sr=1-1&keywords=clendinning+theory
Have you done species counterpoint? Species counterpoint will be very helpful in dealing with just about all music. I would recommend Fux's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535936929&sr=1-1&keywords=fux+counterpoint
If you've already done species counterpoint: For more advanced counterpoint (not useful for Chopin, but necessary for anything with fugues in it, obviously) I would suggest Mann's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Fugue-Dover-Books-Music/dp/0486254399
For a complete discussion of forms I would suggest Berry's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Form-Music-2nd-Wallace-Berry/dp/0133292851
For an in depth and modern discussion of sonata theory (remember that symphonies are also often times in sonata form), I would suggest Hepokoski's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Sonata-Theory-Deformations-Late-Eighteenth-Century/dp/0199773912/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937360&sr=1-1&keywords=hepokoski+sonata
If you already know species counterpoint and voice leading you can study Schenkarian Analysis. For this there's two books I would suggest:
https://www.amazon.com/Analysis-Tonal-Music-Schenkerian-Approach/dp/0199732477/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937496&sr=1-1&keywords=schenkerian+analysis
https://www.amazon.com/Tonal-Analysis-Schenkerian-David-Damschroder/dp/0393283798/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1535937488&sr=1-2&keywords=schenkerian+analysis
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If you're interested in composition, that's the other side of the coin and so all the above are of limited use. Let me know if you want books for composition.
The Adler book is definitely a standard, but I've heard a few complaints about inaccuracies. Haven't read it, so I'm not sure. I think the other major go-to is this book by Alfred Blatter. I used it in my undergrad and felt pretty good about what I learned.
> I'd much rather write and have a professional singer with professional studio equipment sing it.
A lot of guys do that. And I probably will too, least that's my goal when my skills are up to it. But I'm glad you told me that, if that's your goal then you should want to get better. A hobbyist isn't going to be willing to put in the work.
Anyway, after listening to em all I would give yourself more credit as a singer. A few vocal lessons with the right teacher could get you singing so good you'd surprise yourself.
Of the 3 originals you posted, all 3 have some pretty common issues that can be addressed. I'm not going to go line by line because really the lines can be arbitrary.
I'll use one of the songs as an example of some of this stuff:
..k so I'm getting to have a wall of text here so I'll stop there. I think you get the point. The biggest hurdle an aspiring pro songwriter has to make is the realization that listener's don't give a shit about you. They care about how your song makes them feel. If you can elicit emotion in the right way you may been on to something.
I would recommend, if this is something you're legitimately considering pursuing, that you consider joining Taxi.com. They're a company you can join (for a fee) that will pitch your songs to the majors. They can also give you advice on finding a studio to produce your songs. But more importantly, they'll give you reviews of your submissions for actual industry pros. At the very least you could learn a ton from their forums (http://forums.taxi.com) and watching some Taxi TV.
Here are the books that I've probably learned the most from all most of my critique is based on:
Writing Better Lyrics
Murphy's Laws of Songwriting
The Craft of Lyric Writing
But that's just my 2 cents as a random guy on the internet.
Here's a good starting point: http://www.amazon.com/A-Composers-Guide-Game-Music/dp/0262026643
http://www.amazon.com/Instrumentation-Orchestration-Alfred-Blatter/dp/0534251870/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278516600&sr=8-1
This book is one of my favorite sources for orchestration and just getting ideas about how different timbres interplay with one another.
As far as composing better, the best thing that you can do is make a bunch of pieces. Sure, some of the pieces aren't going to be that great, but you're going to eventually find bits that you really like. When you do that, you can requote those portions in other works and really start honing in on getting the piece to work together within itself.
Try writing three pieces in one day (similar to the as-many-songs-as-possible songwriting challenge). If that seems too easy, bump the number up. The more and more that you compose without overthinking what you are doing, the more likely that you will let your unbridled creativity flow. When the juice starts to flow, then you will be amazed at what you didn't know you knew.
Ahh, that makes sense, sorry \^\^;
There are books on a huge variety of subjects in music, so it does depend a little bit on what you are interested in specifically. For a broad overview, I liked A History of Western Music - the current edition is the 8th, but much of the materials from the 7th edition are available online. Another book I recommend is Harold C. Schonberg's The Lives of the Great Composers. It is less in-depth, but is written in a more narrative style while still hitting on a lot of the "who's who" in classical music from the Baroque to the 20th century (although it's maybe a tad outdated in the later 20th and 21st century).
