Composing Tips and Shortcuts for Beginners

Piano/keyboard or other instrument (I personally find keyboard the easiest, because you don't really need to know how to play it)

-If you have a keyboard that happens to be hooked up to your computer with MIDI cables, using sequencing software you can play the keyboard, and the software will input the notes for you.

-If not, you'll need at least basic knowledge of how to read music and either:
1) Blank manuscript paper (music paper) or
2) Music notation software (such as Noteworthy Composer)

Note: This article contains no tips for specific hardware or software.

Begin with one part, and keep building on top of it with other parts.

This is a basic structure I like to use as a starting point. Feel free to experiment with it:

-Melody, counter melody, bassline, background, percussion

The first thing you need to know about composing is that there are no shortcuts. "But wait, isn't the title 'Composing Tips and Shortcuts?'" Yes, and while I will be discussing a few shortcuts, they are very basic and not to be relied upon for any real length of time. They are merely a small first step until you get a feel for things and go out on your own. See what works for you and what doesn't. The point is really to experiment. Tips, on the other hand, offer ways to expand on the shortcuts, making them much more useful.

Melody is something I don't think can really be taught. The only thing I recommend is to sit down at your keyboard (or other instrument of choice, including your brain) and play around until you get something you like. Then, write it down or input it into your music software of choice.

This is a fun little exercise. Pick any word, phrase, or sentence, and write down all instances of the letters ABCDEFG, in the order they occur. These letters all stand for notes, so you can use them as a basis for a possible melody. Even if you pick a word that has only one of those letters, make that your first note, and do the rest yourself. You will still have to figure out the rhythms (how long each note is held). Don't feel restricted to the letters you get, though, and feel free to change whatever will make your melody better. The example melody for this tutorial was written this way. I took those letter out of the tutorials title "Composing tips and shortcuts for beginners," and came out with the letters CGADCFBEGE.

Note: Because of the way the Yahoo! Media Player works, all examples will play one after the other, unless you press pause.
Melody

Pretty much the same as a melody, a counter melody is a second melody played against the first one. You have to make sure they sound good together without conflicting (dissonance).

Take your melody and copy it into its own staff/track, but shift it over at least 2 beats.

Counter Melody

To make it stand out more, you can either raise it an octave, lower it an octave, or change the instrument entirely. If you want to take it one step further, you can add, remove, or otherwise change some notes, or change the rhythm.

Counter Melody 2

Bassline is the underlying backbone of your piece, played by the lower instruments.

Set up a part for trombone and one for tuba. For the trombone part, first look at your melody. Have the trombone play the same note at the beginning of each measure as the melody, but make it a half note. Also have the trombone play the same note the melody plays on beat 3 of each measure, as a half note. Since the example piece ended up being in 3/4 time (instead of 4/4), I made the second note into a quarter note instead. The tuba part is almost the same, but will instead copy the first note of the melody in each measure, as a whole note (or in my case, a dotted half note).

Bassline

You can also have a simple bassline made of straight quarter or eighth notes that change every couple of measures, with maybe offbeats in a second instrument, or a walking bassline, which moves around a bit more, and can be a melody in itself.

Bassline 2

Start with a simple 3 note major chord (for example A-C-E), where one of the notes is the same as the first note of each measure of the melody. The chords can last 4 beats or 8 beats (2 measures tied together), and are usually 1 or 2 octaves lower than the melody. Bassline and chords can be used individually or together.

Background Chords

You don't have to stick to 3-note major chords, either. Here are some other suggestions:

-Have either the top or bottom note played in an octave.
-Move the bottom note up an octave.
-Move the top note down an octave.
-Change the middle note to a flat, to make it minor. Also try combining this with the other suggestions.

Background Chords 2

Nothing adds the finishing touch to a piece like percussion. Snare drum and bass drum are obvious choices, and sometimes cymbals. Personally I like to use a lot of timpani and tubular bells as well. Really, just sit down and beat on things (gently) until you get a beat you like.

Percussion

After you have something that you like and sounds good, go back through. If any places sound thin or empty, fill them up. Stray from the basic structure a bit.

If you want to temporarily fill out one part, play it in octaves.

All of the individual parts so far have been complete parts, (ie. they pretty much cover the length of the piece). When you fill out thin sections, you don't need a complete part, just a measure or two, or even just a few notes. It's the little things that can really make a piece. In this particular example, I couldn't find too many empty places, but I did add a little flute and clarinet.

Finished piece

On a final note (pun intended), try having different instruments play the different parts. You can even have low instruments playing melody while the higher instruments play the bassline if you want. Experiment.

As with any tutorial, this should only be used as a jumping off point for you to do your own thing. If you really want to get into composing, you'll need to study. I suggest taking Music Theory classes, but most importantly, listen to a lot of music. While you're listening, pay attention to it. It's always a good idea to listen to Classical music (and any other old stuff that's not technically Classical), as well as movie soundtracks. I also recommend (especially while using the methods in this tutorial) listening to music from 8-bit Nintendo games, such as Mario, Zelda, and Mega Man, as they have a similar 4 part structure. Never stop learning and improving. Good luck!