I don't know that much musical terminology, so for beginners, here you go.
This is a tutorial that will teach you REALLY basic music composition. It sounds good though.
This will take you from making music like this
to making music like this.
There are only 5 simple steps you have to follow, and preferably in the order they're listed.
- Bass
- Rhythm
- Harmony
- Melody
- Progression
Quick Vocabulary: (And yes, there's a little you may not know)
Measure - The darkest vertical line
Octave - The range of one note to the same note, higher or lower Ex: every note between C3 and C4
Chord - When more than one note plays at a time
Triad - A chord that consists of 3 notes
Chord Scheme - The pattern of chords in your song
Verse - The part of your song that usually varies
Chorus - The part of your song that gets repeated
Step 1: Bass
Why bass? Well, you need to start somewhere, right?
Here's what some simple bass looks and sounds like.
To make something like this, just take 2 notes, in this case E and C, and place them 1 measure apart.
Then, in the measure between those, go a note higher or lower. Then BOOM you got your bass all set.
Step 2: Rhythm & Percussion
This starts to make your song sound good. It really kickstarts ideas IMO. Rhythm is not percussion.
Rhythm doesn't require any percussion. Percussion just adds more emphasis to the rhythm.
To create rhythm, add spacing between a bunch of bass notes. Make sure there's a pattern. Otherwise it sounds like crap. The pattern is SUPER important in making it not sound bad.
It should look something like this.
Now percussion.
Once you have your rhythm, just add hi-hats in a pattern. The hi-hats determine the speed of the percussion.
Then add either snares, claps, or both. You need to place them every other 1/4, 1/2, or 1/8 measures depending on the speed of your section/song.
And finally, the kick. Put these in between every snare. Add variation to make it better, so play with the kick spacing and you'll find a beat you like.
When you're done it should look something like this.
Step 3: Harmony
Harmony establishes the mood of your song. Make it in a minor key and you'll probably make it sound dark. Make it a major and it'll probably sound brighter.
To make it, start with your bass. You'll want to align most of your notes with your bass. Keep it consistent.
For the notes themselves, just copy and paste the bass and move it 1 or 2 octaves up.
Then, like you did previously with the bass, move the notes in front of the first half of the measure up or down for some of them.
If you do that, make sure it transitions into the next measure, so try not to jump octaves.
Now this next part is where it starts to be less easy. Still easy, just less.
You need chords. Now if you're reading this then you probably don't know how to make chords, so I'll tell you.
To make chords, take the note you have, then skip one or two light lines.
(If you don't have your key guide on, which you seriously should, just cut the percussion, click "Auto Detect" and paste the percussion back in.)
Just do that twice and you'll have a triad. I suggest a maximum of 4.
Once you're done, it should sound like this.
Step 4: Melody
For the melody, it's really up to you to make it sound good. This is where the real creativity is needed.
All I can do for you is give you tips.
Tip 1: Make most of the notes within your chord scheme. (I marked this)
Tip 2: Don't be afraid to place the same note more than once
Tip 3: Try to sing it.
Tip 4: Try to stay within 1 octave
Tip 5: Try to balance variation and repetition. Lean towards variation.
A melody can look as simple as this
BTW, If you're wondering what the arrow means, it means if you have to, move a note from your chord up an octave.
Step 5: Progression
There are usually 3 main parts to a song.
- Introduction
- Verses/Choruses
- Conclusion
For all of these, it really depends on what type of song you wanna write and what mood you're going for, so like the melody, all I can give you are tips.
Tip 1: Copy other songs.
- What I mean by this is not "steal someone's content". What I mean by this is listen to a song like the one you're going for and copy the way they start or end.
Maybe it's a buildup, maybe it adds more parts progressively, etc.
Tip 2: Make the chorus more repetitive than the rest (If you even have a chorus)
An example would look something like this.
yooo. i actually had no idea lmao. does that mean your music is basic?