Besides those two, I actually don't have any others on the top of my head that are good overviews. /u/m3g0wnz does have a guide to music theory textbooks on the sidebar that details out some of the main texts in that area. And, of course, there are books that specialize on a variety of subjects within music theory and history - Ebenezer Prout's book on fugues is one such example that I've looked at, as well as both the Kennan and Adler on the subject of orchestration. (Actually, Kennan also wrote a book on Counterpoint.)
On the subject of sight-singing, I've used both Rhythm and Pitch and A New Approach to Sight Singing in my aural skills classes - I like the Berkowitz a little better in the way it's organized, but both offer plenty of examples for practice. Alternatively, picking up a hymnal is possibly an easier alternative to sightsinging that gives you lots of tonal material for practice.
With most of my other suggestions, though, you don't really need a book. Print out some scores on IMSLP or pick up a cheap study edition (like this one of Mozart piano sonatas) and work through a harmonic/formal analysis.
With transposition, I think probably just working through some scores on IMSLP would be a good start, as well - I can't think of any other better way to get exercises for that. It's one of those topics that's pretty easy to quiz yourself with as long as you keep yourself honest. :)
Edit to add: As far as specifics of literature, that is obviously pretty instrument-dependent. I am a vocalist, and I usually choose language first and then begin exploring pieces that might work with my current technical goals. I know a lot of instrumentalists treat genre/time period the same way. So depending on your instrument, you may have a different approach, but it helps to narrow things down to a few composers you might like to explore for your instrument, and then seeing if anything works for you. Although be wary - for me I end up getting so involved in lit studies that I have a list a mile long of pieces I want to study in the future. It's a double-edged sword for sure.
\> This composition was focused on the balance and elegance of the Classical era (like Mozart and Haydn).
It doesn't quite achieve that either, mind you. The following paragraphs sound harsh but aren't intended to be.
There are lot of what I would call mechanical mistakes. Take the second bar. You shift an E-major chord up a second to F#-major, all voices moving in parallel. And then you compound it by the F#-C# to B-F# parallel fifths in the cello, viola and second violin. You will not find anything like this in the body of works of Haydn or Mozart. It's just a simple violation of rules that cannot happen when you strive to write in the Classical style.
Aside from these types of formal issues, there is something that takes much longer to get right and it has to do with all these unwritten rules that you would find implemented in every Mozart and Haydn sonata movement. The second theme appears to be presented in bar 17 and it is according to the standard rules in the dominant. So far so good. The problem is that you are missing the transition from first to second theme. The first section is just a repeat and alternation of two-bar motives. The 16 bars entirely consist of three chords: B-major, E-major and F#-major. And then, after ending on the tonic B-major, you introduce the second theme in the dominant F# but you never established that key, and it needs to be.
According to classical rules it requires either a cadence on the dominant, often introduced via vi which in the case of B-major would be like a g#-minor chord with the third in the base but more correctly denoted as B^(6), or a half-cadence on the double-dominant C#-major. You have neither and you don't have a single reference to the new leading tone E#, and you kind of do need it to convincingly present the second theme in the new key.
Whole books have been written specifically about how Classical composers treated the sonata form. I recommend Charles Rosen's Sonata Form or The Classical Style by the same author. These are incredible books and eye-opening. I keep repeating this and a lot of people don't believe it but the Classical era was the height of formalism in music. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven were the most comprehensively trained composers in history. They had to be. They knew everything that Bach did but in addition to that they had mastery of the far richer structural and harmonic principles and rules of the Classical era (which, actually, they created themselves). That's why a scholar such as Charles Rosen spend his whole life (well, apart from performing as a pianist) on studying what made Classical music Classical.
But not to worry. It seems this competition that you won is for young (as in teen) composers. I've taken part in various composition competitions myself decades ago (and never really won anything). You'll figure it out. But do get these Charles Rosen books. When I read them for the first time they elevated my appreciation and understanding of classical music to an entirely new level.
Sure! Here are a few that have helped me out:
The textbook that my school uses for beginning theory classes is The Complete Musician by Steven Laitz. It is a pretty comprehensive look at tonality, covering the very basics through 19th century theory. Isn't too pricey either: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Musician-Integrated-Approach-Listening/dp/0199742782
Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum is a great place to begin working on counterpoint: http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368896313&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=gradus+ad+parnasam+fux
Samuel Adler's The Study of Orchestration is my current go to book when researching the basics of different instruments and orchestration techniques: http://www.amazon.com/Study-Orchestration-Third-Samuel-Adler/dp/039397572X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368896395&sr=1-1&keywords=samuel+adler+orchestration
Lastly, once you feel you have developed a solid foundation with your theory knowledge, I can't stress enough the importance of studying/analyzing scores. It is (in my opinion) the best way of learning how to compose. One can learn so much from one score!
