If you’ve already got a hot melody, but want to know how to turn it into a
more full-fledged composition, Part III covers the basics of matching melodies
to harmonies.Part IV can help you decide what instruments you want to use in your com-
position, or to whom you might want to sell that composition.It’s important to relax and have fun with this — listening to, playing, and
writing music are some of the most enjoyable experiences you’ll ever have.
Music Composition For Dummies may have been written by teachers, but we
promise that no clock-watching music instructors will show up at your door
to check on how fast you’re plowing through this book. Composing music is
a magical, mysterious, wonderful thing. Yet it’s also based on surprisingly
simple principles. In Western music, there are only twelve pitches in each of
eight octaves on the piano, but think of just how different one piece of music
can be from another.Limits can actually be freeing: Just as with poetry or prose, the more com-
fortable you are working inside a specific form, the greater your ability to
successfully express yourself within that form becomes.Introduction 5
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