Join Amazon Prime and ship Two-Day for free and Overnight for $3.99. Already a member? Sign in.

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
64 used & new from $7.86
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get yours here.
 
  

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition (Paperback)

by Michael Miller (Author) "The desire to compose your own music is admirable..." (more)
Key Phrases: melodic composition, key scale tones, structural tones, The Least You Need, Advanced Techniques, Jimmy Webb (more...)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
List Price: $18.95
Price: $12.32 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $6.63 (35%)
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Friday, July 17? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
41 new from $8.88 23 used from $7.86

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • Purchase this entertainment book and get 12 issues to either Rolling Stone, Men's Journal or Us Weekly for $2.95 each. That's less than $0.25 an issue. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Explore more great deals on 1000's of titles in our Bargain Book store.

  • Interact With Your Music: Discover, listen to, and buy new music, all from the pages of SPIN's digital edition, free to Amazon customers.

Frequently Bought Together

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition + The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition + The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians
Price For All Three: $36.06

Show availability and shipping details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians

The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians

by Jim Fleser
4.1 out of 5 stars (34)  $10.17
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Solos and Improvisation

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Solos and Improvisation

by Michael Miller
5.0 out of 5 stars (3)  $12.89
Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition)

Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition)

by Ron Gorow
4.5 out of 5 stars (35)  $18.45
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Arranging and Orchestration

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Arranging and Orchestration

by Michael Miller
2.2 out of 5 stars (4)  $14.93
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Songwriting, 2nd Edition

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Songwriting, 2nd Edition

by Joel Hirschhorn
3.6 out of 5 stars (14)  $12.89
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Write the songs that make the whole world sing.

A step-by-step guide to writing music, this book shows musicians how to compose simple chord progressions and melodies, and leads them through more advanced compositional techniques and musical forms. Designed for composers of all types of music, it includes instruction on composing stand-alone melodies, using different scales and modes, themes and variations, orchestration, and composing for film, theater, and videogames.

-Perfect complement to The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Songwriting

-Includes a comprehensive glossary of musical terms, as well as an appendix of various computer-based composition tools

-Easy-to-use oversize trim

About the Author
Michael Miller attended the prestigious Jazz Studies Program at the Indiana University School of Music. A former percussion instructor and working drummer, he is also an accomplished composer and arranger. He is the author of more than 30 books, including The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Playing Drums, Second Edition, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Music Theory, Second Edition, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Singing, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Solos and Improvisation.

Product Details
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
The desire to compose your own music is admirable. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
melodic composition, key scale tones, structural tones, nontraditional scales, nondiatonic chords, unstable tones, melodic outline, different chord progressions, bebop scale, neighboring tones, underlying scale, following chord progressions, subsidiary notes, short melodic phrases, traditional tonality, extended chords, common chord progressions, connecting note, chromatic notes
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
The Least You Need, Advanced Techniques, Jimmy Webb, Exercises Exercise, Working Outside the Basic Key, Understanding Melody, Write Your Own Music, Substitutions Substitution Example, Example Progression, Burt Bacharach
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 8 books:
See all 8 books this book cites

Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition
63% buy the item featured on this page:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Composition 4.6 out of 5 stars (15)
$12.32
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition
17% buy
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, 2nd Edition 4.6 out of 5 stars (70)
$13.57
The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians
12% buy
The Chord Wheel: The Ultimate Tool for All Musicians 4.1 out of 5 stars (34)
$10.17
Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition)
5% buy
Hearing and Writing Music: Professional Training for Today's Musician (2nd Edition) 4.5 out of 5 stars (35)
$18.45
Explore similar items

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
Check the boxes next to the tags you consider relevant or enter your own tags in the field below.
(7)
(4)
(3)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
Help others find this product — tag it for Amazon search
No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet. Why not be the first to suggest a search for which it should appear?

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more
 

Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
90 of 90 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect follow-on to Idiot's Guide to Music Theory, October 30, 2005
By calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)      
Just like this author's previous book, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory", information is presented in a very readable way without losing necessary details. The author presents many musical examples and each chapter has exercises with some solutions included in the back of the book. This book is designed to be read from beginning to end, and the exercises are very instructive in that by doing them you WILL learn how to compose music based on formal techniques. This book consists of 18 chapters in 5 parts, with each part showcasing a different aspect of composition. Since Amazon does not show a table of contents for this book at the time I am writing this, I shall summarize for the purpose of completeness:
Part 1 is entitled "Before You Start," and it describes different types of composition, and discusses the tools needed to start composing music.
Part 2 is entitled "Harmonic Composition," and discusses the art of composing music, chords-first. Also described is the creation of a harmonious chord progression, using both standard and extended chords, and using chord substitution to create more sophisticated compositions.
Part 3 is labeled "Melodic Composition," and introduces melody creation techniques, including scales and modes, structural tones, embellishments, rhythm, syncopation, melodic contour, flow, tension and release. Also discussed is fitting chords to a melody and reharmonizing existing chord progressions.
Part 4 is entitled "Developing the Composition," and gives instruction on transforming a composition from something basic to a substantial work. Short melodies are transformed into a full musical piece. The use of repetition, variation, and creating multiple-voice compositions is included.
The fifth and final part of this book is entitled "Advanced Techniques". The subject matter moves beyond basic composition into more advanced musical areas. Orchestration, chromaticism, atonality, contemporary composition, and ultimately songwriting are discussed.
I would therefore highly recommend that you first read the "Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory", and then this book for someone who wants to self-study music theory and composition. These two books are particularly valuable to someone who is familiar with the computer and would like to get into computer music but does not have a formal education in music. These two books will get you up and running to the point where you can understand what some of the computer music books written by musicians are talking about.
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars O.K. follow-up to Music Theory, March 4, 2006
By Corey Woodworth (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is a very good book. It elaborates on the Idiot's guide to music theory specefically in the area of composition. My only gripe is that the first half is very redundant with the previous book. Many paragraphs are identical. I would have been much happier if they had been embellished, or if the two books would have been combined into one larger volume. The book does go into much more detail later on, with topics such as rhythmic patterns etc. Still the first half doesn't even feel like a review as much as it feels like Deja Vu.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A good start, but lacking in places, January 31, 2006
On the positive side, the book is very helpful in starting composition. While at times laconic, it covers pretty much all the basic areas of composition, starting with an intro into what you can do and what you will need and going on to harmony, melody, rhythm, and even touching on atonality. It explains the key ideas behind development, the use of phrasing, and even the ranges of common instruments and notes on transposing them.