Just 2 main comments:
That all being said, the themes are very intriguing and I would love to hear them expanded and varied a bit. You plant many seeds for a large scale work, but it ultimately ends before it come to fruition. Of course, you can disagree and disregard any or all of these comments if you want, that's your right as the composer. However, I do think you should take my first comment to heart. I reiterate this mainly because you are using this as an audition piece, and the very first thing they will do is read through the score without the music (so you want your first impression to be a good one). People really do appreciate a clean score, though it is the most tedious and time consuming part of the compositional process (and the part I personally hate the most). Good luck in your endeavors and never stop composing.
There are very good books on Amazon which might get you started on game audio. Some links :
Game Sound: An Introduction to the History, Theory, and Practice of Video Game Music and Sound Design
A Composer's Guide to Game Music
The Complete Guide to Game Audio: For Composers, Musicians, Sound Designers, Game Developers
About the audio engines (audio middleware), the two big ones are FMOD and Wise (when the studio is not using its own middleware). There are some tutorials on Youtube which might get you started on that. It's essential to know the basics of sound integration (I mean how to use FMOD/Wise with game engines) if you want to work in video games.
Also, come join us over at /r/gameaudio
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226732169/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Jazz-Language-Theory-Composition-Improvisation-ebook/dp/B004L9MG2Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484766792&sr=1-1&keywords=jazz+language
Here's some other stuff for people interested:
Joe Straus' Introduction to Post Tonal Theory
Introduction to Electro-Acoustic Music by Barry Schrader
Samuel Solomon's How to Write for Percussion
Rothenberg and Ulvaeus' Book of Music and Nature
Cope's Techniques of the Contemporary Composer is okay.
My favorite orchestration book is actually the Blatter
Composing Electronic Music by Curtis Roads is a very good new electronic book
The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross
On Sonic Art by Trevor Wishart
Careful study of this book will teach you everything you need to know about counterpoint:
http://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407209207&sr=1-1&keywords=gradus+ad+parnassum
If you're talking about orchestral composition at all, you'll need to know quite a bit about instrumentation and orchestration as well. Alfred Blatter has an excellent book on that. As for composition in general, you'll need to read up a bit on music theory, if you're not already familiar with it. This is the book I used in college; it has a variety of composition exercises with various restrictions, and is a great place to start.
Gradus ad Parnassum. Know it, love it, make it your friend.
Any melody can be accompanied by an almost endless number of chord changes, so there's no one "correct" way to do it.
The oldest way to do this is a technique called counterpoint. Long story short, you first write a bass part under your main melody, favoring contrary or oblique motion over parallel motion, and avoiding parallel 5ths and octaves as much as possible. The bass part should make sense as its own melody, ideally.
Then fill in a middle voice, again its own melody, observing the rules of counterpoint with respect to the other 2 melodies already written. When you're done with the 3rd voice, you have a basic chord progression.
You might want to repeat with a 4th melody or more after that, but you'll find that subsequent melodies are less interesting because your options are pretty narrow at that point. That's why alto parts tend to suck.
If this seems interesting to you at all, I highly recommend the classic Study of Counterpoint. It's been out for almost 300 years but it has a unique narrative-style approach and is a lot of fun to work through. Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, et. al. would have been familiar with it.
OTOH, if this seems like overkill, then just sit down with a piano or guitar, pick a key, start with something structured around I-IV-V-I or I-vi-ii-V-I or something, and go from there. Again, there's no one correct chord progression. Just find something that tastes good in your ears.
Music theory is not different on a guitar than on any other instrument. And it gets very hard to get music theory correct when it is taught by largely self-taught guitarists, because they have a tendency to think every shape they play requires a name (a trait shared by musicians on most chromatic instruments).
Go get a basic music theory book like Music Theory for Dummies or Music Theory: From Begginer to Expert. After youv'e gone through and really understood what's in those texts, you'll be ready for more advanced stuff like Mark Levine's Jazz Theory or Walter Piston's books such as Harmony or Counterpoint.
Alternately you could look at texts on arranging and orchestration at that point as well.
