Music Information

How to Compose Your Own Music Using 8-bar Phrases


Some people think composing is this miraculous thing that only genius's do. What a myth! It's a skill that can be learned. What can't be learned is the intuition that guides the creative force. What can be learned is the technique. And the most important part of composing technique has to do with THINKING IN PHRASES.

A musical phrase can be 2-bars long. It can be from 4 to 8-bars long as well. It is a unit of music that composers use, along with repetition and contrast to create ENTIRE SECTIONS OF MUSIC. There is no secret here people. It's like building up a structure. That's why music is often referred to as frozen architecture. It is built up. The building up creates FORM. A structure such as ABA form can be composed of the A section (8-measures) B section (4 or more measures) then back to the A section.

Now you may be thinking, it looks logical but how does it transfer into actual music? Ah, this is where you get your feet wet and actually try composing a piece. We start from simple means and learn the principles of repetition and contrast first. We start with an 8-bar phrase for the A section.

Now a problem arises. How do I fill up this section? You can either start with the melody or with the chords. If you've had a chance to look at my free lesson, you'll see that by improvising, MATERIAL IS INSTANTLY CREATED! This solves your problem doesn't it? Now, you may be thinking, how do I get this material into the 8-bar framework you've been talking about? First, you need to be able to count in 3/4 or 4/4 time. Not very difficult but if you can't do this now, there are many sites on the web that can teach you this.

Now it's just a matter of transferring this raw improvisational material into the 8-bars. Most likely, you will be jotting down your chord changes. I explain this in a lot more detail in my online class. It's a quick sketch method. You have the raw uncensored germ coming from your improvisations - you then write down what chords you are playing and perhaps the first 2-bars of melody so you remember what the initial impulse was.

The reason I use the 8-bar phrase is that it is a nice unit of time to work with. I don't try and reinvent the wheel here. It's been used for centuries and can be used in New Age music as well. Once you have this 8-bar phrase you can repeat it and add in another section (B) to add contrast.

This may be hard to understand by just reading about it. You have to do it in order to really understand.

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!


MORE RESOURCES:

CNET News

Music industry eases tactics in fighting piracy
Reuters - 7 hours ago
... file-sharers marks a fundamental shift in the music business's battle against piracy, from one focused on enforcement to one emphasizing education. ...
Sling Media, CNET News
Music Industry Ditches Company It Used to Gather Evidence on Students Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)
Top Internet Providers Cool to RIAA Three-Strikes Plan Wired News
NewsOXY - Billboard Business News
all 39 news articles


Fresh News

'08 music sales hit record high
Hollywood Reporter, United States - Jan 4, 2009
Overall music sales set record in 2008, with more than 1.5 billion units sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The Nielsen Co.'s annual year-end music ...
Music sales boom, but albums fizzle for '08 USA Today
Music Sales Reach a Record High, But Not Through Album Sales TheCelebrityCafe.com
Music Sales Fell in 2008, but Climbed on the Web New York Times
Los Angeles Times - San Francisco Chronicle
all 518 news articles


Music marketers target female shoppers at home
Reuters - 7 hours ago
By Ed Christman NEW YORK (Billboard) - With CD sales dropping fast, the music business is exploring nontraditional ways to expose consumers to recording ...


Canada.com

Hyundai Super Bowl ad to feature music by Yo-Yo Ma
Reuters - 8 hours ago
By Kamau High NEW YORK (Billboard) - Hyundai Motor Co. will use music by famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma in a Super Bowl XLIII television commercial that consumers ...
Yo Yo Ma Teams Up With Goodby For The Super Bowl mediabistro.com
all 6 news articles


New York Times

A Year in Love and Music
New York Times, United States - 5 hours ago
With music now available with a single, offhand click, it's easy to forget that songs are not born whole, polished and ready to play. ...


CNET News

Read all 'Macworld 2009' posts in Digital Media
CNET News, CA - 10 hours ago
Apple has cut deals that will finally enable iTunes to offer songs free of digital rights management software from the three largest music labels, ...
Apple strikes DRM-free deal with big four music labels PC Pro
Apple inks deals for all DRM-free iTunes, 3G downloads Apple Insider
Apple finally drops DRM on iTunes music, OTA 3G music downloads? Boy Genius Report
VentureBeat - Mashable
all 21 news articles


Virgin Media Music

Bid to open prison doors for music
The Press Association - 5 hours ago
Organisers of one of the stages at the Glastonbury Festival will be taking their blend of music and political campaigning to the heart of redneck Texas to ...
Glastonbury's Left Field heads to the US Virtual Festivals
all 68 news articles


Los Angeles Times

Musebin: The future of music reviews?
Los Angeles Times, CA - 12 hours ago
The user-driven site allows for only a sentence or two, paring down music reviews to a Twitter or Facebook status update. Although the launch of such a site ...
Musebin's 140-Character Reviews Go Live, Power Hype Machine Wired News
Hype Machine Zeitgeist: Listen in Full to the 50 Most Blogged ... ReadWriteWeb
all 4 news articles


Music matters at Sundance
Variety, CA - 7 hours ago
By KATHY A. MCDONALD Music matters at Sundance. Both the Sundance Institute and Sundance Film Festival have long supported the cross-pollination between ...


PR Web (press release)

Miccus Unleashes Digital Music: Launches BluBridge Home Speaker ...
Reuters - 23 hours ago
Bridge Music Wirelessly from an iPod, Macbook or Phone to Existing Home Stereo and Audio/Video Equipment HOLLAND, Mich.--(Business Wire)-- Amidst a growing ...
Tenqa to Exhibit New Line of Bluetooth® Wireless Speakers ... PR Web (press release)
Miccus Debuts BluBridge Wireless Speakers, Transmitters and Receivers TMCnet
all 18 news articles

Music - Google News

home | site map
© 2006