Hola forums! Moog here, your friendly neighborhood darkie. Ever want to create your OWN original music? Ever want to just create sounds that you can use for yourself and save money? Well, in this workshop, I will teach you:
-How to build a basic song in various genres
-Basic instrumentation
-Some Music Theory and chord progression
-How to build chords
For starters, this is all in GRAND STAFF NOTATION, by that I mean treble and bass clefs, so if you dont want to learn music building with this I suggest you use a tutorial on sequencers, but I guarantee that if you learn basic music that any sequencer will be easy for you.
Also, I am not here to judge and fix your songs you write! this is basically for those who want extra help, but anything you create is fine. Music, although initially is taught about rules, shouldnt be, because it is expressive.
First off, I would recommend downloading a music notation software. I currently use Finale 2009 for everything, but you can download a demo here: http://www.finalemusic.com/PrintMusic/Demo.aspx for free. There are also programs like Sibelius (http://www.sibelius.com/home/index_flash.html) and Noteworthy Composer (http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/) that you can get.
Ok, lets start making a SWEET TRACK PEOPLE'S
1) Instrumentation
Before the track can start of course, you gotta pick your instruments. The short and sweet way, if you are writing music for your game, is just to make the underlying instruments a voice that can be easily changed, like a piano or a choral voice.
Also, add an underlying percussion voice for your rhythm. In Finale, I find it easy to just use a Drum Set voice, so for now, I'll that.
So, as you can see below, I have 2 Piano voices and 1 Percussion Voice.
Now, on to picking the key/time signature. The key can be however you want it to sound. The time signature is the amount of beats/time the music is in. For now, let's stick with C Major (No Sharps, No flats) and 4/4 Time (4 Quarter Notes per measure).
Now that the instruments, key, and basic time are done, lets build some chords!
2) Chord Building
Before we start lets look at how to read notes on a grand staff.
Basically, chord building is pretty simple, and you can learn some basic music theory from it. Since we are in C Major it shouldnt be that hard. So, lets talk about basic chords: Triads and 7th chords.
Basically, Triads are made up for 3 notes, where as 7th's are made of 4. Both chords are made with thirds, so if you wanted to make CM (C Major Triad) or CM7 (C Major 7th), lets look below...
So, the CM is composed of notes, C, E, and G, and the CM7 is C, E, G, and B.
For any major scale, however, the triads progress in major and minor keys (M being major, m being minor, dim being diminshed):
M, m, m, M, M, m, dim.
For now, we wont worry about 7th chord progressions, just remember that they roughly progress the same as triads.
So, if you went from CM to the next note D and tried to build a chord, you would go from CM to Dm, and if you continued to E, it would be Em. Pretty simple right?
Remember; no sharps, no flats in C major, so no black keys!
Ok, now that we have our basic chord building, its time to work on some progressions!
3) Progressions
Ok, we're like 75% there guys, now to talk about some basic chord progressions that millions of musicians have and still use that you can use as a basis for your song.
Lets take a look back at our triad progression:
M, m, m, M, M, m, dim.
Lets make these numerical, with capital roman numerals representing Major and small numbers representing minor and the seventh being diminished.
So,
I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii(dim)
And now, lets apply it to C Major.
I-CM
ii-dm
iii-em
IV-FM
V-GM
vi-am
vii(dim)-b dim
Now numerically, we are on the right track, but what does this all mean? Well, all or most music starts on the tonic triad, aka the key's I, in this case CM. The I can go to any other number, ii, iii, IV etc. However, certain numbers can only go to other ones. BUT this isnt the classical age and we arent writing under rules, just freewriting!
There are basic progressions though we can use that many other musicians have used, such as:
Three Tone: I, IV, V, IV or I, IV, I, V
Basic tonic to dominant: I, V, I, V
Deceptive: I, V, VI, ii, IV, V, I
For now, lets use a basic three tone in our bass clef as our progression.
Lets put this to use and write a progression!
4) Basic Writing and Rhythm
Before we go on, I suggest you check this http://bandnotes.info/rhythm/intro.htm <-- site out for basic rhythm. Writing rhythms isnt that hard, but if you arent sure, check it out, but I will be explaining as we go along.
Ok guys! LETS WRITE SOME SHIT
Progression wise lets try a three tone (I, IV,V,IV)
Lets start with the bass clef for our triads. Remember, we are in 4/4 so it is only 4 quarter notes per measure. For now, lets write with 2 half notes per measure. (Half note=2 quarter notes)
We will start on C Major, which is the tonic. For the bass clef, we will have our triads and in the treble will be the melody, which you can create in anyway you'd like. So, if we are doing a I IV V IV, we would have 4 measures, and each measure would start with a new chord.
Check it out:
Now that that is done, you can continue with this same progression, or just make your own!
Lets check out the percussion part now.
I like to write a basic three part drumset: a cymbal, a snare drum, and a bass. For the bass, its much easier to just write a quarter note on beat 1 and 3, and the cymbal can be constant 8th notes. The snare can chime in on beats 2 and 4.
So, feel free to create another melody using the same progression or two differant one. See what you can make! Just make sure for the final measure that you return to the tonic triad (C Major).
Also, dont forget that you DONT HAVE TO FOLLOW ANYTHING I WROTE. Its for those who would like help building music tracks. Also, if you understand this, you are basically learning basic music theory! You are becoming a musician!