Stay away from instrument specific texts, particularly those related to chromatic instruments (of which the guitar is one) because you'll almost find something that is a well-intended, but mistaken, concept. Also avoid texts aimed at Berkelee school of music. While they are a great school in terms of their performance degrees, they have an odd fascination with modes that is shared by virtually no other music school in the world.
Great job! Everything I wrote when I was 17 was shit, so congrats on being awesome!
Nice resolutions and voice leading! Try to avoid the parallel resolutions between the vln2 and cello that pop up from time to time. A good mental discipline is that every time a voice resolved to a root or a fifth of a harmony, make sure it’s contrary.
I’m not sure if you’ve been exposed to Fux Modal Counterpoint, but you should learn it and live by it if you want to compose in the Baroque, classical, or romantic idioms.
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772
Best of luck!
Lots of good answers here - for a thorough read, I would recommend "A Composer's Guide to Game Music" by Winifred Philips.
https://www.amazon.com/Composers-Guide-Game-Music-Press/dp/0262026643
One of the biggest distinguishing factors (same for film music) is that it is not the center of attention. It is there to augment the gaming experience. With games (and this is distinct from film) you also have to take player interaction into consideration. Will this be looping? Will it get annoying if it loops? How does it fit in with the (dynamic and player induced) sound effects? Is the audio adaptable/dynamic to player action or game mechanics?
Here are two awesome books:
They are both chock-full of awesome, fun exercises. (I love exercises because it's a great way to learn about composition and practice composition without launching the inner dialogue of "omg i am writing a composition is this any good?" Exercises let you practice writing without the inner critic, just like you practice pieces outside of a performance context, etc.)
Can you give more information about your field of study? What skills do you think you'll need?
There are lots of people who have approached automatic composition before. (don't know if that's encouraging or discouraging)
This book gives a good overview of the different approaches, which might give you a better idea of where to leap off:
http://www.amazon.com/Algorithmic-Composition-Paradigms-Automated-Generation/dp/3211999159/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341245959&sr=8-2&keywords=automated+composition
For your goals, you might want to read the sections on grammars, markov models, or neural networks, which tend to focus on the high level structural aspects. A lot of the other stuff is unrelated.
About rendering as sheet music, I found this interesting library:
http://www.vexflow.com/
Hey OP, not sure exactly which one you are referring to but it might be one of these:
Looking to start a career in composing music for games, just got some questions about where I'm coming from
Colleague of mine is making a living out of composing for more than 5 years. A blog interviewed him. Thought this might be an inspiration for all of you aspiring musicians and game composers.
I have the portfolio, I have the skills, I have some paid experience, where do I go from here?
Perhaps these will help, but a lot of materials are out there for looking at getting jobs in the game industry including
A Composer's Guide to Game Music and Make Some Noise! Getting a Job Creating Sound and Music for Videogames.
I like Cope's - Techniques of the Contemporary Composer.
Some of it is a little outdated. I think score study of works you really like is what will be the most fruitful.
There are entire degree programs in it, lol. You can get a PhD in music theory if you want.
For a classical approach, Kostka & Payne's "Tonal Harmony" is the textbook used by many high school music theory teachers.
If you go to Berklee College of Music and take Music Theory 101, this is the textbook you'll be using:
http://www.amazon.com/Berklee-Music-Theory-Book-Edition/dp/0876391102
There's also a Book 2.
For a bit of an easier approach, here's Music Theory for Dummies:
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-For-Dummies-Audio/dp/1118095502
Get yourself a copy of Fretboard Theory and blast through it, not worrying too much about absorbing everything. On the first pass you just want to acquaint yourself with the concepts. Because everything is so interconnected it's helpful to have even a fuzzy snapshot of the big picture before really diving in. Then re-read it a second time, taking care to fully absorb everything.
Once you know your scales, how chords are constructed, what progressions work for what situations, etc. revisit some of those songs you already know how to play and deconstruct them. What key is the song in? What progression is being used? Which scales?
It's bad advice to tell you to practice X first, then Y second. You should be practicing everything consistently and focusing on improvement in areas where you're struggling. Only you will know what that is, once you get going. But as far as where to start, page one of whatever theory book you choose.
Many ITT are recommending private instruction, which is fine, but I'd suggest getting what you can out of a book that costs less than a half hour lesson before you start working with a teacher. Any teacher will only be taking you through the exact same material for the first six months, anyway, and for a lot more money.