On the negative side, it often fails to explain things as well as it could. For example, while the book gives a basic explanation of atonality and minimalism, it doesn't really say much about how to really use these techniques. While development is discussed well, actually creating full-length pieces seems to have been glossed over and there is little information on how various musical forms like the sonata or concerto are actually structured (something I struggled with for a long time).

Overall, an excellent introduction, but not really a complete guide in any sense.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Writing Music
Good general book. Somehow I have not found it easy to use. It did not cover some of the basic music writing topics, even by way of review or introduction. Read more
Published 1 month ago by W. S. Mohn

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest books on Music
This is possibly the greatest book on music composition ever written. Don't let the title decieve you, this book breaks the material down whereas a five year old can understand it... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Marketta L. Thomas

5.0 out of 5 stars Very helpful
A bit repetitive with his other book "Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory", but fills in the music composition blanks. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jeffrey A. Hensley

4.0 out of 5 stars Well-written, focused on the conventional
This is a well-written introduction to traditional composition. The examples are plentiful and nicely illustrate the concepts being discussed and the organization of the book has... Read more
Published 13 months ago by crawler

5.0 out of 5 stars great book
I have just read this book completely. I think its a great book with expert ideas. Excellent choice from beginner to intermediate composers.
Published 14 months ago by Adam Burucs

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple training for a complex topic
I'm an advanced right brained musician (I've been playing for 20 years but never really gave much thought to theory). Read more
Published 15 months ago by Chris Lang

5.0 out of 5 stars a gift
This was bought for my daughter - she teaches a variety of age levels a huge variety of music. She will use the book to guide her in teaching composition - so as not to forget... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Lavonne Pockat

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource.
Easy to go through. Excellent grasp of the material and gives easy building blocks. Very helpful for me.
Published 17 months ago by Satch

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Helpful book on Composing/Writing Music
This is a very useful and informative book. I already had a solid grounding and understanding of music theory, chords, scales and the like. Read more
Published 18 months ago by J. Brogden

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful reference. Well written, well organized
This is a very readable guide on how to choose chords for a progression and notes for a melody. The author clearly outlines the conventions of Western music composition and opens... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Peter F. Hamrick

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

 Beta (What's this?)
New! See all customer communities, and bookmark your communities to keep track of them.
This product's forum (0 discussions)
  Discussion Replies Latest Post
  No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
  [Cancel]


Active discussions in related forums
   

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Look for Similar Items by Category

Everything to Maintain Your Landscape

Shop for gardening tools
From pruners and saws to shovels and rakes, we have the gardening tools you need to keep your landscape looking its best.

›Shop all gardening tools

  

Best Books of 2008

Best of 2008
Find our top 100 editors' picks as well as customers' favorites in dozens of categories in our Best Books of 2008 Store.
  

Buy Three Books, Get a Fourth Free

4-for-3 Books
Order any four eligible books under $10 and get the lowest-price book free in our 4-for-3 Books Store. See more details.
  

Best Books

Best of the Month
See our editors' picks and more of the best new books on our Best of the Month page.
  

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Where's My Stuff?

Shipping & Returns

Need Help?

Your Recent History

  (What's this?)
You have no recently viewed items or searches.

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.

Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.
Continue shopping: Top Sellers
Free
Free by Chris Anderson
3.5 out of 5 stars (13)$0.00
 Paranoia
Paranoia by Joseph Finder
4.1 out of 5 stars (200)$0.00
 My Soul to Lose
My Soul to Lose by Rachel Vincent
4.2 out of 5 stars (4)$0.00
 Glenn Beck's Common Sense
Glenn Beck's Common Sense by Glenn Beck
3.8 out of 5 stars (282)$6.59

amazon.com Amazon.com Home  |   Directory of All Stores
International Sites:  Canada  |  United Kingdom  |  Germany  |  Japan  |  France  |  China
Business Programs: Sell on Amazon  |  Build an eCommerce Site  |  Advertise With Us  |  Developer Services  |  Self-Publish with Us
Help  |  View Cart  |  Your Account  |  1-Click Settings
Investor Relations  |  Press Releases  |  Careers at Amazon  |  Join Associates  |  Join Advantage
Conditions of Use | Privacy Notice © 1996-2009, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates