Music Composition For Dummies [Paperback]

Scott Jarrett (Author), Holly Day (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 5, 2008

Want to turn that haunting tune in your head into an awesome sound in your ear? You can! Music Composition For Dummies demystifies the process of composing music and writing songs. It guides you through every step of writing your own music, from choosing the right rhythm and tempo to creating melodies and chord progressions and working with instruments and voices.

In this fun and practical guide, you’ll learn how to match keys and chords to the mood you want to convey, work a form without limiting your creativity, and hammer out a musical idea, even when your mind is drawing a blank. You’ll find out how to create popular songs, classically structured pieces, and even film, TV, and video game soundtracks. And, you’ll learn what you need to know about music composition software, including Finale, Sebelius, Pro Tools, and more. Discover how to:

• Preserve and organize your musical ideas
• Work with established chord progressions or create your own
• Develop great rhythms
• Select the right instruments
• Find melodies in your head, your instrument, and the world around you
• Use major and minor scales
• Work with modes and moods
• Build melodic motifs and phrases
• Use the circle of fifths to harmonize
• Write for multiple voices
• Make a demo recording

Filled with creative exercises to build your composing skills, Music Composition for Dummies is the resource you need to get that melody out of your head and into the world.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Creative exercises build your composing skills

The fun and easy way to turn the tune in your head into a full-fledged composition!

Wish you could write music? You can! This friendly guide gives you everything you need to start composing, from choosing the right rhythm and tempo to writing with chords and melody to expressing your musical ideas through instruments and voices. You'll see how to create popular songs, classically structured pieces, and even film, TV, or video game soundtracks!

Discover how to:

• Master chord progressions

• Harmonize with melody

• Select the right instruments

• Write for multiple voices

• Compose electronic music

• Make a demo recording

About the Author

Scott Jarrett is a musician and producer who has worked with numerous artists, including Willie Nelson, Fiona Flanagan, Mary Klueh, and Keith Jarrett. He has served as music director for many live theatrical productions including the Broadway production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He currently runs Monkey House recording studio in Hudson, Wisconsin. He has released two original albums, Without Rhyme or Reason and The Gift of Thirst. He has taught music theory, composition, production, and/or recording at the Full Sail Center for the Recording Arts in Orlando, The Acting Conservatory in Nashville, and McNally-Smith School of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Holly Day is a music journalist whose articles have appeared in publications all over the world, including Computer Music Journal, ROCKRGRL, Music Alive!, Guitar One, and Mixdown magazines. Her writing has received an Isaac Asimov Award, a National Magazine Award, and two Midwest Writer’s Grants. She is co-author of Music Theory For Dummies (Wiley).

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470224215
• ISBN-13: 978-0470224212
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,235 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A short course in a long subject, May 12, 2008

By 

Thomas W. Day "T.W. Day" (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music Composition For Dummies (Paperback)

Music Composition for Dummies is much more than a basic music theory book or a collection of musical ideas. Most folks who have enough theory behind them to be able to create music could use a little help in finding inspiration, techniques, and background to implement their creations. This book focuses on that aspect of composition. The authors' style of composition is not forced on the reader, but a variety of techniques and resources are offered which will assist you in finding your voice and enhancing your creativity.

As a long-suffering play-by-ear guitarist, the section on scales and modes was especially helpful. When I have used scales other than the few I am comfortable with, I tend to sound like I'm simply running the scale. The exercises in this section helped me find melodies in those scales and made the "Circle of Fifths" into more of a tool than a mystical phrase often used, but rarely comprehended. The section titled "Finding Melody in Your Instrument" was particularly useful in helping me break old habits in chord progressions and intervals. Chapter 9, "Harmonizing with Melodies," added even more to that pallet.

I doubt that I'll ever writing anything worthy of actual orchestration, but the section on "Composing for the Standard Orchestra" gave me insight into writing for instruments that I rarely experience outside of others' recordings. I usually use synthesizers for my orchestral instruments, but the formal background provided by this chapter enhances my ability to use those artificial instruments in a more natural setting.

There is a lot of practical information about writing for a variety of markets, from commercial jingles to orchestras. Scott Jarrett has a broad background in many areas of musical composition (including every one of the styles described in the book) and his experience in creating, notating, and producing music for these genres shines through the text.

A previous reviewer mistook "industrial music" for the little heard and rarely interesting popular form, but the authors' were commenting on a different subject: "not the dance music, but the music of the working world that is used for specific, usually commercial, purpose." I have no clue where that reviewer found the link to rap, but you have to wonder what some folks are writing about in their reviews. The same goes for the weird take on "random notes." Read the book, you'll find that there is a time for randomness and a time for scale-based melody. Enough said.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Music Composer - Music Harmony Plus Composition Ideas, May 16, 2010

By 

Robert E. Bassman "Bobby In Seattle" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Music Composition For Dummies (Paperback)

Music Composition for Dummies includes the complete gambit of Music Theory basics, plus gives you ideas
where to look for composition ideas. That's what I was looking for. I have the theory aleady, but I
needed help with where to look for composition ideas. Finding Melody in Language, Finding Melody in the world
aroung you, helping your muse help you. Excellent material.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Always More To Learn--Different Perspectives Are Good, December 1, 2008

By 

Groove29 "Mike" (Saint Paul, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music Composition For Dummies (Paperback)

Great book! I always learn something and enjoy myself immensely when reading something new or talking with someone about composition or music in general. It is such a deep and wonderful subject that it can never be exhausted. There is a ton of stuff in this book! Whenever I want to learn a "thing" I like to approach it from as many different angles and perspectives as possible and Scott Jarrett (as well as Holly Day) definitely has some cool new insights and interesting ways of looking at things. Any editing mishaps are easily attributable to horrendous deadlines and first edition gremlins. Bravo!