This is a classic counterpoint text (might be a little dry)
The Study of Counterpoint: From Johann Joseph Fux's Gradus Ad Parnassum
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=species+counterpoint&qid=1554356336&s=gateway&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=gradus+ad+parnassum&qid=1555859668&s=gateway&sr=8-1
Awesome! Appreciate that. This is not going to be easy. But I love challenges.
I believe there is a book out for it...http://www.amazon.com/LMMS-Complete-Guide-Dance-Production/dp/1849517045.
As others have pointed out already, there are a lot of different ways to generate procedural content. Some algorithms work well at certain tasks, while others don't work well for those tasks.
In my experience, it's really difficult to come up with one algorithm that is so versatile that it can do everything. Usually, a layered approach is what ends up working, with multiple algorithms stacked on top of each other.
I strongly encourage you to get started on working some of this stuff out. Procedural content generation can be much more difficult than it looks, especially if you want to generate material on the fly (as opposed to generating something then editing it before using fixed materials in the game). It usually takes a lot of experimentation and a lot of trial and error to figure out what works and what doesn't. What sounds good in your head is usually far from perfect in practice.
I'd also strongly encourage you to do some reading on the subject. I mostly deal with algorithmic music, so I can suggest books on that. Algorithmic Composition covers AI algorithms that can be used for procedural content generation in almost any area. Maybe someone else can suggest a book that deals with game content?
Another good thing to study is noise algorithms. Perlin Noise is a type of noise that is incredibly versatile and adaptable. Also, the algorithm for generating Perlin Noise is relatively simple and available in most game environments. I strongly encourage you to explore that.
You will find that naive noise algorithms, such as pure randomness, are largely ineffective, but with slight modifications, and a little bit of study, you can find other noise (= data) algorithms that are still simple, but possibly useful, such as Brownian Motion.
Anyway, some things to think about.
Thanks for the in depth reply! I actually found another option which was I found a classical composition teacher (been teaching for a couple decades) who starts students off with Walter Piston's Harmony 5th edition -- Would you recommend this as opposed to the self-taught route?
Well the first issue you talk about-- the assignment of notes in your chords to instruments of the orchestra-- is orchestration. Here are a couple of good textbooks that cover that:
The other issues are covered by some of the topics in "voice leading." It sounds like you have an understanding of chord progression, but things like harmonic rhythm or how fast chords change is also covered in voice leading. Many of those decisions are yours to make and that's what makes it fun! Some composers will create a harmonic rhythm that they will use to create a structure throughout the piece. I am a professional composer and would be happy to answer any other questions. Good luck!
I recommend grabbing a copy of Songwriting For Dummies and Music Composition For Dummies. Music Theory For Dummies is also pretty good for novices too.
Aside from that, just go make some music. It'll be crap, but that's okay. It's a learning process.
https://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Fifth-Walter-Piston/dp/0393954803
Get yourself a copy of Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting. I had a songwriter in Nashville recommend it to me, as well as other NSAI members. They call it the Nashville Bible and it breaks down all the elements that make a hit song.
I'm a composer by trade (now working toward a PhD in Composition) and I don't know one book that introduces composing well, or at all. I got started in high school, just writing little pieces for myself and friends to play. I just kept at it all these years, through college, grad school and now.
What I found helpful along the way was to learn and be the pro at music theory. After all, music theory is a bunch of rules formulated based on what other people people from long long before have written. One thing to work hard on is counterpoint. It's a step by step on how to write good lines, good secondary lines and basically gives you a very rough idea of what works and what doesn't work. Of course, this is based in the tonal tradition. This is my recommended book. It's written in the socratic style, so just beware. Otherwise, this is what people use in school today.
Again, orchestration is important if you want to write for acoustic instruments. See my comment below~
My advice would be to JUST START WRITING! If its bad, you will know it is and why it's bad. Sometimes, you need a little help. PM me if you want me to look at some things you've done.
I would suggest this book https://www.amazon.ca/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Fux/dp/0393002772 to help with making baselines- Basically, you bass line must be in 'Counterpoint' with the melody, usually below the melody- If better voice leading would entail moving voices in the same octave- do it. It is all so that the melody remains principle.
http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Approach-Eighteenth-Century-Counterpoint/dp/0881338532
Wonderful introduction to the subject and much more.
Read through every fugue you can get ahold of by J.S. Bach (almost a cliche response, I know). Obviously, studying the Art of the Fugue and the WTC thoroughly will teach you more about practical application than any book. But, it is always useful to view the subject from differing viewpoints.
