Musical composition, or simply called composition, refers to the creation of an original piece of music. It doesn’t matter if it's vocal or instrumental, it refers to the process of creating a unique piece of work.
Composers write for many various groupings of instruments, however some of the most popular ones nowadays are:
Although some people think that composing music is a skill that some people are born with, that’s not true. People can have a feel for it but just like with any other subject, there are classes you can take to learn and improve your skills. Depending on what type of music you want to compose, you’ll learn different things, however there are basics that almost every composition class will teach:
Although the two terms may be similar, and in some cases, even interchangeable, they still differ from one another. Composition usually refers to writing modern, contemporary or academic music. This music is notated on sheets so it can be performed by musicians. Composers usually write for instruments that you can find in bands and orchestras like the violin, trumpet, cello, clarinet etc.
On the other hand, songwriters write more “popular” music, music that is trending and popular at the moment. This includes pop, rock, jazz, metal and any other genre of music that is big right now. They usually focus on writing the vocal melody, the progression of the chords and the lyrics of a musical piece. Furthermore, unlike composers, songwriters don’t need previous knowledge of music notation.
Although it isn’t an absolute necessity, it is definitely useful to have past experience or basic knowledge on any instrument. Knowing how to sing or play an instrument will make writing music much easier. If you don’t have any prior musical experience, composing will certainly be more difficult since a big part of it is learning how to notate your music so others can read it.
If you’ve never played an instrument you could always start by taking music lessons on an instrument and then move on to composing later on. Furthermore, you could also look into songwriting lessons, which are typically easier for beginners.
TutorExtra has a wide variety of qualified tutors offering lessons in musical composition, different musical instruments and songwriting. Browse through our website and figure out which lessons would be the most beneficial for you.
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