Post your tracks on what you make, or if you need help, ask questions. Remember that music is very free roam and you can use your imagination to progress your ideas.
heres what i made based on the tutorial
http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/workshoppoop.mp3
and heres the exact same song but in C minor with a totally differant feel!
http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/workshoppoop2.mp3
Any questions feel free to ask guys! Hope this helps :D
-How to build a basic song in various genres
-Basic instrumentation
-Some Music Theory and chord progression
-How to build chords
For starters, this is all in GRAND STAFF NOTATION, by that I mean treble and bass clefs, so if you dont want to learn music building with this I suggest you use a tutorial on sequencers, but I guarantee that if you learn basic music that any sequencer will be easy for you.
Also, I am not here to judge and fix your songs you write! this is basically for those who want extra help, but anything you create is fine. Music, although initially is taught about rules, shouldnt be, because it is expressive.
First off, I would recommend downloading a music notation software. I currently use Finale 2009 for everything, but you can download a demo here: http://www.finalemusic.com/PrintMusic/Demo.aspx for free. There are also programs like Sibelius (http://www.sibelius.com/home/index_flash.html) and Noteworthy Composer (http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/) that you can get.
Ok, lets start making a SWEET TRACK PEOPLE'S
1) Instrumentation
Before the track can start of course, you gotta pick your instruments. The short and sweet way, if you are writing music for your game, is just to make the underlying instruments a voice that can be easily changed, like a piano or a choral voice.
Also, add an underlying percussion voice for your rhythm. In Finale, I find it easy to just use a Drum Set voice, so for now, I'll that.
So, as you can see below, I have 2 Piano voices and 1 Percussion Voice.
Now, on to picking the key/time signature. The key can be however you want it to sound. The time signature is the amount of beats/time the music is in. For now, let's stick with C Major (No Sharps, No flats) and 4/4 Time (4 Quarter Notes per measure).
Now that the instruments, key, and basic time are done, lets build some chords!
2) Chord Building
Before we start lets look at how to read notes on a grand staff.
Basically, chord building is pretty simple, and you can learn some basic music theory from it. Since we are in C Major it shouldnt be that hard. So, lets talk about basic chords: Triads and 7th chords.
Basically, Triads are made up for 3 notes, where as 7th's are made of 4. Both chords are made with thirds, so if you wanted to make CM (C Major Triad) or CM7 (C Major 7th), lets look below...
So, the CM is composed of notes, C, E, and G, and the CM7 is C, E, G, and B.
For any major scale, however, the triads progress in major and minor keys (M being major, m being minor, dim being diminshed):
M, m, m, M, M, m, dim.
For now, we wont worry about 7th chord progressions, just remember that they roughly progress the same as triads.
So, if you went from CM to the next note D and tried to build a chord, you would go from CM to Dm, and if you continued to E, it would be Em. Pretty simple right?
Remember; no sharps, no flats in C major, so no black keys!
Ok, now that we have our basic chord building, its time to work on some progressions!
3) Progressions
Ok, we're like 75% there guys, now to talk about some basic chord progressions that millions of musicians have and still use that you can use as a basis for your song.
Lets take a look back at our triad progression:
M, m, m, M, M, m, dim.
Lets make these numerical, with capital roman numerals representing Major and small numbers representing minor and the seventh being diminished.
So,
I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii(dim)
And now, lets apply it to C Major.
I-CM
ii-dm
iii-em
IV-FM
V-GM
vi-am
vii(dim)-b dim
Now numerically, we are on the right track, but what does this all mean? Well, all or most music starts on the tonic triad, aka the key's I, in this case CM. The I can go to any other number, ii, iii, IV etc. However, certain numbers can only go to other ones. BUT this isnt the classical age and we arent writing under rules, just freewriting!
There are basic progressions though we can use that many other musicians have used, such as:
Three Tone: I, IV, V, IV or I, IV, I, V
Basic tonic to dominant: I, V, I, V
Deceptive: I, V, VI, ii, IV, V, I
For now, lets use a basic three tone in our bass clef as our progression.
Lets put this to use and write a progression!
4) Basic Writing and Rhythm
Before we go on, I suggest you check this http://bandnotes.info/rhythm/intro.htm <-- site out for basic rhythm. Writing rhythms isnt that hard, but if you arent sure, check it out, but I will be explaining as we go along.
Ok guys! LETS WRITE SOME SHIT
Progression wise lets try a three tone (I, IV,V,IV)
Lets start with the bass clef for our triads. Remember, we are in 4/4 so it is only 4 quarter notes per measure. For now, lets write with 2 half notes per measure. (Half note=2 quarter notes)
We will start on C Major, which is the tonic. For the bass clef, we will have our triads and in the treble will be the melody, which you can create in anyway you'd like. So, if we are doing a I IV V IV, we would have 4 measures, and each measure would start with a new chord.
Check it out:
Now that that is done, you can continue with this same progression, or just make your own!
Lets check out the percussion part now.
I like to write a basic three part drumset: a cymbal, a snare drum, and a bass. For the bass, its much easier to just write a quarter note on beat 1 and 3, and the cymbal can be constant 8th notes. The snare can chime in on beats 2 and 4.
So, feel free to create another melody using the same progression or two differant one. See what you can make! Just make sure for the final measure that you return to the tonic triad (C Major).
Also, dont forget that you DONT HAVE TO FOLLOW ANYTHING I WROTE. Its for those who would like help building music tracks. Also, if you understand this, you are basically learning basic music theory! You are becoming a musician!
Post your tracks on what you make, or if you need help, ask questions. Remember that music is very free roam and you can use your imagination to progress your ideas.
heres what i made based on the tutorial
http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/workshoppoop.mp3
and heres the exact same song but in C minor with a totally differant feel!
http://bb.ohsk.net/uploads/workshoppoop2.mp3
Any questions feel free to ask guys! Hope this helps :D