I believe anyone studying counterpoint should read Johann Fux's Gradus ad Parnassum, nowadays published as two separate volumes translated and edited by Alfred Mann, namely The Study of Counterpoint and The Study of Fugue.
If you are already comfortable with reading and playing simple material on the piano with good technique, etc. You might start with the second book in a series--Bastien's, Alfred's, John Thompsons, etc. But honestly it'd be good review if you're just coming back to it to start with the first book in a series to improve your fundamentals.
If you're not interested in learning to read music for piano much, I can't really think of a book that works with that. Maybe this book. You might just try putting together chord progressions using music theory and ultimateguitar.com. Just chords and a bass note to begin. Fancy stuff later.
As an amateur composer, I can recommend this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Music-New-Approach-Russo/dp/0226732169
This book will guide you from very basics.
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Composition-Dummies-Scott-Jarrett/dp/0470224215
this is a good resource.
Track down these two books. Some crafty googling can probably dig up PDFs somewhere... or maybe your local library.
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My pleasure! Ralph Murphy is a boss, met him for the first time my last trip down to Nashville. I would highly recommend a few cheap/free resources. Ralph Murphy's Laws Of Songwriting, Writing Better Lyrics - Pat Pattison (You can't really tell but both of these are hyperlinks, so go feel free to click on them), and www.coursera.com offers a free online lyric class. SAC memberships are like $35 for students, and then you can attend workshops free.
I think you can totally write downer characters, but again, give him a redeeming quality. Give us a reason to root for him.
As far as playing. You don't need to be a John Mayer or Elton John. A lot of the most successful writers I know are mediocre at best guitar players. If you can play acoustic guitar in time you have all you need as far as guitar skills. I mean the more you know the better, but you can get by with the basics. A bigger factor for the artist thing is having the "it" factor. It's impossible for me to tell from a recording if you have it or not. I know I don't have the frontman "it" factor. But when you see it you know. It's the confidence, the charisma, the ability to connect with an audience whether it be 3 drunk dudes in a bar or thousands at the ACC. I wouldn't concern yourself with the guitar stuff.
All the best!
https://www.amazon.com/Study-Counterpoint-Johann-Joseph-Parnassum/dp/0393002772
This book is one of the best for laying out the rules and reasoning as to how you build counterpuntal melodies, and build harmonies in musically sound way.
Things like avoiding parallel fifths etc.
> alternate chords
You mean altered chords?
> It also taught me the modes of a harmonic minor scale, but it never taught why I would need to know them, and when I'm going to have to use them
You don't, essentially. Unless maybe you're playing flamenco or similar folk music. In western music (classical and jazz anyway), harmonic minor is not really a scale, it's the practice of raising the 7th scale degree to give a major V chord in a minor key. It implies a scale, but really that scale only applies to the V chord (which you could say was the 5th mode of the scale, but it's really just the scale of the key with a raised 7th).
You do need to know harmonic minor (as you do major and melodic minor), but its modes are not much use. Modes of major and melodic minor are more useful but, again, their usage is rarely well explained. Jazz improvisation is really not about scales - any more than speech is about the alphabet. ;-)
> Are there books that do teach those kinds of stuff for composing jazz?
There are books on jazz composition, yes. I haven't read them myself, though, so can only google them like you can. Such as [this] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Composition-Practice-Ted-Pease/dp/0876390017/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1543314154&sr=8-1), or [this] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Music-New-Approach-Russo/dp/0226732169/ref=pd_sim_14_8?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0226732169&pd_rd_r=5e885315-f22e-11e8-a01b-4d1de731c45e&pd_rd_w=HMCnI&pd_rd_wg=fE146&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_p=1e3b4162-429b-4ea8-80b8-75d978d3d89e&pf_rd_r=F33VW4NRKC43YC7EBNWZ&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=F33VW4NRKC43YC7EBNWZ).
I do have [this one] (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composing-Jazz-Orchestra-William-Russo/dp/0226732096/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1543314404&sr=1-1) by Russo, but it isn't about composing at all: it's just a neat little book on arranging. Has some very useful tips on chord types, cadences, jazz harmony and voicing - and recommended for that reason - but nothing on producing original material. The assumed genre is the kind of key-based (functional) harmony you hear in big band jazz.
Likewise there are a few books on jazz theory - some controversial, all interesting, but maybe not that useful for composing.
