![]() 5th Symphony by BeethovenĪbove is an arranged extract from the famous 5 th Symphony by Beethoven. A strong melody can create enough musical material to not only generate a whole composition but to maintain interest and coherence. Melody can be the easiest way at the start of a new piece of writing, and it can present other possibilities like harmonic shape that then go on to be explored later in the composition. One of the most talked-about aspects of musical composition, perhaps because it tends to be the part people remember most, is the melody. Modelling your own compositions on the work of others is never a problem, just as long as you are prepared to acknowledge those origins honestly. Under each of these ‘headings’ come sub-categories that in turn assist in the unpacking of any musical composition and likewise inform how to create your work. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list but offers a solid starting point from where you can analyse music and understand the basics of musical composition. Quite often these threads or musical commonalities are considered to be as follows: melody, rhythm and tempo, texture and dynamics, timbre, form and structure. From there it becomes increasingly possible to link a broad variety of works by common threads. This is an open invitation for you to look more deeply at musical compositions and begin a process of basic analysis. For example, can you imagine a composition without any rhythm? Is it possible to write music that has no structure or dynamic range? I think we can agree that neither of these questions can be answered with a firm ‘yes’ without the next question being ’how?’ What I am trying to illustrate is that from Bruno Mars to Bruckner, there are compositional basics that are a pre-requisite of a composition. It is not that there is a kind of musical template from which anyone could then devise a work of genius, but that there is a commonality that highlights the underlying principles of musical composition. If we break down almost any composition, including the three above, we discover that there are common elements that composers employ as the ‘basics’ for their work. Each of these works was composed for quite specific reasons and in each case with a unique perspective. These would include works like the ‘Eroica’ Symphony by Beethoven ‘La Mer’ by Debussy or ‘The Rite of Spring’ by Stravinsky. ![]() Many compositions are brought about through the composer’s desire to express a feeling, portray a place or perhaps capture a moment in real or imagined time. Their origins have their own stories and purpose, some simply abstract creations built on strict mathematical constructs. There are countless different types of musical compositions, each with their own focus and form.
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