Music Composition DUMmIES

based on a mode or mood that you are trying to convey. At one moment you

can create fast-moving, frenetic phrases that jump about like grasshoppers,

and at the next you can conjure pensive, provocative themes to be traded

and danced around by the instruments.

This type of melodic composition demands an intimate knowledge of both

music theory and the demands of playing each instrument. It can lead to

many powerful results, although often the composer doesn’t have such a

clear idea of what the result will be until the music is played. It can be hard to

hear these things in your head.

Exercises .........................................................................................................

1. Keep working with language.

Short or long phrases are rich sources of rhythms and melodies. See if

you can fit a couple of different phrases together in a way that makes

rhythmic or melodic sense. Take the melody you found in language

phrases and see if you can fit a different phrase into the music. Write the

phrase once and then write a variation. Read poetry for inspiration.

2. While listening to a piece of music, draw freely.

Take a crayon, pen, or pencil and freely draw, moving your pencil along

with the flow and contours of the music. You can draw abstract shapes,

or if you prefer, something the music reminds you of. If you’re using

a colored pen or crayon, pay attention to the colors suggested and

use them.

3. Draw the landscapes suggested by the melodic movements of a piece
   of music.


4. Come up with a short melody to describe the scene outside your
   front door.
   Add two or three more elements from the scene to it — a car driving
   by, a dog barking, a squirrel skittering past, the baby across the street
   screaming — and see how much of the individual parts of the scene you
   can put together. Your neighborhood has a soundtrack — what is it?


5. Sit quietly with the TV and the radio turned off and listen to your
   breathing.
   Does a rhythm or melody bubble up? Be prepared with paper and pencil.
   Keep a paper and pencil next to your bed. Force yourself to write some-
   thing down every morning immediately after waking up. Even a single
   word or a measure of music could help you get in touch with your muse.

Chapter 5: Finding Melodies Where You Least Expect Them 53