Otherwise, I'd echo what 65TwinReverbRI says: study the kind of jazz you want to write. Listen and copy. If that's too hard (and it may well be!) get sheet music, Real Books, etc. Copy the sounds you like, put them together your way. In a nutshell, that's how all composers in any genre work.
Ars nova has a really nice entry level text on their website if you’re just getting started. For a more complete introduction, check out the book “Music Theory ” by George Thaddeus Jones. That’s the one I started with, and while it’s very thorough in its discussion of musical concepts, its treatment of counterpoint is not my favorite. Something is definitely lost when the inner voices are treated as mere filler. Amazon and goodreads both gave it 4 stars. I feel like the ars nova text holds the readers hand a bit better and has the added bonus of being able to hear the examples. It also includes a chord progression game based on root movement principles). Though it’s missing some information here and there, so definitely check both texts out (yes, even though you probably understand some of their contents anyway) And of course, there’s the Gradus as Parnassum, the Bible of counterpoint that Bach praised and practically all subsequent composers learned from (though the rules presented there are über-strict!). It’s written as a dialogue between a student and a master which is absolutely brilliant.
If you’re looking to compose in the baroque style, there’s a good textbook called “Baroque Counterpoint ” by Peter Schubert and Christoph Niedhöfer, though the introduction says that you already need to know scales, figured base, 4-part voice leading, how to harmonize a melody, how to use non harmony tones, and some basic keyboard skills. It mostly (but not entirely) focuses on fugue and imitative counterpoint in general. So, it’s intended for the musically literate. Don’t go there until you’ve got a good framework to build on.
You also ought to have a collection of Bach’s chorales on hand as they are good examples for beginners to analyze and model on. Here’s 40 of them. Remember- analysis consists of more than just labeling chords; it involves INTERPRETING how all the different musical features contribute to the piece.
As a final note, remember- you don’t HAVE to fallow the rules all the time in your own music, but they’re still worth learning.
I found Robert Gauldin's books on 16th & 18th-Century Counterpoint very easy to read and fairly inexpensive.
When limitations are self-imposed, you always have the option to go beyond them if your piece calls for it. I think that working within limitations can lead to inspiration, which you can then follow. Sometimes that means abandoning those initial principles, but often times the material doesn't call for that. Limitation exercises are also good because you force yourself to try something you've never done before, which can lead to a personal sense of style. Composing Music by William Russo is a great resource for exploring new techniques through a variety of limitation exercises. i'd highly recommend checking it out, it totally changed the way i write. http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-A-New-Approach/dp/0226732169.
This might be miserable at first, but if you want to get the maximum amount of development for your composition, I recommend these two books:
http://www.amazon.com/Scales-Arpeggios-Cadences-Alfreds-Library/dp/0739012975
^ This comes with cadences. Learn to play scales, arpeggios, and cadences. All of them.
http://www.amazon.com/Harmony-Fifth-Walter-Piston/dp/0393954803
^ This book will teach you pretty much everything you'll want to know about harmony and composition. Highly recommended.
> Was it to simply introduce something more melodically interesting?
I can only assume so. The bass's independence is thematically necessary since it's where the opening motif is repeated. It gives meaning to the G-E-D-G-E-D line. If a line has structural/thematic significance, it should remain independent so the listener can pick it out.
I can't tell if the vocals or the instrumental was written first, sorry. Reading material on this subject would be any harmony/counterpoint book you can find. You seem pretty knowledgeable about those topics already though, so maybe it's just getting the style down. Books like [this] (http://imslp.org/wiki/Guide_to_the_Practical_Study_of_Harmony_%28Tchaikovsky,_Pyotr%29) and this. You may have read those already as they're pretty popular. If you haven't, you can most likely find them for free somewhere.
Don't know anything about this, but the idea that occurs to me would be to use MIDI for music play back and dynamically add channels based on what is happening in the game.
For example, you could have a theme for a particular monster. When that monster is approaching/on the scene, you would add a channel with that monsters theme.
You could also compose the music so that it can be dynamically shifted to a different section based on what is happening in the game. For instance, if the here is losing a battle, you could shift to a section of the music that has a faster, more frantic feel with a discordant harmony.
In addition, you could dynamically change tempos, volume or mix balance based on game events.
Never read it, but I have seen this book.
Try this. It's a funny little book. It's written as a dialogue between student and teacher.
I'm in the same position as you. I've pretty much only played acoustic rhythm because I just wanted to hear myself play songs that I know. 90% of my playing has just been looking up the chords to songs I know and playing the crap out of them, which is fun, but eventually you want to move on.
I got an electric not even a week ago and figured now was a good time to actually learn about what I'm doing as opposed to just playing it blindly. I bought this book last night and went through the first couple chapters this morning. All I can say is WOW. Whenever I tried to learn scales and shit my eyes glazed over 5 minutes into it, but something about the way this book presents it just clicks with me.
Like I said I'm still pretty much at the very beginning of the book but it seems like a winner. I think it has like 150+ reviews on amazon so check those out if you want.
William Russo's "Composing Music a New Approach" answers your question very well. Basically the author presents a rudimentary ensemble that can be thought of as a game, with certain rules.
In Chapter 12, titled "Imitation: A Useful Game," he identifies 7 rules and shows examples. Basically one player introduces a "simple figuration of one or two measures," then the next player player either imitates the first figure or introduces their unique figure. Each player is only allowed 1 unique figure, they can rest at any time, and they can imitate at any time (and not necessarily consecutively).
The examples explain it better than the text, but this "game" is basically a band. This helps with the rhythm and melody aspect, while the harmony and structure would probably benefit from a composition or thematic approach.
Personally, I've always thought of music and mathematics as being interrelated. Of course, the two can be completely distinct, but if you're looking to teach, you'll need to be somewhat oracular - and that will cover the more arcane aspects of music theory (which can be quite mathematical; similar to set/group theory and combinatorics).
It's worth looking into some advanced music theory to ensure that you don't balk away from it as you have done CS.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theory-Harmony-SUNY-Cultural-Perspectives/dp/0873959922/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FF5ZKSDSY5A7N7210870
Have a 'Look Inside' this.
Download FMOD or Wwise (more studios use Wwise if I recall) and learn the software. Trailers and cutscenes are not good representations of the job of composing for games; they're a tiny fraction of the bigger picture of adaptive and looping music which you should get yourself familiar with.
I'd also strongly suggest picking up A Composers Guide to Game Music by Winifred Philips (worked on some Total War games, AC games, Spore, Dragon Age and God of War, so she knows what she's talking about) as a primer for what you need to know, and how the skills you need differ quite a bit from a film composer.
The Study Of Orchestration
This is a good, basic book, which covers just about everything. Techniques of the Contemporary Composer-
http://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Contemporary-Composer-David-Cope/dp/0028647378
This book is all about applying this concept to music composition if that's what you are looking for.
http://www.amazon.com/Composing-Music-A-New-Approach/dp/0226732169
None that I've personally used enough to recommend. I think I used the "music theory for dummies" or equivalent when I learned the basics.
http://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Dummies-Audio-CD/dp/1118095502
Thanks man !. not being tone deaf is a start :) . Unfortunately with no theoretical nor practical knowledge of music i wouldn't know where to start with matching pitch/key etc. But this has given me something to think about. I think I should learn basics of music. D'ya think that book "Music for dummies" is a good place to start ?.
You're looking for a book on the basics of composition.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0226732169/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The title says "A New Approach", but since the book was penned in 1988, you can hardly call it new anymore. Anyways, it's a pretty standard book on guiding you through the composition process. I used it back in the day, and I have all of my comp students use it.
Step one is to work through this book - it's got a lot of great practical exercises and tasks. Step two is to deconstruct some of the compositions that you enjoy (it's more fun that way), and try and notice the tools that they use to get the effects that you like. For example, if you like the way a particular bridge leads to the finale, find out why you like it! It is the instrumentation, the harmony, key change, etc? Figure it out, and then add it to your composition tool box. The last step is to deconstruct music that you know is profound/revolutionary, but that you don't necessarily enjoy. You'll still find some useful composition and arrangement techniques.
All while you are doing the above, constantly compose your own stuff. It doesn't have to be good, but it has to be something.
Sonata Forms by Charles Rosen
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1849517045/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479451600&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=Lmms&dpPl=1&dpID=41f4Mg-6uFL&ref=plSrch
This is the one, it's pretty good, I have free access to it in work so not sure if I'd pay that much for it, but coming from zero knowledge about daws it has been very useful.
Aside from this, from performing arts high school, throughout Juilliard's theory program, and because conservatories are assholes about transferring, once again at Curtis, I've never even seen a music theory text book.
Staff paper. Examples from music literature. DIY practice/homework sheets. Save everyone $.